planning and testing

colours used in Dean's rag book

Popped in to NUA Thursday to print a mock up of my rag book and to get some information and advice from Neil. The mock rag book revealed that I need to give more attention to the positioning of my drawings on each page - they need to contrast to give an element of surprise - and to the colours used - there needs to be some consistentency to bring it together.  I will be incorporating the four main colours used in Dean's Rag Books.

Neil is on holiday until 5th or 7th August - which is probably a good thing because it means that I will research, plan and test more thoroughly before digitally printing.

The Blue Cock

Katharina Fritsch's Hahn/Cock has been installed on the 4th plinth.  Its bold and I'm looking forward to seeing this on my next visit to London.  Described by the Guardian as 'a comment on masculinity and public pomp', this is just what I need for my collaged rag book.

For research purposes only, I popped into the Cath Kidstone shop on Norwich yesterday.  In truth, I like some of the stuff but the ubiquity of the goods, the predictability, the cosiness and the saturation branding really puts me off.  It gave me the horrors because I have previously blogged that my work usually references the past. 

Listened to Woman's Hour yesterday - all about the suffragettes.  Apparently we are in fourth wave feminism and I thought we were still in the third wave!  Back to the research.  I also emailed a feminist lecturer to ask her opinion.

Dean Rag Books

I've got this fabulous book which shows the lovely illustrations used in rag books from the early 1900s.  It gives information about the artists, the company, the advertising and the customers.  It explains the history of Deans books, the construction, materials, size and colours of the rag books and the soft dolls.              The images used are humorous.  I want to say that the images and content are 'gentle' but they are unbelievably racist - the range includes Sambo dolls (1906), Coon Dolls (1906,1908) and golliwogs.  The book range includes Ten Little Niggers (1908 and 1919) and Pickaninny A.B.C. (1905).  Cruel? naive? ignorant? affectionate?  Who knows, but certainly not nice.  

 

Unashamedly nostalgic and very appealing to me - I realise that all my work references the past - I like the naivety, the colours, the black outlines, the materiality. Very enjoyable.

reviewing, 'to do' list and deadline

Okay, the visitors have gone, the laundry's done.  Where was I?

My plan had been to 'investigate the relationship between feminism and home crafts' to create collaged images.  I have already done a lot of my research.  The topic is complex - individual attitudes to feminism and class/poverty preventing any simplification.  I started with a simple question to the question 'Are you a feminist?' to friends and relatives.  I decided to incorporate the forty responses in my designs. 

By home crafts, I mean knitting, crochet, embroidery, dressmaking, patchwork etc.  Okay, but where are the references to these home crafts?  I need to research this more to clarify who, what and when then incorporate them into my work.

I have a few images so far.  Mainly of children's toys which have a gender, some suffragette images, office typewriter images and one of a 1950s embroidery.  I need more images - especially those which incorporate stitch.

I have become interested in rag books - because they tie in with repurposing textiles, they 'jar' with the responses, they relate to the images of toys and I like the 'book' format.  I have been researching the Deans rag books - I like the colourways and the naivety.

Experimentation.  I have thought long and hard about whether they should be digitally printed in the first instance then screen printed/stitched (not realistic to use repurposed textiles)or whether to screen print initially (and upcycle textiles).  I need to experiment! This is where I fall down - I don't experiment enough.  Next week I have to try both as an experiment.

I also need to do a paper mock up of a rag book. I have been told to do more testing & planning.

I also need to select images appropriate for a website which I want to start to develop as part of my professional practice. And interview professionals.

I've got less than four weeks!

rag books

I have been researching rag books.  Jane McKeating has made cloth books - larger, with fewer pages but with more detail than I plan to do mine.

I have also revisited the subject of craftivism - more wide ranging than feminism - activism includes sustainability, globalisation, sweat shop labour, racism, war and violence.  Just my cup of tea.  I think I'm a craftivist!

 
I have been looking at the Arthur + Martha website and blog.  Very worthy.  I'd like to think I could do something like that - but I am a bit short of patience!  We'll see.

Louise Bourgeois

In the last unit I made some screen prints of a wedding and although I was pleased with them, they only really came together when I made the images into a book.

Today I watched a television recording of Imagine (2007) Louise Bourgeois: Spiderwoman presented by Alan Yentob.  I have never really understood her work - mainly because it is quite shocking - but I watched it because she was a feminist and she used stitch. 

The programme explained her life and her work.  She was damaged, vulnerable, single minded, brave, strong and talented.  Tracey Emin featured in the programme too - both biographical artists.  Towards the end of her life, Louise Bourgeois used fabric from her wardrobe of clothes to make appliqued images which she sewed into a book made of embroidered napkins. 

I am again going to use a book format to present my collage images alongside quotes from the survey about feminism.

topical

When I decided on the topic for the self-negotiated unit, I hadn't anticipated or noticed the revival of interest in feminism.  The whole of Woman's Hour, Radio BBC4 was about feminism today.  I sense a real change of direction.  Woman are happy to say they are feminists now - which wasn't always the case.

My 'off the cuff' survey to women asked 'Are you a feminist'.  Forty responses, of which 31 said Yes, only 5 said No, and 4 categorised themselves differently.  

Current discussions include the anniversary of Emily Davison's death at Epsom, the discontinuance of Page 3 model in The Sun, Caitlin Moran's funny and youthful books and blog and disproportionate representation of female images on banknotes.

I've been drawing images - suffragettes, a little doll in a rag dress with what looks like a black eye and a little teddy bear with a spanner.