Week Eight
Digital Felt
Throughout DP1, I did a lot of felting, and because it is an accessible machine I can use in the textile lab without much sign-off or approval, it makes sense for me to use this as a material constraint for my product in DP2. I set off to create a large piece of felt (roughly 80cm x 70cm) that I would use for all my prototyping for my work. I have been interested in Galina's work, in which she discusses how Kimonos are made using a simple pattern from a single piece of fabric, so it would be interesting to use a single sheet as a constraint as well.
This ensures I am not being wasteful with what I create, and even though it is prototyping, I am being intentional with my materials, which is a key to my research.
The cardingThe carding process took 1 hour and 26 minutes, and the felting process took 45 minutes. I added raw, unbrushed wool to the top of my carding base before going through the machine, which lengthened the process. I did this to simulate a sheep's coat and make something that "felt" (no pun intended) like it belonged in the park, which is a goal of mine.
Carding
As I mentioned before, I spent 1 hour 26 minutes creating my card using a hand-crafting process. After doing this, I set up a digital carder, which does the hand-turning for you, allowing you to continue feeding the fibre through freely and speeding up the process.
I was setting this up for the textile department, so I used some merino wool they had, which is not my own, hence the different colour and texture.
This process took me 25 minutes, significantly faster than the hand card. It is worth noting that since merino is finer, it was easier to feed through, so I will have to consider this and do it with my own wool. It is also worth noting that this was my first time using the machine, and I will get faster.
Overall, setting up this machine was a great success and fits into my narrative of how we can preserve these historical processes and keep authenticity in the garments we make, while still meeting realistic price points.
Situated Ideation
After creating my felted sheet, I needed to figure out what I actually wanted to make. I headed to Cornwall Park on two different occasions: Wednesday at 10AM and Saturday at 4PM, to observe people, see why they are using the space, and ideate.
I mapped it out at two different times because the user pool changes significantly on weekdays vs weekends. Despite this, I was surprised by how many younger people there were, even during the weekdays. Primarily, I noticed that Cornwall Park was filled with connection, with many people in pairs or groups catching up and connecting with each other and with the nature around them.
There were some people there with purposes like running or biking, but the majority just wanted to feel connected to the space, which is an important concept to consider in my product creation.
Reflection
This week revealed what I am calling 'the hat problem'. After sitting in Cornwall Park, I noticed many people wearing hats. I made a tally of people walking past and whether they were wearing just a hat, a hat and sunglasses, just sunglasses, etc. Based on my results, a hat would be a great product to make, and I was happy with my direction of the project. However, upon talking to teachers and peers, I realised that by creating a hat, I was indirectly designing a product that I felt should be used within the park, and that was actually the point of what I wanted to do. I realised that my goal was to create a way for common visitors (people that resonate with the space, visit frequency and have a deep connection to it) to be able to bring some of the park away with them, so they can be reminded of it when they are not there, maybe they move away or can't get there as often. By creating a hat, I was leaning too much on my product design and being like, 'what is a 'problem' (not really a problem) that I can see here, and what can I make to fill the gap?' Because of this, I overcompensated and got very into the research side, trying to define everything I meant, which took me too far out of the project. I had a worry that all I was trying to do through my master's was just "good marketing" and I wasn't addressing anything. Next week, I will dive deeper into finding a middle ground between those two points while also considering the business side of my project to create an updated goal that sits in the middle, rather than leaning toward one side of my thinking.