log

My plan for the upcoming period of graduation is to explore as much as I can. And to
improve my conceptual thoughts on creating and what my work can be and tell. The ideas I
have in my mind right now, feel like ones that I can use to achieve this ‘goal’ and are
topics/methods that I’m currently very interested into.
Because lately my interest in craft has come up, but as well my role of the autonomous artist
that wants his work to be exposed and is thinking about continuing a master’s in fine arts.
Currently my mind is set on the tools that are used for working methods; like weaving and
press printing (lino/woodcut/etc). It’s just two for now but I feel like I want to explore more
various types, but I haven’t figured out which ones yet. My view on this is that I can gain
deeper knowledge on my work and the process that went into the creating of that by making
my own tools. By making my own machinery I would gain full, or no, control over the
outcome and would be able to influence that outcome. But besides that, I would also gain
more knowledge to understand that particular technique.
I think that the process beforehand of the final outcome is also as much as valuable as the end
result, and so deserves as much as attention. So, to ‘seemingly’ visualize how I see my work
at the end of the graduation; I’ll show various self-made machines that I’ve build and used to
create work, accompanied with the research and tests that we’re done to get to that final
point.
Reflection from feedbacks:

The project has lifted off by the use of my first tool. Two bars with pins screwed into the top
bar, where threads could be wrapped around to form the main basis of the tapestry.
I have started with this small tool with in mind that is was not restricted to a certain frame or
machine. It was made to be attached to various different object. My first idea was to attach it
to pillars around the academy and use it in the open for the students to see, with the thought
of a performance (I will come back to this later on).
After realizing that school was closed for a week I’ve taken the liberty to use tool 1, as I’d
like to call it, in my own home.
By flipping a small stool it opened up a ‘frame’ for the tool to be attached to, this way I was
free to use it.
Upon completing, this is done at a later stage because the first work was a slow process, I had
the chance to reflect on what had be going on.
First off, tool 1 is very primitive. Although it is moveable and can be used on various objects,
it still requires the maker to do all the steps necessary to make a piece of tapestry. This
meaning, I personally had to separate each thread to weave through. I spoke to Ivan later on
about this and we concluded that speed was a major part that confronted this. I myself am
responsible for how fast I weave, and how fast I separate the thread to be weft. Because tool
1 lacks a heddle.
The heddle is the part of the loom that speeds up the process rapidly, it divides al the threads
by a single pull or push. This is a part that will be included in tool 2, for which a separate
object is made that will be a tool on its own, not like tool 1 was detachable and attachable.
Onto wat I chose to weave: I started the basis on the 24 th of February and completed it on the
5 th of march, this took 12 days to finish, although it could be finished in one day, because I
only worked on it once in a while.
The work is a step by step visual reflection of my search for more, it starts of very small, just
weaving one colour through the white basis. But later on I started to incorporate another
colour, and even later decided to try to weave more complex shapes and figures. And finally
even starting to weave letters to mark my own work as the first work made with the first tool,
literly saying “NO. 1”.
I’m still working on deciding to number and sort of catalogue all the works that will be made
by my own tools.

School started again, and I was almost done with the first weave. I was thinking about the possibilities of weave different kind of structures besides rectangular. And after seeing a spider web, a complex shape basically woven, I tried to give a singular shape a go.
So, I build a new frame, this time square with nails running all along the sides to create a “full” weave. A circle had to be added in the middle to form the basis of the weft, this was hard to do because I had chosen to have the circle be the same material as the tapestry structure, fabric. This meant that it was very loosely and hard to get an equal circle.

March 7th, I started to build a frame for tool 1 to actually contradict the first use of the tool. With this I had the opportunity to weave everywhere where I wanted and was not limited to objects in my surroundings. The frame can be removed from the tool and it is therefore still available to use with the surroundings.

I’ve completed more work with tool 1, although this work was not made within the mind of this project the tool was more operate able at different locations and my knowledge and hand movements increased thus I was able to complete the small works way faster than the first work.
Next work that I will make with this tool will be an experiment with a gap in the vertical line of the weave. I won’t spend to much time on that one yet because i’m more concentrated on building more tools to work with and reflect on them, and i can also come back to the work at a later stage.

I’ve been thinking about including a work made by one of the looms here at school.
This tapestry would act as an introduction to weaving and eventually to the creation of my own tools. I haven’t started weaving actually and i haven’t done it in general, and especially for this piece i’ll have to make a clear choice what kind of role it will be fulfilling. Because otherwise it could be a lost call to include this piece if it doesn’t add to the concept.

So i’ve decided to give it a rest and focus on a few other things in my project, for instance keeping this log up to date and visualizing some sketched for my tools. This will go accompanied with the creation of a online portfolio/visual log on the project.