Amy Pliszka, Bees Beside Us/ Textile Futures at Central Saint Martins 2011
This year CSM’s MA Textiles Futures course celebrates a decade of forward-looking experimental work created by its graduates, who continue to push the boundaries that define what textiles can be.
Carole Collet, Course Director defines the ethos of the course as, “smart, sustainable, ethical and poetic”, and she is clear that these aims still resonate strongly. She says, “We’ve had a fantastic decade setting up a new agenda for textiles.”
The exhibition is organised into four sections; Probing the Future, Material Interrogation, Relocating Craft and Emotional Resonance.
In Probing the Future, students explore future scenarios for textile design, in the Material Interrogation section individual students design with their chosen materials at the core of their process. Relocating Craft moves textile craft and ‘hand’ making into a new era, and in Emotional Resonance, students have considered intangibles such as emotion, superstition and the unconscious mind.
Miriam Ribul, Air Momentum
Material Interrogation is one of the most impressive sections. Miriam Ribul’s ‘Air Momentum’ project is perhaps the boldest concept. Taking the invisible air that surrounds us as her material, her experiments were created to “visualise air and to allow it to become tangible through the shapes it creates, how it behaves and defines space or pattern”. Her textile structures employ knotting and lacing techniques. Miriam explains, “Air manifests itself in its connection to something tangible, hence my textile outcomes are designed to allow or to shape air movement.” This fascinating project has been documented through photography and video.
Marie Rouillon, Daily Haptics
Marie Rouillon’s ‘Daily Haptics’ is a beautiful installation, focused on tactile qualities that she feels are much undervalued today. Using a simple white cup shaped receptacle to explore her theme, she says, “Senses are just like muscles, if we don’t exercise them, they lose strength!” So, instead of familiar notices that warn, ‘Please do not touch’, Marie encourages visitors to pick up and explore her pieces, resulting in a refreshing and surprising experience.
A series of seemingly identical plain white cups demonstrated her point well. Each, when handled was revealed as distinct and unique, either fragile or heavy or rough, including one piece which collapsed as you picked it up – made from thin latex but resembling china.
Hyun Jin Jeong, Earth Dyeing
Using earth as a material, Hyun Jin Jeong’s quietly beautiful project is compelling in its simplicity. Her research is a response to sustainability issues in the dyeing and finishing of textiles. 45 different soils were collected from varied locations in the UK and South Korea, resulting in a rich palette of earth pigments, which she used for dyeing and printing. She explains, “There are many natural materials that were once used but are now forgotten. I think rediscovering these materials and using them wisely is essential for a sustainable future.”
Natsai Chieza, Design Fictions/Amy Congdon, Biological Atelier
Amy Congdon’s ‘Biological Atelier’ project formed part of the Probing the Future section. Imagining a world where “ethical ivory accessories or fantastical furs” can all be grown to order, she looks at “a new role for embroidery and textile design in our biological future”. Also in this section, Natsai Chieza’s project also dealt with the application of living materials and imagined the role of the designer’s manufacturing process as taking place in a laboratory in 2075.
Wei Chen, Ephemeral Intervention
The Emotional Resonance section included the work of Wei Chen, who transforms commonplace objects and locations through textile based interventions. Her aim is to improve people’s experience of the urban environment. She describes her work as “organic, unobtrusive and playful. ‘Ephemeral Blossom’ features paper flowers that dissolve in the rain, releasing seeds.
Laura Martinez, DigiCrafted /Andreea Mandrescu, Inlaid Fantasies
In Craft Relocated, Laura Martinez’s ‘Digicrafted’ project explores Rapid Manufacturing technologies, which are set to revolutionise the way products are designed and manufactured. Laura has created some beautiful, decorative textiles that fuse RM technology with traditional fabric manipulation techniques. Also in this section, Andreea Mandrescu explores traditional marquetry and inlay techniques to create innovative bold and fluid fabrics with versatile surfaces that can be used in numerous applications.
For more highlights from this inspiring and thought provoking exhibition visit
http://textilefutures.co.uk/
