MODULE 3

FUNCTIONAL

ART

Research

PART ONE

The first part of this module was for us to explore a textile. Starting in the Helen Louis Allen Textile Collection in SoHE, we were to find a textile that inspired us. The way I decided what textile inspired me was not necessarily thinking about furniture right away, but instead, I picked out shapes that intrigued me. I looked for colors, detail, and a textile that I saw as beautiful because if I loved the textile, I was sure there could be a way I could continue with it as my inspiration throughout this module.

I chose the textile to the right because I loved the detail and the mirrors that were incorporated in its embroidery. Then, I sketched some of the details of the textile that stuck out to me as possible inspiration.

I needed to research the history of my textile in order to understand why and how it was designed. This textile was made in India by someone of the Mahajan culture. During the ten year span, 1895-1905, of this textiles production, there was a new industrialization happening in colonial India. A mismatch existed between modern industrialization efforts and the Indian artisan individuals. There was resistance to change from the craftswomen and men because there was pressure to innovate. Conflict arose because many artisans did not want to abandon their traditional ways to the industry of textile making. The individual artisans were known for their quality in technique, and worried that modern industrialization at a national or global level was going to take that cultural tradition away from them.

Additionally, during this time markets were getting bigger and constantly changing along with meanings, traditions, and symbols in the Indian culture. There was an increase in desire for cheaper, simpler goods instead of the quality, time consuming traditional ones. This forced a change quickly and dramatically for the Indian people which came with loss of identity and meaning of traditional culture.

Therefore, this quality, detailed textile created by this culture is certainly a beauty to appreciate.

Reference: Roy, T. (2007). Out of tradition: Master artisans and economic change in colonial india. The Journal of Asian Studies, 66(4), 963-991.

Lastly, I combined what I learned about my textile historically with the inspiration I had to create six chair designs. I really liked incorporating the rhombus shapes that were all throughout the textile and also the mirrors are something I would really like to play with in my prototypes moving forward. I am excited to see where these initial designs take me moving forward. There is a lot to learn about simplicity and appreciation for it in this project.

PART TWO

PROTOYPES

Using my first sketches from part one, I chose my most promising designs to create more detailed drawings. Then, it was time to start creating a physical model. I considered what materials I wanted to use for my tangible design, and what ones would work best for each. Out of desire to experiment with the laser cutter, I made my first prototype design out of wood.

wood prototype one

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I learned immediately from my prototype: it would not stand up on its own. While I love the design, the chair was not stable in the way I hoped, so something needed to change. Therefore, I started brainstorming other shapes for the actual seat piece, and also different places legs or another form of stability could come to the ground.

I experimented with a couple more designs by making them quickly out of paper. The paper design with four legs was certainly stable, but it wasn't my favorite idea. Then, I thought about instead making another rhombus like the seat into a base that holds up the vertical back to the chair.

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Try #1

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Try #2

Elevations

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Design #2

The elevation shows the final design idea I came up with. There is going to be a rhombus as the base of the design for stability, and then another slightly larger rhombus for the seat. On the two ends of the rhombus seat, two legs will bend and connect to the base of the design. This design will be a large bench and designed for people to be able to sit from all sides. I am going to be using wood as the material for the entire design except for the circular mirror that will be placed on the vertical back of the bench.

Now, I am going to build it!

PART THREE

chair

Building the final chair after a process of sketching, planning, and prototyping, required precision and thorough detail. It was satisfying to put the chair, box, and pamphlet altogether because it felt and looked so professional.

The chair is made of wood and is three individual pieces. The back piece with the circle cut-out sits on the base rhombus. Then, the base has two small holes on each end that hold the legs from the seat in place. The final product became very similar to what I hoped for, except the bending feature on the bench was not cooperating as I expected. It took several tries with the laser cutter and adjusting the dimensions in Illustrator to create the chair I would stick with.

While some parts of designing this chair (or bench) was challenging and slightly exhaustive in ways, it taught me so much. Something I really appreciate about this class and this project is it allows for us to make some really amazing designs, in a quick fashion. We start each project with getting inspiration, brainstorming, and sketching, and it helps me develop a design process. However, it teaches me as well how if I had more time to work on something, like I might in a real job setting, the detail and time I would spend making a truly refined, final product.

This is not me saying that a project might never be truly finished and perfect, but that I appreciate the design process I am beginning to adapt on a small scale.