inspiration

Inspiration

Julia

Julia

 My flat still looks like that of a student's even though I'm 27. I've always lived in a rented flat, still got a pay as you go mobile, don't buy furniture, all so that I wouldn't feel like I have loans, contracts or materials that binds me to a place.

 What people wouldn't know is that I'm constantly on the move in my mind, looking out of the window wanting to be somewhere else. Restless perhaps but more accurately not willing to have anything or do anything that will root me, or to keep me back. After many years of living abroad I have reconnected with my family, a family I kept at an arms length since I moved away when I was 18.

 After many years of living abroad I have reconnected with my family, a family I kept at an arms length since I moved away when I was 18. I thought that a close relationship with them would hinder me from travelling, living abroad, be ready to take my things and leave if an opportunity would arise. I reckon that's the same reason I keep a distance to very much in life. Strange that, the idea that distancing yourself from people would enable you to live freeer and fuller.

What I know about Julia,
 Her flat says alot more about herself than she thinks it does
she has no interest in what her interior looks like it is
just somewhere to sleep, her flat was just the same in London
she has never experienced joy in makin it look nice as has
always seen her abode as temporary. She is a true nomad.
It doesn't show how creative she is other than the typewriter
she spends a lot o time at home thinking and writing which is
why it is suprising that she puts no worth in the idea of home.

Gerry

Red,

       Here is my homework.

The picture is of under my bed, the objects are a clock signifying my understanding of time ..

a prayer book, signifying my faith

a baseball bat with a golden strip around it signifying my protective nature

a phone signifying my willingness to communicate freely

a radio as it is my constant nightime companion, its is permanently tuned into RTE radio and I go to sleep and waken in Ireland signifying my belief that I only work here but live there.

 

I hope this is correct...tried a picture of sitting room but it did'nt come out...thought this is more profound....xx

 

And for the second part of my homework....its simply the colour that appeals to me...lilac, an off mauve. off purple, soothing, calming, shades of divinity, the colour of Rome and the Celestines....the colour of spiritual enlightment.....

the mirror signifies the mirror of my soul

the old radio mic signifies servitude

the old wardrobe signifies humility and lack of new noveau furniture....

 

) I believe the interior says I am a complex man.My complexities are interwoven in the abstract use of the colour lilac, the flirting with purple and Roman and Catholic contations of these colours.The objects say complex, the radio permanently tuned into RTE, the prayer book , the baseball bat....the radio microphone ....its saying there is a deeper underlying fundamental meaning in these diverse objects and how they are all placed so close to each other.The close proximity of these objects in the most accessible of places says someone who lives very much in the harsh and real world yet also dwells in the etheral world of angels, saints and fairies and lepreachauns.

I believe the historians will see it very much as I do , they will undoubtley be divided on me personally but they will all be in agreement about the complex taste in decoration .

 

2)I do occassionaly have guests,nrmally late at night, never in daytime hours.

 

3) I think they see it as 'quaint' and 'confusing'....they sometimes say 'oh its very rock n roll' or 'very colourful'.....I don't think they see the underlying fundamental meanings that I do. I think they often struggle to understand the cmplexities of the decoration and the layout..

 

 

What I know about Gerry... He's barking mad...... 

 

 

all in all it says soulfullness...xx
 

Suzy

SUZY

 1) What does your interior say about you?
I think the interior says that I am original, enjoy colour and have eclectic tastes.

2) What doesn't your interior say about you?

I don't know how revealing this is but 

ummmm....difficult this - my house is 

kinda an extension of me and my 

personality/interests so a hard one!. 

So I think that what someone wouldn't 

guess when looking at my house is that 

I love to play the piano and miss it 

every day and I actually have a medium 

grand piano but can't fit it in my flat 

as it would probably take up most of the 

living room.
 
Shot of my favourite room attached (If 

I'm honest, all my rooms are favourites.

.!)  plus wall paper in that room - 

actually it's the ceiling and the insides 

reveal of a cupboard.

3) Do you have visitors regularly?

   Yes lots

4) What would you like people to think 

about your interior?

That it's warm, inviting and individual.

What I know about Suzy from her interior- She is mad passionate about the 50s, she is a casting director and director so is passionate about plays and films.  She is very proud of her house and loves have people round. She is very tidy her bathroom cupboard was very organised. She own her house and lives on her own and has plenty of friends.

Sula

QN: what do you think your interior reveals about you?
A: that my nurture (being brought up in asia and having a messy family dynamic) has affected me more than my nature (where i am supposed to from/family history etc...)

QN:Things you wouldn't know about you from your interior?


A: I'm English, Scottish, Italian and Dutch (all equal parts), but i was born in Saudi Arabia

- i got kicked out of school when i was 17 for never turning up (although i was allowed to take my final exams, which i aced :)

- my favourite food is Chilli, or if im ill, Cottage Pie. I absolutely hate the smell of bacon (and yes, i suppose i am technically Jewish)

- when i was little, the first thing i ever wanted to be was an architect.

 QN: do you ever have visitors?
yes lots.

QN: what would you like people to think about your interior?
A: I give a shit, but i'm in no way done... there's more to come.

 What I know about Sula from her interior..

She is very well travelled and has a rich cultural background, I think this shows from the fabrics draped around. She has quite a
hippy nature, I think this also shows through the use of cloth.
It doesn't show how creative she is, she loves to make thins I expected there to be origami dotted around. She hasn't lived here very long and she is renting I don't think she is settling for ever here as everything looks as if it is temporary. I find it intriguing that she covers things in fabric some appears it is for decoration but the black cloth on the wardrobe seems as if it is instead of a door, I am unsure why she bothered at all.

SULA
















m English, Scottish, Italian and Dutch (all equal parts), but i was born in Saudi Arabia

- i got kicked out of school when i was 17 for never turning up (although i was allowed to take my final exams, which i aced :)

- my favourite food is Chilli, or if im ill, Cottage Pie. I absolutely hate the smell of bacon (and yes, i suppose i am technically Jewish)

- when i was little, the first thing i ever wanted to be was an architect.

Exsquisite Corpse

A floral castle applauds the irresistable corkscrew
And the obnoxious face pelts malifluous coffee
The frosted bulb swirls up into a crisp epiphany
An obsolite tower runs towards the giggling saucepan
Whilst the floral hand caresses the shattered frame

Jenny

The Paradoxical Relationship Between Fantasy and Reality in Freudian Theory

Lawrence Josephs, Ph.D.

The relationship between fantasy and reality in Freudian theory is a complementary yet paradoxical one. On the one hand, fantasy has been construed as a vehicle for self-deception, standing in contradistinction to the objective appreciation of external reality. Fantasy can serve as a substitute for external reality that denies, remodels, and replaces an objective perception of external reality when that reality proves to be unacceptable. On the other hand, fantasy has been understood as constituting a symbolic description of external reality which represents actual events. In this model, fantasy, through concrete symbolization, reflects a mode of apprehending external reality through the use of imagery and metaphor.

The question arises as to how fantasy can represent both a self-deception and a valid metaphorical description of reality. Freud formulated the resolution of this paradox in his theory of mental life as a compromise formation between the conflicting forces within the

[This is a summary or excerpt from the full text of the book or article. The full text of the document is available to subscribers.]

Freddie Robins

My tutor Mah tipped me off about this designer I love her designs playful and provocative a way of turning craft into art.

Freddie Robins

Comfort Creatures	Knitted Homes of Crime	Banner

Statement:

My awareness of textiles came through “Janie”, a rag doll made for me by my Aunt. Janie’s orange wool hair was a great comfort to me, I would tickle my nose with it. Her hair would gradually wear out and my Godmother would give her a new lot, always wool, always orange.My Godmother became my greatest inspiration.  She was always making things, not frumpy, lumpy things that you hid in your wardrobe, but fashionable, desirable toys and clothes.  She was a free spirit.  She lived alone, was unmarried and just got on with her own thing.  I associated textiles with her and therefore with freedom. I loved the “Clangers”, they were knitted.  My Godmother taught me to knit, it was difficult, she was left handed.  I loved  knitting. I was further inspired by the knitwear designer, Patricia Roberts.  She did not rely upon traditional textile images, wholesome flowers, but turned instead to the contemporary urban world for inspiration.  She was bold.  I entered a knitwear design competition in a craft magazine.  I won.  I was academic but I was also creative.  I knew which path I would follow, the one that represented individuality.

My studio practise questions conformity and notions of normality, and intersects the categorisation of art and craft.  I use knitting to explore pertinent contemporary issues of the domestic, gender and the human condition.  I find knitting to be a powerful medium for self-expression and communication because of the cultural preconceptions surrounding it. My work subverts these preconceptions and disrupts the notion of the medium being passive and benign.  My ideas are expressed through an exploration of the human form and have resulted in pieces such as “Odd Gloves” and “Odd Sweaters”.  These series question physical normality incorporating both humour and fear.  The titles are important.  I like to play on words to make visual suggestions: ”Hand of Good, Hand of God” and “Skin - a good thing to live in”.  In “Anyway” I explore value and scale through the production of a large knitted sculpture made on CAD controlled industrial machinery.

Click here to contact Freddie

Click here to view more of Freddie's work

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Donna Wilson

I came across Donna Wilson's work and really feel she manages to create another view of the world through textiles, her child-like drawings makes the space feel almost dream like and her fictional characters succeed, in my view, to show an imaginary world of acceptance and induce joy in difference. 

The Family			London Fashion Week 2008

Statement:

Donna Wilson graduated from Royal College of Art London in July 2003. During her time there she produced a range of work that included the knitted friendly creatures, the doily rug, wrapped cacti, the caterpillow and the hands on rug (a collaboration with Carmel McElroy).

Her work is playful, tactile and bright, inspired by the everyday oddities and deformities of life. She likes to think of each of her creations as a character in her very own wonderland, where scale and perception are toyed with.

“The tactile quality of my work comes from my childhood spent in the Scottish countryside.  It has had a strong influence on me both in my need for textural and organic forms. I enjoy using handcrafted techniques like felting, sewing, knitting and wrapping.  My involvement with wool and felt allows me to create a closeness and cosiness that I want people to connect with.”

For September’s London Fashion Week 2008, Donna Wilson’s much-coveted Creatures made their debut on the catwalk. Cyril Squirrel Fox and his friends were accompanied on the stage of the show by fashion designers, Steve J and Yoni P. Now sought after by fashionistas, Cyril and his friends will also take to the catwalk once again at fashion shows in Both Paris and Korea.

Click here to contact Donna

Click here to view more of Donna's work

I found link to this on the Textiles Futures Site.
http://www.equator.ac.uk/index.php/articles/629Domestic Probes/

A new and exciting way to collect user data and may provide me with inspiration for my research. I am now looking at the way we view our domestic space due to finding out Experiential Design is more product design orientated and I would find it hard gathering research and case studies.

				Domestic Probes Domestic probes are collections of provocative tasks designed to elicit inspirational information from people about their lives at home. They provide an alternative to more traditional methods of user research from the social sciences, such as questionnaire studies, focus groups, or ethnographies.

At the start of the Domestic Experience we developed a set of materials called Domestic Probes to reveal details of people's home lives - their interests, obsessions and aspirations. We were interested to learn what peoples' homes looked like; the details of their domestic routines; the sounds around their homes; the dreams they had at night.

Camera with requests Dream Recorder Photogram paper The Listening Glass Friends and family map

Probe tasks ranged from the straight-forward to the surreal. For example, on the back of a repackaged disposable camera we made requests for specific photos, which included "Who lives in your home", "Take a photo on Sunday at 3pm", "The view through your letterbox". A repackaged memo recorder became a single-use dream recorder requesting that a vivid dream be recounted. Sheets of light-sensitive photogram paper included instructions to record an impression of objects left on surfaces. A 'listening glass'- an ordinary drinking glass repackaged with a permanent marker pen - included instructions to "listen to sounds around your home" and to write what was heard directly onto the glass. In total, about a dozen iterms were developed for this study. In February 2001, we placed advertisements for volunteers in a variety of London newspapers. Having recruited twenty households from the greater London area, we visited each volunteer and gave them a pack of domestic probes. About six weeks later we collected the hundreds of returned items, notes, images and diagrams. The returns served as a rich resource providing a myriad of glimpses into peoples' domestic lives. The probe returns were organised and archived onto CD ROM, but were never systematically analysed. Used as raw data, they provided a catalyst for the development of design proposals. Ethnographic studies of probes being designed and assembled at the RCA were undertaken to develop the ethnographers' understanding of this novel approach. These studies, in turn, contributed to the development of an adapted approach to probes. Devised by ethnographers at Lancaster and Nottingham, adapted probes incorporate social science research methods and are intended to engage researchers and inhabitants in cooperative analysis of the design domain and to elicit information informing design. Probes represent both a method and an approach. Taken as a method, they suggest the use of multiple, easy-to-use tasks to make the job of collecting data more engaging. As an approach, they advocate the use of open, ambiguous, and even surreal tasks as a way of undermining the assumptions both of volunteers and researchers.

Prototyping in plastic

I was lucky enough to get a place on the protyping in plastics course at London Metworks.

We started with our hands because that they are quite straight forward to do. First of all the Algenate is mixed up and then it is poured into a container big enough to allow good space around the casting.

We put our hands in and left them for about five minutes and then pulled out carefully thus leaving a mould ready for us to pour our plaster in.

The plaster was then mixed, poured into the container very slowly. The side was then tapped until all the bubbles rose to the top and disappeared. It was then left to dry for about half an hour

The container was cut and then we dug out our models, the algenate can be closed back together to be reused.

The finished product!








        A combination of cast and 3D printed objects

Experiential Design

I was not even sure Experiential Design was even a term! Luckily it is and I came across a decription that sums it up really well.

http://mime.cs.nott.ac.uk/experiential/index.html........

Experience Design at Philips Design Experience design is a design approach which focuses on the quality of the user experience during the whole period of engagement with a product: from the first impression and the feeling of discovery, through aspects of usability, cultural relevance and durability, to the memory of the complete relationship. This puts users firmly at the centre of the design process, with their input and feedback being integrated throughout the whole design process and product life cycle. The principles of experience design correspond to High Design, the design approach for realising the general vision of Philips Design. This vision, in the words of Stefano Marzano, CEO of Philips Design, is to create design focused on people's personal growth, so they can live in harmony with each other and with their natural and artificial environment. An experience is not objective reality, but a subjective response. Over time, experience helps us to define the world around us, and affects the way we perceive it. An experience is highly intimate and personal, yet it's also something we can share with other. To design an experience, we need to look at the forest, not the trees. For example, to enhance the ritual of waking up in the morning, we need to look at the phenomenon as a whole and come up with something completely new rather than just make a new kind of alarm clock. The purpose of experience design is not to define standard experiences for people to have, but to design multi-sensory stimuli from which people could create their own meaningful experiences - either to enjoy alone or to share with others. The focus is on people and on time in the context of experience. How people experience At any given moment, our brains receive and respond to an infinite variety of information in all sorts of configurations. The body acts as a kind of sensor, registering all the signals sent out by the environment and any changes that take place in it. However, we are only consciously aware of the information that we focus on and the way we perceive it is heavily influenced by many factors, such as our previous experience, cultural conditioning and emotional responses. Designing with time An experience is formed at a particular moment in time - this can be during an event, but also before or after it. Experience design considers the relationship between events and experiences, as well as how this relationship develops and evolves over time.Incorporating time into design is not new: video and television entertainment, software games and computer interaction are all designed with time in mind, albeit in a more immediate or linear way. But experience design at Philips Design takes this a step further. Philips Design look at how knowledge from traditional time-based design disciplines could be expanded to include a more sophisticated understanding of the relationship between time, events and experience, and how this could be applied across the spectrum of design disciplines.

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Books to try and get

Design and emotion:

the experience of everyday things

Deana McDonagh, Paul Hekkert, Jeroen van Erp

0 Reviews

Taylor & Francis, 2004 - Technology & Engineering - 456 pages

There is considerable interest in and growing recognition of the emotional domain in product development. The relationship between the user and the product is paramount in industry, which has led to major research investments in this area.Traditional ergonomic approaches to design have concentrated on the user's physical and cognitive abilities. However, new approaches also take into consideration the user's emotional relationship with their belongings. Design and Emotion is an edited collection of papers given at the 3rd Design and Emotion Conference 2002. These contributions outline the latest developments, findings, and techniques in industrial applications and in research, bringing you up-to-date with the current thinking in this field.As a forum for discussing the latest ideas in emotion-driven design, this book will prove to be essential reading for all human factors specialists involved in design.

Interactive and experiential design in smart textile products and applications

Sharon Baurley

Research sites

http://freespace.virgin.net/tracey.meade/research/experientialdesign.html

Design Research Module- Themes ctd

Ok so I started with some very vague themes that as yet are not in a design context so I have been researching how I can link them. I have dropped censorship so I am now left with.

Facade
Spectacle
Collections/Collectors,

I think it is clear that I am interested in human psychology how then can this be applied to design?

Facade
ts not just people who wear a second skin it can also relate to objects in design. This idea as been explored in Trompe l'oeil, a style which has very much come back into contempory design of recent years.

I love how here the facade is actually a play on what is hidden.

Sarah Engelke
http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/ny/how-to/modern-trompe-loeil-photo-upholstery-by-sarah-engelke-067187   accessed 22/10/10
This also interests me because the fabric has been entirely designed for the chair, a bespoke suit if you like. The designer also photographed the process from start to finnish giving the piece its own unique history. 


In contrast, the facade is a play on what it isn't. The idea of being grander than what we are perhaps?

Chenhui Su
http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/ny/look/look-trompe-loeil-chair-chair-pads-047387 accessed 21/10/10

This made me start thinking about how I could give inanimate objects identity crisises, where they have ideas above their station ie an arm chair thinking it is a throne...I love the idea of objects having personalities and them having issues like everyone else.

These wallpapers deal with both facade and deception...here they decribe their purpose which may help me when trying to phrase my research question.

"Our product dissolves limits between architecture, wallpaper and hangings, with the wallpaper functioning as sensitive go between. So it’s time to warp your room!"
Surrealian

http://www.notcot.org/post/4695/

It would be interesting to look at how to play with deception in regards to solving problems with space in urban cities. Koziel does this very well, I was very jealous looking at this website as it is right up my street, the theatre head boards I had planned have already been done by these guys which is very frustrating!







http://www.couturedeco.com/329-french-catacombs-stairs-doors-trompe-l-oeil.html



Spectacle

I have been thinking about how "spectacle" relates to design as it is relevant in my study of dramatic structure. I feel a spectacle is essentially an experience, whether that be through interaction or engaging the viewer emotionally. I then started thinking abut the idea of making wallpaper interactive and/or functional, I then came across this wallpaper - has everything been done?? The fold out gramaphone plays real music and the perfume bottle emmits real scent- amazing! This would also relate to space solving design...

PEGA

http://dornob.com/functional-art-fun-fold-out-3d-wall-sticker-decal-designs/

Collector/Collections

I can see now how this may relate to what I said earlier about an inanimate object having a personality. What is it that draws people to collect and aquire? I'd like to look closer at the relationship between objects and people.

Even by touching on these three subjects lightly they are clearly starting to overlap. The biggest thing that keeps coming up for me is Experience. Phew  have at least narrowed it down to one subject therefore I am one step closer to my research question.

I would like to explore Experiential Design.

3D Module The Queens Theatre

                                              
 
As part of my 3D module I had been concentrating on dramatic structure which I felt was starting to restrict me to internet research and my own experience and values. I felt I needed to expand the subject and look at a Theatre itself to get inspiration for shapes and materials to play around with. As I was an actress myself for many years I was starting to make assumptions in my research and rely on old memories, this has value, but I felt it would be interesting to go back to a Theatre now I am no longer a performer and see it with fresh eyes. I was lucky enough, due to my old connections, to gain access to The Queens Theatre the new home of current longest running musical in Britain - Les Miserables.

Whilst waiting for my friend Emma, currently performing in Les Mis, to meet me after the matinee, I tried to look at any shapes I could see of interest from the outside.

I love the masks on the door, maybe The Queens was originally a comedy theatre as there wasn't a down turned mask in sight. I definitely want to bring the idea  of masks into my work it links with both the Facade and Spectacle themes I am
interested in.  Photos: Authors own Queens Theatre 2010

The first image I was hit with when I walked in was the mannequins used in the battalion scene. They were hung up in order to save space resulting in rather a surreal sight... I felt like a spectator at a public hanging.

Photos: Authors own Queens Theatre 2010

I love costumes and the way they transport me to another time, as an Actress I think I always like to pretend that I am in a different eras and live out stories in my head. The mannequins relate very well to dramatic structure, objects that are suspended create tension for the viewer, they could fall at any time. It made me think back to an exhibition I visited at The Barbican Centre, Sept 2010-  The Surreal House. A piano was hung from the ceiling and viewers had to walk under it, every 10 mins the rope would lengthen, suddenly dropping the piano lower- I found it thrilling.





I love this image with the curtain pinned back revealing the stage reflecting the footlights. I love the idea of what is behind closed doors and enjoy the role of "The Voyeur". In my eyes there is nothing more seductive than something being peeled back giving you a peek of what is beyond. I love the depth in this image, do we need to physically step into a space to experience its expanse, or will a glimpse be enough, in fact will the glimpse give us an even bigger feeling of space as it feeds our imagination enough for us to create our own space without limitation. We can use illusions to give a feeling of space without necessarily the space being there. This could be an illusion as we aren't actually setting foot through the curtain and are making a series of assumptions on the information that we are given.

 Photos: Authors own Queens Theatre 2010

This is definitely the weirdest wallpaper I have ever encountered! All the props are stuck onto it as it gets used as a table in the 1st Act. I love anything this surreal, I like my perception challenged and to see things  from an unexpected angle and scale.

 Photos: Authors own Queens Theatre 2010



Another behind the curtain shot.....

 Photos: Authors own Queens Theatre 2010

I am interested in the different relationships between the spectator and the spectacle.  Here I have taken a photo of the view from the stage thus reversing the roles as the audience becomes the focus.

 Photos: Authors own Queens Theatre 2010

 Do we accept a role by merely by   sitting in a designated seat...?

 

 Photos: Authors own Queens Theatre 2010

I walked past these wig stands on the way in. They appear to be waiting patiently to become their characters.

















On the way out I saw that two stands were already getting into character,  it makes me smile when objects appear human to me.

Photos: Authors own Queens Theatre 2010


Clothes can make you feel utterly different sometimes. It was the icing on the cake when I used to act to put on my costume during the dress rehearsal everything seemed to fall into place. I use clothes in the same way now, I dress according to what character I want to be that day. This is linked to my interest in facade and how what we see on the outside may not correlate to what is on the inside. We all play roles in society at some point, costume is a nice way of referencing this.