Keyi Fang

Week1- Introduction to sustainability

• Using plastic to simulate silk

By looking at discarded plastic bags, I found that this very thin and smooth plastic product can take on a silky luster under the influence of layering and folding. My ”waste recycling“ related embroidery sample created from discarded plastic.

Through this recycling of plastic, I began to try to find other useless wastes in life to create art.

• Using other materials that can be recycled

I made a 3D picture out of shopping bags and foam. I also found discarded electronic parts (including switches, resistors, diodes, etc.) and tried to make the embroidery sample. The electronic parts could be fixed to the grid very well, and the effect was similar to that of the beads I usually used. With the continuous development of modern science and technology, the electronic waste generated by human beings is also increasing, if we treat the electronic parts in these electronic waste as embroidery beads, we can create sustainable electronic embroidery fabrics.

• Artist study

In this interactive sculpture, thousands of recycled keyboard keys are embedded into a continuous textile. The keys spell out a line-by-line transcript of the email correspondence between the artist and fabricators regarding the creation of the artwork. As a result, the sculpture documents its own making. Viewers can also type their own messages on the active keys amid the first three rows of emails. These new messages are then projected onto the opposite end of the fabric, thereby continuing the virtual dialogue. The project speaks to the pervasiveness of email in our lives while commenting on the fact that, despite the modern technology of virtual communication, our written language is linked to the tactile sensation of moving our fingers over an outmoded typewriter system.

• Sonic Fabric

Through this week’s study of the development of new technology fabrics. I discovered Sonic Fabric, one of artist Alvce Santoro’s signature creations, a fun, modern and technological fabric that combines music, textiles and sustainability to create a new interactive experience. The unique thing about sound cloth is that it can play out the music it contains. textile
Tape filaments actually contain a recording of music or sound, and by using a magnetic head or tape player, people can “read” these tapes and hear the music on them.

The special Galician-edition of Sonic Fabric was commissioned by Sinsal Audio and the Cidade da Cultura de Galicia in Santiago de Compostela, Spain. Artists from this sublimely beautiful part of the world contributed sixty tracks of sound, music, and spoken word. The resulting fabric was made into garments by students at the University of Vigo – Adrian Rivas, Antonio Santos, and David Del Rio. Exibition and live performance took place at the Cidade da Cultura on December 14. 2011. 

• My sample

Inspired by the above research, I used the chain machine to create fabric samples combined with ribbon and video. Although there is no way to play music directly, it is also a new way to combine the scientific and technological sense of music and fabrics.

• My sketches and samples of nature

I used hand embroidery, machine embroidery and mixed materials to make my embroidery sample, including the abstract part of flowers and the details of hand-embroidered iris.

Week 4 – Cultural Sustainability

• Natural dying

Traditional plant dyeing is a method of dyeing textile materials by extracting dyes from vegetation plants. The dyes used in dyeing are obtained from plants, animals or mineral resources, and textiles are mostly natural fabrics, such as cotton, hemp, silk, and wool, which are taken from nature and used on people, and are precious gifts given by nature to mankind.

Plant dyeing is an immersive sensory experience, from picking up fallen leaves to washing raw materials to selecting images to your liking. The case involves tying the fabric with rope but the final product is in front of you. It’s an enjoyable process. It’s purposeful, it’s beautiful and it inspires our design potential. Its greatest value is that I learn to appreciate and cherish nature and life Inherent uniqueness.

The experiment of plant dyeing was carried out with rose, phalaenopsis, daffodil and other flowers.

• A brand that speaks for women’s rights – Vivian Westwood

The 2019 Autumn/Winter series show Vivienne Westwood will bring Rose McGowan, a female victim who bravely stood up in last year’s social hot #MeToo event, to the show. People who pay attention to the #MeToo movement should be familiar with the name Rose McGowan. She was one of the first to come forward with allegations of sexual assault against Weinstein and a leading figure in #MeToo.
In this show, spiritual claims are made with various graffiti, playful prints, exaggerated makeup and iconic street design surprises us. Random bold tailoring, uninhibited appearance, will rebel to the end! There is a witch in every woman’s heart, and Queen West is sent by God to meet the witch’s desire of women.
The appearance of a number of women’s and men’s dresses is very eye-catching, boldly revealing the current society’s various discussions on LGBT, feminism and so on.

In this stage, I learned many different new skills and aspects of how to do primary and secondary research. During the visit to the Tate Morden Museum and Horniman Museum and Gardens, I also found many beautiful plants and animals and deeply immersed myself in the natural world. I try to record nature in my eyes with different media and painting methods, observe the shapes, textures and colours of flowers and animals, and combine these elements with the topics about sustainability, nature and culture that I have learned in the lecture of this unit. I gained a lot of knowledge in different fields and new ways of research and creation and also strengthened relationships with new students and teachers during the trip to the museum.
In second-hand research, I got to know a lot of artists and fashion designers I didn’t know before. Through analysing and learning their works, I also got a new understanding of the concept of each unit and how to create my own fabrics. These artists in different fields have also broadened my horizons and allowed me to acquire more knowledge in different fields. Especially in the study of designers in the fashion industry, I also have an understanding of the development of the fashion industry and the importance of the concept of sustainable development in the fashion industry.
This unit not only allows us to learn how to discover and study better lives and the composition of better lives but also enables me to grow up and step into my own better life.