reflections

1. How have you used the platform of hot glue to present you work?
I utilised the coloured blocks feature to try and recreate a quilt like pattern throughout the page, since my project revolved around a quilt. I tried to color coordinate it accordingly as well but tried to mute the brightness of the colours slightly so they didn’t take away from the writing. I also used the embed video feature to film my zines rather than just inserting pictures, I feel that the movement made it more dynamic and less still.

2. what is the outcome of your project?
My outcome was a large “quilt” of sorts, made of 108 4x4 inch cardboard squares, with tracing paper prints on it. Each square and print represented an object that my friends and family sent in, when I asked for pictures of objects that had specific memories attached to them. It was meant to communicate the warm and fuzzy feeling that comes with nostalgia, whereas the sharpness of the cardboard and the wires used to connect them all together was meant to represent the bitter aspect of it, since memories can be bittersweet, and often associations can be negative too.

3. who is the audience for your work?
There is no specific audience for my work however since each print was based off pictures my friends and family sent, I figure that it is more geared towards them, since it is more personal to them. It is however meant to be for everyone, since no one really realises how much history is behind even the most minuscule of objects, its meant to spark a conversation that way. I figure the deeper message won’t really communicate well to younger kids, they do have unspoken associations, which is why they keep specific plushies/blankets etc so close, like a blanket that someone they love gave to them/ a plushie that looks like someone they love. Its all weirdly connected unbeknownst to us, which is cool to think about.

4. talk about another hot glue you wished you made

Looking at everyones hot glues I generally wish I hadn’t gotten so caught up in trying to make it look colourful and quilt like and rather focused on a particular aesthetic/narrative. I found that when I went into it I kind of just inserted everything without thinking about it and ended up hating it, which is why is took me 3 whole resets to come up with my quilt idea. I think Anna’s hot glue in particular, with the nostalgic computer aesthetic stood out to me because of how cohesive it was. I also really liked the stripes for sale one because of how they had classified the different kinds of work by linking them to different pages. I figure I could’ve done something more cohesive by making a colourful research page, exploring my quilt colours and patters, and then a separate final page where I decided to scrap the color and focus more on the prints.
I also do wish that I had generally added more research, maybe a short animation of each square or something, because I felt my hot glue page was too flat, so the movement would’ve been really interesting to see.

5. can you turn this work into more of a commodity? ……or something more interactive?
I do think my project is quite interactive because while photographing I made my sister utilise it as an actual quilt, and also the whole process behind it was very collaborative because I got people to send in 100 pictures of their own. I do wish I could’ve come up with a way to incorporate the descriptions that people had sent in but I was afraid It was too personal and some people wouldn’t have appreciated it. Because quilt making is quite a collaborative thing to do I did consider how cool it would’ve been to get people to work on their squares with me, using colours that spoke to them etc, making it more colourful and interactive. It would be quite difficult because everyones studying remotely but had we been in studio, I like to think I would’ve gotten help from the rest of the class, It would be really interesting to see the outcome and the different art styles all merge together. But also there is something quite wholesome about people who don’t paint a lot attempting to paint, so it would’ve been really nice to see the balance between art student work and just general work (like from my parents or siblings or friends who don’t study art)

6. How does your finished work reflect this aspect of the brief?
If I had to pick and choose id say my outcome is more of a mix between a performance? And an installation maybe? Because I wanted my subject interacting with the quilt to be part of the piece (like Anatsui does) making it more of a performance almost. I think it might be an installation because while photographing I tried to make it act like a quilt just set on the bed, and also hanging off the stairs as if it was drying after being washed.
John did suggest scanning and printing it onto actual cloth/quilts, which I figure would make it sellable, it would be cool to see it on tote bags etc too because I feel like the hanging straps tie in with the wire aspect of it.

day 16 (online)

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