I'm currently working on my Final Major Project (FMP) which will determine my final grade for my Foundation Diploma in Art and Design at University of the Arts London, London College of Communication.
Since my previous blog post I have added small details which have made an improvement. To begin with, I stained the 100% latex part of the dress with 'blood' (diluted acrylic paint), by soaking the material in this solution for a few seconds, and then hanging up to dry vertically, allowing the 'blood' to run and drip. By staining the dress this way, I was able to create an uneven coverage, which helps to add more texture and life. Also, as the dress was hanging vertically, the bottom of the dress has more saturation, causing a nice gradient which balances the once top-heavy dress. With the help of my 8 month old brother, I coated his hands with mixed acrylic paint, and let him grab and pull the fabric, leaving his tiny, baby hand prints over the material and creating aggressive movements with the strokes. The asymmetry of these hand prints suggest spontaneity, and thus depicts the story of how animals animals in the leather industry are desperate to get away from the brutality that will be their murder. Whilst my brother had messy hands, I also let him tug and pat his white baby grow that he was wearing. Once I was happy with the coverage of baby hands, I then soaked the baby grow in water which had been lightly mixed with brown acrylic paint, to give it a subtle dirty tint, as I felt that the baby grow was too white to begin with.
I also made some intestines; experimenting with tissue, wool, liquid latex and paint. I will arrange these intestines so that they appear to be spilling from the babies all over the floor. I may also hang some intestines from the top of the cage, discard them in a pile etc.
I have also made some changes to my original design. I have decided not to include the medical table with bloodied tools, or the contrasting poster. I feel that the current stage of the design communicates the idea well enough, thus I do not want to over-do the design, losing the rawness and distracting the audience from the message. In addition to this, I have removed the abstract piece in the background and also the black 'wall' to the cage. I now want my design to be open as I have also decided not to have the design in a dark room with dim, green lighting. I have decided that my piece will be displayed in an open area, with white walls and floor, under bright lights. However, what I will do is throw a black sheet (I am currently using a muslin photography backdrop as it's perfectly opaque) over the cage, and the flip the front back. This will conceal what is in the cage, until the spectator can view it from the front - still capturing the shock effect that I was after. As the black sheet will cause some slight shadows and darkness, I have purchased 3 small Stick 'n' Click lights, no more that 3" in diameter each. With my theatrical knowledge, I then purchased green lighting gels, which will be cut to shape and placed over these lights, to create a green hue.
The fine details that I am currently working on includes staining the baby grow with more blood to make it look like the babies have been ill-treated, colour matching the intestines to the babies a bit more, (as they are currently too bright), possibly making some more intestines, finishing the sounds of babies crying - this I may possibly dicard, arranging the lighting and possibly making a label for the dress ("premium leather" or something along those lines will be used, alighting the fact that the leather industry does not state which animal leather is obtained from, and could even be animals such as dogs and cats - or in my case, human babies).
