Our initial plan for today seemed secure- we were to walk through the city, stopping wherever we seemed fit the interpretation of 'restriction', and, following our newly addressed brief- we were going to dress the city with our bought materials and embellishments. Plans did have to change a little though, as we were called into a very last minute minute to discuss our venue choice. The venue was to be used by ourselves, and another group- that seemed to have contrasting ideas to ourselves. Their brief revolved around colour, where as ours had a much more vintage theme, and having been to the Bay Horse the previous day, we felt that ours would fit the venue style better.
So after the quick meeting our initial plans started, and we began to walk the city...
So after the quick meeting our initial plans started, and we began to walk the city...
I came across a piece of rusty metal, punctured with holes. The colours seemed to fit with our Victorian theme, so I began to create a knitted structure for the piece- creating the idea of restriction through wrappings, and knotting- and also showing our take on yarn-bombing. As well, other members of the group looked at placing their samples in different places close by- drain pipes, broken wood, door frames etc..
After taking a couple of picture, we all knew that it just wasn't working, and with the sun blazing down, it wasn't long until we found ourselves in a very heated argument, with all textiles students disagreeing that this was a good idea after all. It just wasn't possible, or clever for seven of us to be standing around in public spaces, sewing hundreds of sequins onto our fabrics/ mesh, without any of us actually knowing what the final pieces were going to look like, and some members of the group standing around doing nothing to help with the supposed "collaborative contribution". I suggested that we urgently needed to go back to the drawing board, especially, as bought to our attention in yesterday's presentation feedback- there is less than two weeks left of Unit X(!).
So back to the student union we went- it was obvious that the heated arguing had caused tension between our group members. Nobody was willing to break the ice, or agree on anything- with the Film and Media girls exclaiming that they weren't being marked on the final output so it didn't really matter what the rest of us wanted to do. This really upset the rest of the group, Jess and myself especially, as this unit is about collaboration and helping one another- be it marked, or not. Lack of communication wasn't helping nor getting us anywhere further- so I felt it was time to take a bit of control and offer my suggestion. I still wanted the message to involve the city of Manchester old vs. new and the colours and embellishments found in the Victorian period- it was just a matter of how.
Thinking back to my practice- textiles- I suggested that we created samples that represented these ideas- nine textiles pieces, framed and installed at the Bay Horse. Thankfully EVERYONE agreed that this would be a good idea- though rightfully Jess, Emily and myself still needed to think of a way of incorporating the whole 'old vs new city' into the pieces- and the idea of photographs was mentioned. We were to take photographs of the city, places that represented the industrial side of the city back in the day, with newer modern buildings, such as the art school. The nice thing about this was that coincidently it meant we were able to photograph buildings that linked beautifully into our colour schemes. A picture found on pinterest when I began research ideas into textiles pieces was this (below), as it seemed to use the same kinds of materials that we had bought from the wholesalers- I would not be copying this- as it is wrong to do so- I would rather create something off my own back. I think what drew me to the photograph was it's use of a ripped up border, which could be used to determine the use of the photographs I am taking tomorrow.
So that was that. Everyone said that they wanted to run with this as a solid idea- so we planned to meet to take the photographs and start the sampling the next day. I hope that the conflict can be resolved sharpish because we really don't have time for lack of co-operation from some of the group.