Responding to Kinetic Fabric Art and Lino Printing

Following on from my research into kinetic fabric art and lino printing, I have decided to combine both together and draw inspiration from the previous work I have done so far. 

I started of by visiting multiple different charity shops for different fabrics, rather than buying a large amount of new fabric, I initially was looking at what sort of material would be best to do lino printing on, and found in one shop a roll of fabric;

Although the fabric was ideal for printing, I decided to not buy it as my project - and S.A.H.R. - has a focus on unconventional reuse, adaptive reuse, and new materialist thinking, and by buying this roll of fabric to use for lino printing it would go against my project; a roll of fabric like this was very much an invitation for lino printing.

After refocusing back onto my project, I ended up finding some second hand bedsheets, a duvet cover and pillow cases, and a sheer curtain. Thinking about how I want this artefact to be a part of Wymering Manor and to be an installation piece, I decided that the curtain would be the best fit, as it could be installed in the manor in different ways, for example; hung in a window, off the first floor hallway down into the Great Hall where I did my performance piece, or on a wall. 

Using my patterns that I had pulled out from my previous work, I carved them into lino and used them as the first layer of prints;

I decided to use these patterns as it creates a sense of nostalgia as these patterns are quite recognisable as they are very unique, and represents the atmosphere and impact of the Great Hall and the manor itself.

You may notice in the last photo that the curtain is on top of my performance piece, I decided to print onto the curtain on top of this as the curtain is very sheer and the ink bled through quite easily, giving me the opportunity to also print onto my previous work simultaneously, and to work back into my performance piece. It ended up producing a very nice, 'vintage' look on my performance piece, as it only partially printed through the curtain and you can see the fabric marks in the ink. 

This relates back to Wymering and my idea of 'old vs. new' as the prints have a vintage, traditional look to them, which stand out against the abstract, new age performance piece, similar to how Wymering stands out against the modern housing that surrounds it. 

I have decided that on my curtain I will be printing the history of the owners of the manor and significant moments in history onto it, using different images to represent different parts. As discussed before, the manor's history is very important to preserve, as well as the manor, so that future generations in the local community have a local heritage to be proud of and to be able to educate themselves and others of the manor's history and its importance to the community. 

(All images taken by me.)