Design Development

Within our workshop alicated days Sam and I started to look at toiling on the stand, panelling and different techniques to develop our inital ideas, putting flat designs into a 3D form so if there were any adjusments we needed to make we could develop them.

Memory Blanket

The 'memory blanket' consists of silhouettes of human groups 'sewn' together in the form of a blanket. The connected shapes are suspended in order that shadows are created so that the projected image may become the focus of attention. The story is unrecognisable until the work is spotlit. Then the shapes shown resemble the thoughts and memories of childhood - really very clever design. I really like the idea of creating memories out of silhouettes, and drawing memories from the past from distinctive shapes and figures that the memory has retained. The colours are also key point within Wendy's work as it symbolises key moments from the past, this relates to memory encoding and what the memory choses to remember about different people. Wendy has created a series of acrylic installations on the subject of memory and narrative told through light and shadow.


The viewer is encouraged to study the work carefully, to play detective, in order to discover the stories hidden in the artworks. A continuous memory blanket (a contemporary tapestry) features the artist's inter-related personal experiences. Individual episodes are linked by threads - the ties which bind us - illustrating how Wendy perceives a sense of interconnection between the people and events in her life. In contrast, smaller pods focus on a single subject or story. The semi-circular shape of these pods embrace the viewer, allowing shadows to fall upon them, drawing them into the narrative process.

Goldfish Memory

Short-term memory (sometimes referred to as "primary memory" or "active memory") refers to the capacity for holding a small amount of information in mind in an active, readily available state for a short period of time. The duration of short-term memory (when rehearsal or active maintenance is prevented) is believed to be in the order of seconds. Estimates of short-term memory capacity limits vary from about 4 to about 9 items, depending upon the experimental design used to estimate capacity.

Short Term memory can be translated through to fabrics especially innovative, smart fabrics. Neopreme and Memory foam are fabrics which when imprinted on create shapes and embedded outlines which last for secondsthen spring back to their original form. Heat sensitive fabric also changes colour when exposed to different temperatures this is not permanent and lasts for minutes if not seconds, this short term memory aspect can be related through to these smart fabrics in the sense the outcome is not permanent and is only a short term effect.

Angela Palmer

The increasing cross-over between science and art has seen an explosion of work in a myriad of media worldwide, resulting in exciting collaborations between the disciplines. Angela’s work is largely based on details derived from MRI and CAT scans which she engraves or draws onto multiple sheets of glass, layer upon layer.

"This layering Technique could be seen as layering and trapping memories between the sheet of glass."



This technique allows her to use the scientific anatomy of the human body stripped of its recognisable features.
Most of Angela’s work is based on MRI scans of herself - rebuilding the body, slice by slice, to create a self-portrait. While the works may not be instantly recognisable as a portrait, they are objective representations – removing the familiar to expose the extraordinary architecture of the internal human form.

Silhouette of a Memory

Here I have experimented with inks, blending colours and letting them run to represent the shapes and colours within the coloured MRI scans. I then scanned the image into photoshop and looked at layering blocks off colour and differing the opacity to create the illusion of embedding a memory and creating a structured silhouette of a short term memory.

Inside Out

MRI scans give us detailed images of inside the body, to see which parts of the brain are active when you perform certain tasks or feel certain emotions and sensations. Telling us information in affect backwards, so what we can't visually see on the outside, Communicatin from the Inside out. Looking scientificly at the anatomy of the human body stripped of its recognisable features.

Rooted In The Senses.

Encoding is the first step to creating a memory which is often due to non verbal communications such as body language, facial expressions, touch and smells. All of these things lead to first impressions and perceptions of people around them. Communication is key to memories. It is a biological phenomenon rooted in the senses, that begins with perception. Consider, for example, the memory of the first person you ever fell in lvoe with. When you met that person, your visual system likely registered physical features, such as colour of their eyes and hair. Your auditory system may have picked up the sound of their laugh. The scent of their perfume, felt their touch of their hand, each of these seperate sensations travel to the part of the brain called the hippocampus which is responsible for analyzing these various sensory inputs.

Although a memory begins with perception, it is encoded and stored using the language of electricity and chemicals. Here's how it works: Nerve cells connect with other cells at a point called a synapse. All the action in your brain occurs at these synapses, where electrical pulses carrying messages leap across gaps between cells.
The electrical firing of a pulse across the gap triggers the release of chemical messengers called neurotransmitters. These neurotransmitters diffuse across the spaces between cells, attaching themselves to neighboring cells. Each brain cell can form thousands of links like this, giving a typical brain about 100 trillion synapses. The parts of the brain cells that receive these electric impulses are called dendrites, feathery tips of brain cells that reach out to neighboring brain cells.
The connections between brain cells aren't set in concrete -- they change all the time. Brain cells work together in a network, organizing themselves into groups that specialize in different kinds of information processing. As one brain cell sends signals to another, the synapse between the two gets stronger. The more signals sent between them, the stronger the connection grows. Thus, with each new experience, your brain slightly rewires its physical structure. In fact, how you use your brain helps determine how your brain is organized. It is this flexibility, which scientists call plasticity, that can help your brain rewire itself if it is ever damaged.
As you learn and experience the world and changes occur at the synapses and dendrites, more connections in your brain are created. The brain organizes and reorganizes itself in response to your experiences, forming memories triggered by the effects of outside input prompted by experience, education, or training.
These changes are reinforced with use, so that as you learn and practice new information, intricate circuits of knowledge and memory are built in the brain. If you play a piece of music over and over, for example, the repeated firing of certain cells in a certain order in your brain makes it easier to repeat this firing later on. The result: You get better at playing the music. You can play it faster, with fewer mistakes. Practice it long enough and you will play it perfectly. Yet if you stop practicing for several weeks and then try to play the piece, you may notice that the result is no longer perfect. Your brain has already begun to forget what you once knew so well.


The typical brain has about 100 trillion synapses, which are the points where nerve cells in the human brain connect with other cells.
To properly encode a memory, you must first be paying attention. Since you cannot pay attention to everything all the time, most of what you encounter every day is simply filtered out, and only a few stimuli pass into your conscious awareness. If you remembered every single thing that you noticed, your memory would be full before you even left the house in the morning. What scientists aren't sure about is whether stimuli are screened out during the sensory input stage or only after the brain processes its significance. What we do know is that how you pay attention to information may be the most important factor in how much of it you actually remember.

Subtraction Workshop

10/01/2010

University today consisted of an Innovative pattern cutting workshop. Working in pairs we bought fabrics; a patterned fabric, a plain fabric and a lining all of which were woven fabrics with no stretch. It was a really interesting day as we learnt a technique with endless opportunites to progress with, such as using the technique within other garments.
Lee our tutor lead the group creating a session of looking, taking in and then applying wha he had just showed us.

Julian roberts. "Subtraction Cutting"

Julian Roberts is a UK fashion designer. His work is whimsical, subversive, full of color, texture and volume. His silhouettes challenge the status quo by not always conforming to the form of the body but instead breaking away to create shapes, drapes and folds in unexpected places. What is especially interesting about his work is his experimental process for creating his garments. He has created a new and very innovative way of cutting garment patterns called “subtraction cutting”. The method uses huge pieces of fabric sewn into tubes. From these tubes, shapes are cut out, the tube is folded, and the outlines of the “subtracted” shapes are sewn together. This is done according to a few specific guidelines but with a great deal of room for experimentation. He teaches and performs this technique for the public at large. He’s incredibly open when it comes to sharing his techniques. As a designer I find this transparency and willingness to share refreshing. He doesn’t fear being outdone or copied. He trusts that each individual will have a unique way of interpreting his methods, and that creativity is not finite but rather something to be shared and celebrated for it’s boundless potential.

Non-Verbal Communication

Nonverbal communication is the process of communicating through sending and receiving wordless messages. Such messages can be communicated through gesture, body language or posture; facial expression and eye contact, object communication such as clothing, hairstyles or even architecture, or symbols and infographics, as well as through an aggregate of the above, such as behavioral communication. Nonverbal communication plays a key role in every person's day to day life, from employment to romantic engagements. Speech may also contain nonverbal elements known as paralanguage, including voice quality, emotion and speaking style, as well as prosodic features such as rhythm, intonation and stress. Likewise, written texts have nonverbal elements such as handwriting style, spatial arrangement of words, or the use of emoticons. A portmanteau of the English words emotion (or emote) and icon, an emoticon is a symbol or combination of symbols used to convey emotional content in written or message form. Other communication channels such as telegraphy fit into this category, whereby signals travel from person to person by an alternative means. These signals can in themselves be representative of words, objects or merely be state projections. Trials have shown that humans can communicate directly in this way without body language, voice tonality or words.
Physical. This is the personal type of communication. It includes facial expressions, tone of voice, sense of touch, sense of smell, and body motions.

Aesthetic. This is the type of communication that takes place through creative expressions: playing instrumental music, dancing, painting and sculpturing.
Signs. This is the mechanical type of communication, which includes the use of signal flags, the 21-gun salute, horns, and sirens.
Symbolic. This is the type of communication that makes use of religious, status, or ego-building symbols.
Static Features. Distance. The distance one stands from another frequently conveys a non-verbal message. In some cultures it is a sign of attraction, while in others it may reflect status or the intensity of the exchange.
Orientation. People may present themselves in various ways: face-to-face, side-to-side, or even back-to-back. For example, cooperating people are likely to sit side-by-side while competitors frequently face one another.
Posture. Obviously one can be lying down, seated, or standing. These are not the elements of posture that convey messages. Are we slouched or erect ? Are our legs crossed or our arms folded ? Such postures convey a degree of formality and the degree of relaxation in the communication exchange.
Physical Contact. Shaking hands, touching, holding, embracing, pushing, or patting on the back all convey messages. They reflect an element of intimacy or a feeling of (or lack of) attraction.
Dynamic Features
A smile, frown, raised eyebrow, yawn, and sneer all convey information. Facial expressions continually change during interaction and are monitored constantly by the recipient. There is evidence that the meaning of these expressions may be similar across cultures.
Gestures. One of the most frequently observed, but least understood, cues is a hand movement. Most people use hand movements regularly when talking. While some gestures (e.g., a clenched fist) have universal meanings, most of the others are individually learned and idiosyncratic.
Looking. A major feature of social communication is eye contact. It can convey emotion, signal when to talk or finish, or aversion. The frequency of contact may suggest either interest or boredom.
Visual communication
Visual communication as the name suggests is communication through visual aid. It is the conveyance of ideas and information in forms that can be read or looked upon. Primarily associated with two dimensional images, it includes: signs, typography, drawing, graphic design, illustration, colour and electronic resources. It solely relies on vision. It is form of communication with visual effect. It explores the idea that a visual message with text has a greater power to inform, educate or persuade a person. It is communication by presenting information through visual form. The evaluation of a good visual design is based on measuring comprehension by the audience, not on aesthetic or artistic preference. There are no universally agreed-upon principles of beauty and ugliness. There exists a variety of ways to present information visually, like gestures, body languages, video and TV. Here, focus is on the presentation of text, pictures, diagrams, photos, et cetera, integrated on a computer display. The term visual presentation is used to refer to the actual presentation of information. Recent research in the field has focused on web design and graphically oriented usability. Graphic designers use methods of visual communication in their professional practice.

Sender, Message, Reciever

"Communication is a process of transferring information from one entity to another. Communication processes are sign-mediated interactions between at least two agents which share a repertoire of signs and semiotic rules. Communication is commonly defined as "the imparting or interchange of thoughts, opinions, or information by speech, writing, or signs". Although there is such a thing as one-way communication, communication can be perceived better as a two-way process in which there is an exchange and progression of thoughts, feelings or ideas (energy) towards a mutually accepted goal or direction (information)
Communication is a process whereby information is enclosed in a package and is channeled and imparted by a sender to a receiver via some medium. The receiver then decodes the message and gives the sender a feedback. All forms of communication require a sender, a message, and a receiver. Communication requires that all parties have an area of communicative commonality. There are auditory means, such as speech, song, and tone of voice, and there are nonverbal means, such as body language, sign language, paralanguage, touch, eye contact, through media, i.e., picures, graphics and sound, and writing."
A language is a particular kind of system for encoding and decoding information. The term “language” has branched by analogy into several meanings. The most obvious manifestations are spoken languages such as English or Spoken Chinese. However, there are also written languages and other systems of visual symbols such as sign languages. In cognitive science the term is also sometimes extended to refer to the human cognitive facility of creating and using language. Essential to both meanings is the systematic creation and usage of systems of symbols, each pairing a specific sign with an intended meaning, established through social conventions