Earlier Work of Laura Kent Textiles

Laura Kent | Level Four and Five Textiles in Practice | Manchester School of Art

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Sunday, 13 April 2014

Hélio Oiticica's Tropicália

'In Tropicália he aimed to topple universalising ideas of Brazilian culture by addressing the problem of the image, setting two of his shanty-like 'Penetrables' in a tropical scene with sand, pebbles and macaws, one of them a claustrophobic labyrinth whose single dark corridor leads to a television set. Eden (1966), in which one steps on sand, crushed brick and straw through favela-like enclosures, avoided imagery, but Tropicália's ideas had been unleashed.'

Hélio Oiticica's Tropicália has become of great inspiration for my unit x starting research. Oiticica's installations create engagement through use of space, encouraging the audience to immerse themselves and participate in their space- a concept that has been emerging through both collaboration with the interactive arts practice, and our research into design festivals.

'Oiticica's still-powerful and influential installations are the beating heart of 'Tropicália: A Revolution in Brazillian Culture', the first exhibition dedicated to the array of vibrant nonconformist tendencies associated with Tropicalism'

I am hugely inspired by the principal of adding colour to the city. I enjoy Oiticaca's use of fluorescent, over-baring colours and textures to replicate this concept, the arrangement of the artificial vs. the natural, forcing the viewer to engage with the piece. I feel this appeals to myself as a textiles student as it is familiar territory- looking at a physical 'made' space, rather than conceptual ideas. Addition of colour to a space is something that I am interested in looking at for our design festival. I am going to continue research into colouring the city through the physical.