At Burrastow House we enjoyed
the story telling by Mary Blance. It reminded me of home (Orkney)
with tales of selkies (seals)
and the word ‘riven’ meaning ‘torn’ which
can be an emotional as well as physically thing. Later at Burrastow,
Frankie’s presentation showing her use of new materials
was very inspirational - how complex and lattice like shapes
could be’ metalized’ giving solid form to delicate
structures. I’d been beach combing and found some fish
eggs, I thought of the materials Frankie was using.
During the
Lab I found some ‘industrial waste’ on
the floor in the machine room. These scraps of knitting are
needed to join the actual garment onto the machine. This contains
a
lycra (stretchy) yarn in amongst the wool yarn, and because
of this they curl nicely. I curled and coiled some shapes they
looked
very organic. This reminded of an exhibition I’d seen
by the Blaschka brothers (1). It was also because we were living
beside the sea – on an island ‘surrounded’ by
anemones, jellyfish and invertebrates.
Meeting the lace knitters
and seeing the complexity and softness of the ‘cobweb’ lace,
I realized that it’s
delicacy means it’s often folded and kept in drawers.
I wondered if it was possible to somehow ‘stiffen’ the
cobweb lace using ‘grilon’ a new fibre which
Frankie showed us. Grilon is mouldable when exposed to heat
- steam
or immersed in hot water. This thought connected to images
which
have been with me for over 25 years – Haeckel’s
lithographs. Could I make 3 dimensional lace using this grilon?
Susan
had the excellent idea of re designing (improving) a classic
A shaped sleeveless jumper. This jumper could act
as
a ‘foil’ for
a range of designs for what we came to call interchangeable ‘neckpieces’.
We began working together with Walter (the industrial knitting
machine technician) to get a prototype jumper made. We
visited the wool broker and got some Shetland wool. The
colours were
beautiful, the subdued earthy colours reflecting the landscape,
but the feel of the wool was neither soft nor
luxurious.
We began to work with different ideas
of what the neckpieces could be. Susan selected some of the
more
unusual yarns
in the college and knitted some triangular pieces which
could
tie at
the back or at the front of the neck.
I began simulating
lace by drawing an enlarged Fair Isle pattern onto an open
wove cotton with soft grey pencil.
I then tore
and teased the fibres to suggest irregular more 3 dimensional
lace.
At our mid week meeting we discussed the
idea with the rest of the group who made lots of suggestions
- we could
attach
objects
to the neckpieces, like shells or semi precious stones,
we could use felted material as well as knitted or
woven. Susan
suggested
that the idea itself could be marketed with ‘packs’ for
people to make and/or design their own neckpieces to
accompany the basic jumper.
I really like the fact
that the neck-pieces are not-quite necklaces, not-quite
scarves, not-quite collars. I
continued with Susan
to work on the prototype, by accident more than design
we now have a few different styles and some are felted
and are
open
at the front. We used a range of different yarns, lambswool
and cashmere mixes as well as Shetland wool.
I’m
continuing to experiment with grilon lace and the idea
of ‘various species’ of industrial
waste.
Susan and I would like to perfect the
sleeveless sweater prototype and Susan is interested in developing
the
idea of knitting
packs for neck pieces further, as a potential Langerin’ Lab
project with schools in Shetland.
(1) They were glass makers working in the
late 19th century making glass models of sea creatures (Aberdeen
Art Gallery,
Leopold & Rudolf Blaschka, December 2002). See Leopold & Rudolf
Blaschka, Design Museum, National Glass Centre, TwoTen Gallery
and the authors, 2002
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