Erinparkerdesign Visual Essay - The Process is the Outcome by erinparkerdesign

Figure 1: Parker, (2021a) Bin Liner Leather with Light Experimentation

The Process is the Outcome in Material & Process-led Design Contemporary Design Practice Visual Essay

Erin Parker N0868468

Contents

The Process is the Oucome. Page 4-5

Texture. Page 6-7

Recognition of the Original. Page 14-17

Material Transformation & Behaviour in Existing Works. Page 18-27

Conclusion. Page 28-29

References. Page 30-31

Figures List Page: 1. Parker, E., Fused Bin Liner Leather with Light Experimentation, 2021a.....................................1&10 2. Blencowe, A., Thaw, 2015a..............................................................................................................................................4-5 3. Blencowe, A.,The Process of Thaw, 2015b.............................................................................................................6-7 4. Parker, E., Knitted Bowl, 2021b.......................................................................................................................................8 5. Parker, E., Knitted Bowl Cast into Concrete, 2021c.............................................................................................9 6. Parker, E., Bin Liner Wallet, 2021d................................................................................................................................11 7. Parker, E., Black and White Fused Bin Liner, 2021e..........................................................................................12 8. Parker, E., Fusing ‘Virgin’ Bin Liner, 2021f.........................................................................................................12-13 9. Simpson, V., Rachel Whiteread’s Plaster Cast Boxes, 2017b......................................................................14-15 10. Parker, E., Erin Casting Concrete into a Fused Bin Liner Mould, 2021g...........................................16 11. Parker, E., Candle Holder Cast From a Fused Bin Liner Mould, 2021h......................................................17 12. Kim, H., Process of Melting The Mask, 2021b.......................................................................................................18 13. Kim, H., Stack and Stack Stool, 2021a....................................................................................................................19 14. Kim, H.,Haneul Kim Face Mask Light Experiment, 2021c.........................................................................21 15. McCloud, H., Hugo Mccloud Fresh Direct Painting With Plastic Bags, 2019................................23 16. Noguchi, I., Noguchi Akari Lamp Process, 1951..............................................................................................24 17. Noguchi, I., Noguchi Akari Lamps, 2018................................................................................................................25 18. Maurer, I., 24 Karat Blau, 2005.............................................................................................................................26-27 19. Parker, E., Stretching the Fused Bin Liner, 2021j............................................................................................28 20. Parker, E., Burning Fused Bin Liner, 2021i............................................................................................................29

Hyperlinks 1. Blencowe, A., 2015c, Thaw Process video...................................................................................................................7 https://adamblencowe.com/Thaw 2. Parker, E., 2021k, Material & Process-led Design...............................................................................................13 https://erinparkerdesigns.myportfolio.com/fuse-material-process-led-design 3. Reuters., 2020, Student Fashions Furniture From Face Masks...............................................................20 https://youtu.be/uO_1RnK4bSM 4. Vitra., 2019, Production of the Akari Light Sculptures, Isamu Noguchi, 1951................................24 https://youtu.be/hQ8SbDJ7Cck

The process is the outcome. Process and material-led design often has us fixated on the outcome, but should we really be looking at the process itself as the outcome? In designer, Adam Blencowe’s project, Thaw, he explained that “the outcome is the video” (Blencowe, 2021). The video shows Adam’s process of experimenting with powder plaster and ice to create a series of stools. Experimentation and transformation are key in material and process-led design. Arguably, the process is the outcome. This visual essay explores different materials and processes, particularly focusing on the texture generated from these experiments. Reference will be made to the work of others, their processes, and how my design thinking has developed throughout this project.

Figure 2: Blencowe, (2015a) Thaw

Texture. Texture fascinates us. “Attributes of textures can have a significant impact on our emotions” (Oliver, 2020). Humans are tactile beings. We learn through our hands.

Figure 3: Blencowe, (2015b) The Process of Thaw

The Paradox of failure. The material journey started off with a very naive “ad hoc” approach. Ad hoc means that something is “not planned before it happens” (Cambridge University Press, 2021). This flexible approach led to some interesting experiments with outcomes that could have been written off as failures. I believe that “Designers Must Learn to Embrace Failure” (Kelley & Kelley, 2013) Adam Blencowe used the ad hoc approach in the process of ‘Thaw’ as seen in Figure 3. https://adamblencowe.com/Thaw

Figure 4: Parker, (2021b) Knitted Bowl

Casting textiles into concrete. Willing to embrace failure, this project began with experimentation of materials and processes and investigated the textures they generated. A lesson that was soon learned was that the process had a huge impact on the outcome. Unintentionally, an illusion that was visually confusing was created through casting textiles into concrete. The most interesting result from this experiment was a knitted bowl that still had the fuzzy texture of the yarn, as seen in figure 5, recognising its original form as seen in figure 4.

“Designers Must Learn to Embrace Failure”

Figure 5: Parker, (2021c) Knitted Bowl Cast into Concrete

-Tom Kelley & David Kelley (2013)

Figure 1: Parker, (2021a) Bin Liner Leather with Light Experimentation

Figure 6: Parker, (2021d) Bin Liner Wallet

Fusing Bin Liners. The happiest accident was the ‘fused bin liner’ experiment. Eight layers were fused together as seen in figure 6. The expectation was that it would have become a flat sheet of plastic. However, as it heated it began to shrink in areas and produce a wrinkled ‘leather’ effect, it even scorched in some patches, as seen in figure 1. This discovery prompted further exploration into the materials properties, behaviour, and the interesting revelation of its reaction to light.

Figure 7: Parker, (2021e) Black and White Fused Bin Liner

Later, the observation of the interesting contrast of black and white tones, as seen in figure 7 provoked an investigation into the incorporation of blue and green bin liners to produce different colour combinations. Another ‘happy accident’ was scrunching the material before the fusing process, as seen in figure 8. This coerced the material into more exaggerated scorching and wrinkling. This forced ‘failure’ created a beautiful and exaggerated texture. Further experimentation into the investigation of material properties can be viewed on my website:

Figure 8: Parker, (2021f) Fusing ‘Virgin’ Bin Liner

https://erinparkerdesigns.myportfolio.com/ fuse-material-process-led-design

Recognition of the original.

Figure 9: Simpson, (2017b) Rachel Whiteread’sPlaster Cast Boxes

In a material and process-led design approach, it is important to reflect on the origin of materials and processes you are using and how that is celebrated. In Rachel Whiteread’s Retrospective installation, as seen in figure 9, The interior castings “seem to have had the life, the air, the very history sucked out of them” (Simpson, 2017a). Casting interiors of vessels captures textures that are normally obscured. It is fascinating to reflect on the behaviour of the material. Cardboard boxes have a slight rigidity but when full they begin to bulge.

Figure 10: Parker, (2021g) Erin Casting Concrete into a Fused Bin Liner Mould

Figure 11: Parker, (2021h) Candle Holder Cast From a Fused Bin Liner Mould

When objects are cast you see the inverse of the texture helping you to appreciate the quality. Fascinated by this process and combining previous experiments, I cast concrete into a fused bin liner mould as seen in figure 10. Due to the flexibility of the fused bin liner, it created a bulge effect. The outcome is an illusion and creates visual confusion due to the rigid material taking on the form and texture of a flexible one as seen in figure 11.

Material Transformation & Behaviour in Existing Works. A key aspect of material and process-led design is transformation. Through different processes you can change the way a material behaves, looks, and feels.

Figure 12: Kim, (2021b) Process of Melting the Mask

South Korean designer, Haneul Kim has repurposed and transformed face masks he collected from his University campus into a chaotic, stackable stool. The single use plastic from the masks was an identified issue and his project, as seen in figure 12, aims to divert single use masks “from ending up in landfill and in our oceans” (Hahn, 2021).

Figure 13: Kim, (2021a) Stack and Stack Stool

Recently, Kim ventured into lighting and utilising the interesting texture produced by melting face masks. This produced a beautiful, diffused glow and shows the process within the creases and layers as seen in figure 14. The texture reminds me of my fused bin liner as seen in figure 1. Our philosophies of preventing single use plastic from being only single use, run parallel. Unfortunately, as effective as these philosophies are, “as long as these uses are ignored by current industrial design and manufacturing, which typically refrain from embracing any vision of a products further life, such reuse will often be unsafe, even lethal.” (McDonough and Braungar, 2009) Therefore, as creative as Haneul Kim’s idea is, there is no evidence of the longevity of the material and process he is using. Perhaps Kim is making a political statement to bring an interest in sustainability to those responsible in industrial design and manufacturing. https://youtu.be/uO_1RnK4bSM

Figure 14: Kim, (2021c) Hanuel Kim Face Mask Light Experiment

Hugo McCloud’s Paintings with Plastic Bags. A huge inspiration for minimising the use of single use plastic and making the process clear within his outcome is Hugo McCloud and his ‘paintings,’ made from fusing plastic bags with an iron onto a wooden board. The exhibition of McCloud’s work, entitled “Burdened,” aims to show the process in a different way. In his earlier work, McCloud was inspired by the “processes used by labourers in developing countries” (Walsh. n.d). After a trip to India in 2015, McCloud pioneered an idea for a new process of fusing plastic bags to create a piece of Art inspired by the “abundance of plastic bags in the general environment while traveling through the Dharavi slums in Mumbai.” McCloud formulated an idea to gather the stories of different people on his travels and use his artwork as a platform to express that (Walsh. n.d). Thus, creating a narrative through his art. The narrative is the process of learning on his travels he went through, to produce his outcome. McCloud successfully conveys the process to his audience through his work as well as bringing the issue of single use plastic to light. .

Figure 15: McCloud, (2019) Hugo McCloud Painting with Plastic Bags

Isamu Noguchi’s Akari Light sculptures. Another excellent example of the process being the outcome is Isamu Noguchi’s Akari light sculptures. The lamp shades with a subtle diffused glow are named after their “illumination” and “weightlessness.” Akari “follows the traditional methods for Japanese Gifu lanterns.” Handmade washi paper is “cut into strips and glued onto both sides of the framework” (Isamu Noguchi Museum, n.d). Noguchi was known to describe his collection as “poetic, ephemeral and tentative.” From this, we can infer that Noguchi was referring to the lights fulfilling their purposefully short lives, prioritising the material and process, and exploiting its ability to permit light in a beautiful way (Blanchard, 2001).

Figure 16: Noguchi, (1951) Noguchi Akari Lamp Process

https://youtu.be/hQ8SbDJ7Cck

Figure 17: Noguchi, (2018) Noguchi Akari Lamps

Ingo Maurer’s 24 Karat Blau.

Figure 18: Maurer, (2005) 24 Karat Blau

Utilising the texture and material behaviour, Ingo Maurer’s 24 Karat Blau is a prime example. The gold leaf is manipulated to produce a “warm golden light.” This is created by the process of the gold leaf being “beaten to a thickness of 1/10.000 mm, corresponding to 1.000 atomic layers” (Ingo Maurer, 2005). This process is clear, and its importance is shown in the outcome. The process had to be done to enable the “short-wave blue light” to pass through the molecules (Hundred Mile, n.d).

Figure 19: Parker, (2021j) Stretching the Fused Bin Liner

Conclusion. In conclusion, through exploration and wider research, the journey is the fascinating notion in material and processled design. Beauty comes from the process and by allowing the material to ‘fail’ and enabling it to behave as it naturally wants to, always has an interesting outcome.

Figure 20: Parker, (2021i) Burning Fused Bin Liner

As designers we need to understand there is no such thing as failure, there are only opportunities, but we just have not found them yet. By allowing a material to fail you test its limits, which is vital, when it comes to understanding the properties of a material and its process. In short, from this exploration, it is clear that the process is the outcome.

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