The Experience of Colour

Technical Statement
MAAD4C02, March 2012

Amanda McCusker
Advisors: Eva Ennist, Beth Alber, Ken Vickerson, and Lynne Heller

Preface
Process. Technique. Skill-set. In the four years that I have been at OCAD, I have learned many different processes, many different techniques, and I have earned myself a skill-set that is unique to my perspective and particular education. I remember how confused I was in the Design Process course that I had to take in first year. I remember sitting in that class wondering if it had any real significance to the rest of my years at university. It turns out, four years later, that it was one of the most important classes that I took. Mind you, something that wasnt highlighted enough in that course is the highly subjective nature of process. It was not discussed enough how diverse process can be. My process, it turns out, is one of experience and incubation. I take in visual information like a sponge and use my mental stores of experience to create the objects I imagine. My thesis work is no exception to this fact, and so I have decided to preface my technical statement with an explanation. But what am I explaining? This is to help you, the viewer, understand why I have so many photos in this binder. I am not much of a sketching person. In this binder you will not find a lot of sketches. My version of sketching is photography. I take photos of colour palettes, and shapes, and light, and shadows. I try to capture the things that exist around me in such a way that I can be inspired again and again to create new things. I mind map a lot. You will stumble into some mind maps on your journey through this binder. I also make a lot of rambly notes to myself. Those are very personal, so they dont occur as much as they do in my real process. The sketches that you do find in this binder wont explain a lot to you about how I got to my final piece. You really need to look at the pictures that I have included to understand where this cube was born from. I also recommend looking up my list of influential artists. Each one of them has inspired me in very different ways, but together they make sense as a map of my process. As for my technique, well, thats something that has developed over time in interesting ways. In some instances I have learned to cut corners and do things faster when appropriate, and in other cases I have realized that more time must be spent on certain steps than what I was originally told. Ive learned that these are only things that a maker can know once they have repeated an act of making enough times. So in the end, perhaps thats what this is. It is a showcase of my repetitive making which has brought me to this point in my education and artistry. I hope that in reading through this binder you learn more about my process, and what I consider to be the act of making. Amanda McCusker
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Personal Photo Inspirations

Copenhagen, October 2010

Kolding, September 2010

Champs DElysses, Paris, October 2010

Odense, October 2010

Copenhagen, October 2010

Personal Photo Inspirations

Copenhagen, October 2010

Copenhagen, October 2010

Copenhagen, October 2010

Champs DElysses, Paris, October 2010

Luxembourg, October 2010

Personal Photo Inspirations

Berlin, October 2010

Copenhagen, October 2010

Zaanse Schans, October 2010

Odense, October 2010

Istanbul, December 2010

Personal Photo Inspirations

Kingston, Ont August 2011

Chicago, August 2011

Chicago, August 2011

Frankfurt, September 2010

Chicago, August 2011

Personal Photo Inspirations

Chicago August 2011

Chicago, August 2011

Chicago, August 2011

Chicago, August 2011

Chicago, August 2011

TUMBLR photo inspirations

RENA, Cargo ship that flipped off the coast of New Zealand. Inspired by the movement of the modular forms, and the loss of control over something so man made. News Photo.

This cat in a bowl is apparently from LOL Cats. I felt inspired by the fluffiness trapped within the smooth glass bowl. Its also really cute, and I kind of wish I could cuddle it.

This is a calendar called DayBoard. Each day is a different colour and can be moved around on the board. The magnets can hold tickets, pictures, etc.

This is a Pygmy Nuthatch. The colours of its feathers are what inspired me about this photo. Couldnt find an official source of the photography.

Apparently this is an installation called To Breath by Kim Sooja. I liked how the light was used to create movement through colour and rainbows.

This is someones drawing of a lot of coloured squares. I just liked it because it was colourful, and Ive had squares on the brain for a while.

TUMBLR photo inspirations

This is a kindergarten in Ljubljana, Slovenia by Jure Kotnik architects. The outer walls are colourful panels that can be moved by the kids to either let light in, or keep light out.

This is apparently in Italy. I thought it was pretty, and modular, and inspiring. Would like to live in a place like this, perhaps.

Zobop Stairs by Jim Lambie, 2003. I found them inspiring for their use of colour in a domestic setting. Stairs are so boring, more should be like this.

This rug was designed by Sonya Winner. I liked it because of its colourfulness, and the use of squares.

Crystals! No idea what the image is specifically, but they sure inspired by design of the objects that make up the cube.

This is an image of Liddicoatite Tourmaline. This type of rock holds a lot of colour in its core, and displays it with its transparent body.

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TUMBLR photo inspirations

This pretty dyeing picture was taken by Richard Creagh. This is where you can find it again: www. flickr.com/photos/15468270@ N07/

HOW CUTE ARE THESE ALPACAS? Thats why theyre here really... they inspire me to make things that people will want to interact with as much as I want to interact with these alpacas.

This is the Fly Ranch Geyser. Isnt it neat? I think so too. It inspires me with its natural form and amazing colour. Inspiring form and hue.

Swan babies. In a cute competition, alpacas vs. swan babies knows no answer. Both are equally adorable. I want to interact with these animals, and thats why theyre here too.

These are located in Canberra. I think theyre neat. They are also someones flickr image that flooded tumblr at some point.

I dont really like Paris as a city, but my goodness there is some nice design there. This is inside The Maison de Champs Elysees. I like that chair.

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TUMBLR photo inspirations

ORANGE is my favourite colour. And I like crystals. So this is here. Not sure where it came from, but it exists, and it inspired me. Tried googling it... nothing came up. So I guess its just to be enjoyed.

This is called Polygon Clock and it was designed by George Nelson. I want it. And I like the use of 3-D forms... obviously? I think yes.

This is a sculpture by Typeo called Confetti Death. I dont really care much for it, other than the use of space and the colours.

This is an image by Nick Night for a film he called Massive Attack. I liked how the colours show up in layers on this flower. The purple is also a lovely shade.

This is a painting by Gianna Commito called Bud from 2010. The complexity and use of colour inspired me.

We didnt get enough snow this year for me to try this. If its still snowing in the year youre reading this, I hope maybe you can try... unless the world ends this year... then no one is reading this.

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ARTISTS AND DESIGNERS

I was influenced in my design and creative process by works from the following artists and designers: Olafur Eliasson Jennifer Steinkamp Piotr Kowalski Jesse Treece Maurizo Anxeri Janet Echelman Frank Stella Pae White Abraham Cruzvillegas Frank Gehry Os Gemeos Tobias Putrih Wim Delvoye Attila Csrgo Kvadrat Schmidt Hammer Lassen (architects) Nikki de Saint Phalle Sigalit Landau Mondrian Marianna Grnnow

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Sketch Book Excerpts

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Sketch Book Excerpts

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Sketch Book Excerpts

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Sketch Book Excerpts

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Sketch Book Excerpts

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Sketch Book Excerpts

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HOW TO: Batch Dye

FIXATIVE

DYE

Dye Solution: 4g Procion MX dye powder, 4 g urea, 50 ml water Dissolve urea and dye powder into bowling water and stir well to dissolve. Let cool before use. Fixative Solution: 1/8 cup salt, 1tbsp sodium carbonate, 1L water Bring water to a boil. Add salt and sodium carbonate and stir to dissolve. Let cool before use. Procedure: 1. Wash and dry fibres that you intend to dye. 2. Weigh dry fibres and put in water to pre-soak. 3. Prop plastic baggies in a bowl/container. I usually prop 4 bags together in a shallow bucket. Pour fixative solution in each bag. (10g of fibre = 100mL of fixative) 4. Add dye into bags and seal. (10g of fibre = 10mL of dye) 5. Shake the baggies over a sink and rinse off any excess dye. Prop up in container again. 6. Add fibre to bags and seal as you go. Shake bags with fibre inside over the sink, to evenly distribute colour. Put baggies into another (larger) container/bucket. 7. Leave baggies in container for 24 hours or more. My preference is to leave the baggies for 48 to 72 hours, as this produces better colour. You can move the bags around during this time to promote even colour, but with less fibre it doesnt really matter. 8. Dump the dye from your baggie and rinse your fibre under hot water. Fill the baggie with hot water and put the fibre back in it. Let it sit for 15 to 30 minutes. Dump out water and repeat. 9. Dump water, fill bag with fibre reactive dye fixative and hot water. Let sit 10 minutes, then rinse out fibre and put it somewhere to dry! 20

ALWAYS WEAR GLOVES.

BATCH DYEING

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10T

Dye Samples
10R 9T1Y 2Y8R 1Y9R

T= turquoise Y= yellow R= red K= black

all dyes are procion MX, fibre reactive dyes. cheese cloth was batch dyed in 10g bags for 3 days.

9R1T 8R2T

8T2Y

3Y7R 6R4T 4Y6R 7T3Y

7R3T

5R5T 5Y5R 6T4Y 4R6T 3R7T 5T5Y 7Y3R 4T6Y 8Y2R 1R9T 3T7Y 9Y1R 2T8Y 1Y 2R8T

6Y4R

10Y 10K 1T9Y

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Dye Samples

Dyeing wood from the wood studio proved to give interesting results, but they werent what I was looking for in my experiments.

My original acrylics tests yielded a lot of information. Loosely woven fabric is better for embedding, and making a mould from LDPE is better than trying to create a mould from acrylic sheet.

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Dye Samples

Weighing the fabric before dyeing is very important. The electronic scales in the fibre office are actually better than this scale.

In the first semester I made 8 triaxials, using 4 kinds of cotton fabric, and two combinations of red/yellow/ blue. After all of that sampling, I realized that I would be using cheesecloth instead, which I had not included in my initial research.

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HOW TO: Make a Puzzle Cube

1. Buy some HDU 2. Cut 3 equal blocks.

ite wh ue gl

3. Glue blocks together. 4. Let cube dry.

5. Sand sides smooth and cut equal sized pyramids from all corners. 7. Cut middle layer in half and cut one half into pieces. 8. Vacuum form pieces with LDPE to create moulds. 9. Cast acrylic and embed cheesecloth into the moulds.

6. Cut apart top layer.

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VACUUM FORMING

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MAKING A PIECE

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Map of Sources
Toronto Hemp Company Bamboo Bazaar
phone: 416 656 1065 1840 Davenport Road Toronto, Ontario www.torontohemp.com phone: 416 920 1980 665 Yonge Street (at Charles) Toronto, Ontario email: dom@torontohemp.com

OCAD University Designer Fabrics

www.designerfabric.ca phone: 416 531 2870 1360 Queen Street West Toronto, Ontario email: fabric@designerfabric.ca

www.ocadu.com phone: 416 977 6000 100 McCaul Street Toronto, Ontario

G&S Dye Affordable Textiles

phone: 416 504 4117 531 Queen Street West Toronto, Ontario

www.gsdye.com phone: 416 596 0550 250 Dundas St. West Toronto, Ontario

Dundas St. West

M cC au ee tr l S t
Queen St. West

n Yo ge ee tr S t
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Material Costs
Affordable Textiles
Cheesecloth- $3.99/yard DISCOUNT $3.25/yard Cotton Ribbed Jersey- $8.99/yard Cotton Fleece Jersey- $8.99/yard Cotton Terrycloth- $9.99/yard

G&S Dye
Procion MX dye: 214 Yellow- $7.75/50g 412 Red- $7.25/50g 510 Turquoise- $7.75/50g 708 Black- $9.50/50g

Bamboo Bazaar
seagrass rattan bamboo

OCAD University
Fibre Studio: cotton muslin- $3.50/yard silk ramie- $7/yard silk rayon velvet- $20/yard

Designer Fabrics
linen- $19.99/yard jute- $2.99/yard

Plastics Studio: acrylic cast- $11.50/lb LDPE- $1/sq.f HDU- $5/sq.f

Toronto Hemp Company

100% Hemp Summercloth- $18.95/m Hemp Silk (60/40)- $19.95/m Hemp Cotton Muslin (55/45)- $10.95/m Hemp Cotton Twill (55/45)- $13.95/m Hemp Jersey (55/45)- $12.95/m Hemp Herringbone (55/45)- $16.95/m *they will sell you 1/8 a metre of fabric. Great for sampling!

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