Libby Project 3

WEEK 9

For Project 3, I am looking at the desire to be remembered and for our lives to mean something. You live then you die and although some generations afterwards may remember you, your memory on earth gradually fades away to nothing. Sometimes as we age, we even forget who we are and our life as a memory disappears from the very vessel that lived it. I have been looking at self made memorials and the efforts to be remembered. One of the most monumental examples of self made memorials comes from Ancient Egypt. The Pharaoh Ramesses II built entire stone temples to himself with colossal statues in his likeness. Abu Simbel has 4 enormous statues of Ramesses seated in front of the temple looking out over the land he once ruled, The Ramesseum is a memorial temple he oversaw with the whole building dedicated to him, and all around Egypt Ramesses had statues made of himself to preside over his citizens and remind them he was there. Although this may seem an egotistical and extravagant way to preserve your own memory, his desire stems from the part of all of us that doesn’t want to be lost in time. I don’t want to approach this from a personal point of view, rather I want to tap into the fear humanity has of being forever forgotten.

 

WEEK 10

'I have been looking into shapes that I would like to use for the installation and presentation of my project. Staying with the Ancient Egyptian inspiration, I have been looking at the shapes of stelae and obelisks. Stelae were stone slabs that were enscribed with the Pharoah's deeds, triumphs and general life history. These were installed all around the country so that the citizens could admire their leader. They are somewhat simililar to gravestones in terms of shape but are usually longer. I want to avoid the appearance of a gravestone as this is not the direction I want my project to go. Obelisks are similar in terms of their content but they are much bigger. They are very tall and thin with a point at the top. They are often refered to as 'Cleopatra's Needles' although the emergence of obelisks predates her reign by thousands of years.
In terms of sampling, I have been experimenting with text and different techniques I could use to incorporate words onto my 'stelae'. I have been using the words 'Remember Me' intially, although I don't know if I want the text to be so blatant in terms of meaning. I have tried some normal hand embroidery and some embroidery over text printing. I have also been trying out a few different fabrics. Cotton is easier to embroider onto but the effects on silk are more interesting.'

 

 

WEEK 11

Staying with the shapes I decided to use last week, I cut my silk into long, thin rectangles. I decided not to use eco-dyes for this project as I have done a lot of this recently and felt it wouldn’t really relate to the theme anyway. To colour my silk, I used synthetic dyes instead. I got really wonderful colours and some really interesting patterns. I also bled the colours into one another and used organic shapes in the patterning. For me, the colours represent life and living. The transparency of the colours and the delicateness of the silk symbolize the transience of life. The panels are now at the stage of vivid life and memory fading into the abyss of time. What I plan to do next is print onto the silk. I’m experimenting with printing and embroidery using text and relevant sentences. As you can see in my previous entry, I have been using the words ‘Remember Me’ to sample. I don’t know if I’ll use these words as I feel that might be too obvious. At this point however, I need to decide what words and arrangement I will apply to my silk panels. 

WEEK 12

'I have dyed all my panels and am in the process of finishing off the edges and cleaning them up so that they are ready to work on. In my sampling process, I am experimenting with printing on silk with paint and then embroidering over the top. Embroidering on silk is very difficult as the silk warps and the embroidery doesn't hold its form all that well. I have been trying different types of interfacing on the back to make the silk more stable. I have found an interfacing that has a good hold but doesn't ruin the integrity and flow of the silk. The embroidery looks much better on a back that has been interfaced and is much stronger. I’m working on the layout of my printing and text because I want the dyeing and the text to complement each other rather than having one dominate. The panels will probably end up having a little bit of a graffiti feel with all different layers.’