The Institute of Unlearning

The Institute

of

Unlearning

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T h e I n s tit u t e o f U n l e a r n i n g

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T h e I n s tit u t e o f U n l e a r n i n g

The Institute

of

Unlearning

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T h e I n s tit u t e o f U n l e a r n i n g

Contents

7

18

The Institute of Unlearning

Student 001

8 The Birth of the Institute

20 Topic of Unlearning

11

22

Unlearning

Experiment Preparations

13

34

A Cup of Tea

Original Embroidery

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40

Methods of Unlearning

Unlearning Experiment 01: In Tea

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50

Guidelines for Unlearning

Unlearning Experiment 02: Without Hoop

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Unlearning Experime Irregular Gri

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Unlearning Experime Without Thread

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Unlearning Experime Without Cloth

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Unlearning Experime Without Needl

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Unlearning Experime Patch Receipt

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Unlearning Experime Without Sight

ent 03: id

ent 04: d I

ent 05: I

T h e I n s tit u t e o f U n l e a r n i n g

132 Unlearning Experiment 09: Without Dominant Hand

The Institute 144 of Unlearning Unlearning Experiment 10: Without Cloth II

156 Unlearning Experiment 11: Without Thread II

166

ent 06: le

Unlearning Experiment 12: Without Guidelines

ent 07: ts

Failed Attempts

ent 08: t

5

174 The Institute of Unlearning was created in 2015, by the author of this publication.

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Last word

The Institute of Unlearning prides itself as a place where keen individuals enroll to forget old ways and to unlearn and relearn — all in the name of increasing one’s personal level of adaptability and capacity to be more creative and innovative, not only in order to enhance one’s standing in the working society, but also to enrich oneself in more ways than one in his/her everyday life. Only by unlearning what we already know, can we allow ourselves the possibilities of seeing new ways of doing things. At The Institute of Unlearning, we encourage students to master the ability to adapt not only by solving challenges but also by letting go of what was previously learned, visit undiscovered territories and to think differently and creatively.

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T h e I n s tit u t e o f U n l e a r n i n g

Contents

7

18

The Institute of Unlearning

Student 001

8 The Birth of the Institute

20 Topic of Unlearning

11

22

Unlearning

Experiment Preparations

13

34

A Cup of Tea

Original Embroidery

14

40

Methods of Unlearning

Unlearning Experiment 01: In Tea

15

50

Guidelines for Unlearning

Unlearning Experiment 02: Without Hoop

T h e I n s tit u t e o f U n l e a r n i n g

The Institute of Unlearning

The Institute of Unlearning was created in 2015, by the author of this publication.

7

The Institute of Unlearning prides itself as a place where keen individuals enroll to forget old ways and to unlearn and relearn — all in the name of increasing one’s personal level of adaptability and capacity to be more creative and innovative, not only in order to enhance one’s standing in the working society, but also to enrich oneself in more ways than one in his/her everyday life. Only by unlearning what we already know, can we allow ourselves the possibilities of seeing new ways of doing things. At The Institute of Unlearning, we encourage students to master the ability to adapt not only by solving challenges but also by letting go of what was previously learned, visit undiscovered territories and to think differently and creatively.

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T h e I n s tit u t e o f U n l e a r n i n g

­ —— “Learning agility is key — to being adaptable”

The Birth of the Institute

9

T h e B i r t h o f t h e i n s tit u t e

Cultivating the skills of adaptability and creativity

In the face of rapid globalization

obsolete and currently, 40% of what

and following the progression of

students are learning today are said

technology, the world has seen

to become obsolete in a decade’s time1.

ceaseless dynamic transformations and

Being constantly surrounded by highly

is constantly evolving. This gave rise

intelligent and specialised knowledge

to the need for adaptability. In the

workers, we can no longer rely simply

past, the absence of technology made

on old knowledge and skills to get us

life simpler and there was no need to

by and counting on our titles to define

constantly upgrade ourselves to improve

what we do, as job security is a thing

our employability. People can stay in

of the past2.

the same job for decades without the fear of competition.

There is an undeniable need to adapt with the changing world, to keep up

This is unfortunately no longer the

with the times by continually evolving

case in the present day. The world

and reinventing ourselves. This

we live in today has seen profound

requires us to grow and transform by

changes in technology, demography and

stepping out of our comfort zones –

globalization of talent. Jobs that used

something most people are too afraid

to be important in the past have become

to try. The majority of the population

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T h e I n s tit u t e o f U n l e a r n i n g

stop exploring further to discover new

all important recruiting requirements

grounds once the basics are taught1.

by 2018. Besides recruits, it is also

Breaking new grounds requires courage

crucial for leaders to be adaptable. A

and the sacrifice of the security of

2008 study conducted by the Economist

knowing the familiar and being exposed

Intelligence Unit showed that the

to the possibility of failure. However,

ability to facilitate change is one

digital technology has changed the

of the top three leadership qualities

competitive environment and we cannot

that will be important in the years to

afford or allow ourselves to only focus

come4. Learning agility is key to being

on predetermined sets of skills to

adaptable1. The ability to constantly

perform routine tasks. As more routine

unlearn old things and relearning them

jobs have increasingly become automated,

in a different way allows us to find

the change in the expectations of the

new perspectives of looking at things

value of human input forces us to

and explore our boundaries.

transform ourselves to become more creative and innovative as we enter a

Therefore, The Institute of Unlearning

new era of talent3.

was established to study the human’s ability to manipulate our habits and

In recent years, records have shown

use them to our advantage through

that new graduates will increasingly be

learning, unlearning and relearning,

recruited for their adaptability. Right

to help position us to become more

Management reports in The Flux Report

adaptable human beings by expanding

(2014) that the ability to deal with

the possibilities of creativity and

change and uncertainty and the ability

innovation in the way we think.

to deal with unanticipated problems are

1

Warrell, 2014

2

Prince, 2012

3

Satell, 2014

4

Martinuzzi, 2009

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Unlearning

“The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn.”

Alvin Toffler

unlearn |ʌnˈlɜr n| (verb) Intentionally discarding what was learned from one’s memory and moving away from what was known

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T h e I n s tit u t e o f U n l e a r n i n g

Unlearning habits 95%

Up to of our behaviours is based on habits that are under the control of the subconscious mind5. We repeat 45% of our actions on a daily basis6. These automated behaviours known as habits allow us to perform many routine tasks quickly with little or no thought and thus allow the brain to free up more brain power to tackle new challenges ahead7.

However, these automated mental models end up making our actions so easy that we hardly give them another thought and hence, push us to disregard the reality of various situations, dismissing signals because the message we get from this automated part of the brain is that we already know about it8. This results in a one track mind of doing things, making us think that there is only a ‘right way’ of doing things, which is the kind of thought that hinders our progress to think differently about our tasks and problems at hand, stops us from being able to unlearn and prohibits the growth of our ability to adapt. If we do not learn new skills, we do not engage our brain’s plasticity. Highly focused activities help to keep our brain in good shape9. Brain researchers have discovered that when we consciously develop new habits, our brain develops and jump our thoughts into new innovative tracks. The more we attempt new things and the more we explore outside our comfort zone, the more inherently creative we become10. Learning completely new things is often seen as the key to success; but learning is not so much the challenge as it is our ability to unlearn what we are familiar with. The Institute of Unlearning exists for the purpose of encouraging unlearning, and relearning through a different lens.

Martin, 2008

5

Rubin, 2015

6 7 8 9 10

Glei, 2012

Gonzales, 2008 Alta Mira, 2015

Rae-Dupree, 2009

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unlearning

Nan-in, a Japanese master during the Meiji era (1868-1912), received a university professor who came to inquire about Zen. Nan-in served tea. He poured his visitor's cup full, and then kept on pouring. The professor watched the overflow until he could no longer restrain himself.

A cup of tea It is overfull.

No more will go in!

Like this cup, you are full of your own opinions and speculations. How can I show you Zen unless you first empty your cup?

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T h e I n s tit u t e o f U n l e a r n i n g

methods of unlearning : (1)

unlearning one specific inflexible old skill by rewiring the brain completely

(2)

repetition of an activity, completed in different ways under challenging circumstances

(3)

a pre-determined course of problem-solving scenarios that tests one’s skill to adapt

(4)

construct a list of personal habits that one would like to change or pick up

1 eg. riding a backward bicycle 2 eg. baking a cake without sugar without flour without eggs 3 standard 10-day course of various obstacle and problem scenarios to train one to unlearn and adapt 4 eg. writing with left hand or drinking a cup of water every morning

methods and guidelines

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For the repetition method, think of an activity that you would like to work on.

It doesn’t matter exactly what the nature of the activity is, but it should be something familiar that you have done before and have developed a habitual way or method of carrying out said activity.

12

List at least unlearning experiments where that you can carry out the activity repetitively in more innovative ways.

The experiments should be designed to be creative and cognitively-stimulating and not too simple. They should challenge your ability to unlearn and/or adapt.

guidelines Tip: You can try removing an essential tool or ingredient that you would have required to use to carry out the activity. In doing so, you have to think of methods to go around the missing tool and work up a creative solution to unlearn and adapt to your less ideal circumstance.

T h e I n s tit u t e o f U n l e a r n i n g

pa rt ii: Student Particulars and Preparations

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Student 001 ­–– Reason for enrollment ­ – — Grown tiresome of the regularities in life and desires to attempt things differently for a change, in hopes of improving overall creativity and inventiveness in both her personal life and in her profession

T h e I n s tit u t e o f U n l e a r n i n g

Name

Jolyn Ong

Age

24

Occupation

Design Student

Unlearning Experience

None

Year of Enrolment

2015

student 001

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Jolyn is the first student and the creator of The Institute of Unlearning. What started out as a project to understand the human’s ability to manipulate habits to become more adaptable has led her to make herself the first subject of her study, to find out on a personal level, her own capacity to unlearn and adapt.

method of unlearning Jolyn has chosen the method of unlearning by repetition.

By repeating an activity several times, over and over, under many different, less ideal and irregular circumstances, she will be forced to let go of what she had previously learnt about the ‘proper’ method of doing the activity, and think of new and creative ways to achieve the goal of the activity while finding solutions to tackle the abnormal circumstances.

This method can be applied to any activity one wishes to unlearn as it does not matter so much the specificity of the activity as it is the ability to unlearn it by doing it in many different ways.

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T h e I n s tit u t e o f U n l e a r n i n g

topic of unlearning:

embroidery

Jolyn has chosen her topic of unlearning to be embroidery.

This is because of the following reasons:

1

2

She has had previous experiences of embroidery and is used to embroidering in a certain way.

She is familiar with embroidery so it is not something new to her, therefore she has enough to unlearn. She will be able to unlearn her habits of embroidery and further explore other ways to approach it that she has not tried before.

As she is the creator and the first student of The Institute of Unlearning, she wanted a subject that could give her tangible products from her experiments in order to show it to prospective students the results of her own unlearning.

3

4

Embroidery is a small-scale activity that still consists of many tools and materials to carry out so that gives her more room to unlearn as she can try to achieve the same goal each time, without a certain tool.

The product of embroidery is a handmade craft that records and transforms her hand movements into a physical image.

Body movement is something she has studied regarding changing behavioural habits.

topic of unlearning: embroidery

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A tracing paper with the traced image to be embroidered is used to copy and transfer the outlines onto the cloth for the embroidery so that the 12 experiments will be consistent in size and specifications.

It is important to note that it does not matter what the image to be embroidered is, as the point of the experiments is to challenge the ability to unlearn and adapt.

Jolyn has chosen to embroider plants as they are neither too complicated nor too easy, and is calming as an image of embroidery.

The design was inspired by her Orchid plant.

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T h e I n s tit u t e o f U n l e a r n i n g

e x p e r i m e n t s : p r e p a r a ti o n s

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Experiments:

preparations

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essential materials

T h e I n s tit u t e o f U n l e a r n i n g

1.

E mb roide ry hoop

Needed for holding the cloth tout for neater embroidery.

p r e p a r a ti o n s : e s s e n ti a l m a t e r i a l s

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2. cloth scissors

This scissors made cutting cloth a breeze as compared to normal scissors.

3. white cot ton cloth

White cloth that is not too thin or thick and of reasonable thread count so that needle holes does not stretch.

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T h e I n s tit u t e o f U n l e a r n i n g

4.

DMC C o t t o n e mb roide ry f l o s s

The final confirmed selection of colours after several tests.

E mb roide ry scissors

Important for snipping strays ends in tight corners as it has a tiny sharp tip.

Aw l

Occasionally needed for some experiments to help create a hole when needle is absent.

S t r a w n ee d l e Size 1

Needle with a big enough hole for the thick floss to go through but not too thick a body so it does not create a big hole.

p r e p a r a ti o n s : E s s e n ti a l m a t e r i a l s

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6.

7.

5.

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T h e I n s tit u t e o f U n l e a r n i n g

Here are some of the stitches that were explored beforehand to decide how to go about doing the embroidering.

Top row L-R

Bottom row L-R

Stem stitch Long&short stitch Cross stitch

Blanket stitch Backstitch Satin stitch Chain stitch

p r e p a r a ti o n s : s tit c h e s

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T h e I n s tit u t e o f U n l e a r n i n g

Pa r t y at t he b a c k I always enjoy looking at the back of embroideries. I think the back of embroideries are as beautiful as the front if not more. I think the back of an embroidery can also reveal what kind of person the embroider is.

p r e p a r a ti o n s : c o l o u r s

Shades of green I didn’t know which shades of green and beiges would suit the embroidery most so I bought alot of colours since I can’t test them in stores. Tested many times to decide on the final selection of colours for the leaves and roots.

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T h e I n s tit u t e o f U n l e a r n i n g

T h e I n s tit u t e o f U n l e a r n i n g

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Part iii: The experiments 12 experiments under irregular circumstances

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T h e I n s tit u t e o f U n l e a r n i n g

00

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d u r a ti o n o f a cti v it y 5h 00min

e n v i r o n m e n t Normal

ORIGINAL

T OR he IGIn NAL s tit (u Wt Ie T HOU ofTUn UNLEARN learnin Ig NG )

E S S EN T I A L S (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10)

U S ED

Cloth scissors White cotton cloth Embroidery hoop Embroidery scissors Embroidery flosses Needles Threads Guidelines Sight Hands

original (without unlearning)

T HE

OR I G I NAL

It is important to understand how the original embroidery is done before unlearning begins so that we can compare the differences and conclude the lessons learnt for each unlearning experiment.

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T h e I n s tit u t e o f U n l e a r n i n g

T h e I n s tit u t e o f U n l e a r n i n g

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As mentioned before, the tracing paper with the guidelines of the image to be embroidered will be pressed and burnished onto the cloth and the graphite from the pencil will be transferred onto the cloth.

Simply pressing lightly will not work, I had to use alot of force to rub against spot by spot to get a really dark and proper transfer.

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T h e I n s tit u t e o f U n l e a r n i n g

How to embroider the original 1 2 3

4

Cut the white cloth 26cm x 26cm

Insert the cut white cloth into the embroidery hoop and tighten

Use tracing paper with the design on it traced with pencil to copy onto the cloth by pressing the two together against a hard surface for the graphite to transfer.

Thread the first thread in green (colour 3345) into the needle hole and tie a knot at the other end of the thread.

o R I G I NAL ( W I T HOU T UNLEARN I NG )

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5

6

Sew the bonecoloured(3033) thread onto these stem sections, entering the needle from the back, in the stitch pattern on the right.

Sew the green(3345) onto the four leaves sections.

7

Sew the light-green(937) thread onto this section here.

8

Sew the lightergreen(3012) thread onto these sections.

9

Sew the bonecoloured(3033) thread onto this bottom section of the stem.

10

Sew the brown(3362) thread onto the bonecoloured sections.

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Sew the light-beige(842) thread all over the roots section.

12

Sew the light-brown(3363) thread over the lightbeige roots on the parts in pink.

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Sew the dark-brown(839) thread on the parts on the roots indicated with stripes.

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T h e I n s tit u t e o f U n l e a r n i n g

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d u r a ti o n o f a cti v it y 7h 45min

e n v i r o n m e n t Underwater

E S S EN T I A L S (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10)

U S ED

Cloth scissors White cotton cloth Embroidery hoop Embroidery scissors Embroidery flosses Needles Threads Guidelines Sight Hands

MA T ER I A L S U S ED FOR UN L EARN I N G (1) (2) (3)

Large clear container Tea bags Water

unlearning experiment 01: in tea

Tea gives the white cloth a beautiful sepia stain

01 IN TEA

T UNLEARN h e I n s tit I NG u t EXPER e ofIU MEN nle Tar 0n 1i :ng I N T EA

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s oa ki n g tea ba gs

Peppermint tea bags and PG tips are teas I hardly drink anymore so they are used generously to make the tea for the experiment.

It took some time for the tea bags to colour the water as the water’s not hot. Squeezing the tea bags to get more colour caused one to burst so there were some loose tea leaves floating around as I embroider.

The bottom image is how the embroidery looked fresh out of the tea, before it dried up.

T h e I n s tit u t e o f U n l e a r n i n g

UNLEARN I NG EXPER I MEN T 0 1 : I N T EA

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T h e I n s tit u t e o f U n l e a r n i n g

UNLEARN I NG EXPER I MEN T 0 1 : I N T EA

I really enjoyed the moment I submerged the hoop into the water. It felt liberating to “break the rules� by wetting something that you would usually prevent from getting wet.

A large clear container was used to show the activity for the video documentation.

The container could have been bigger as it was a little squeezy for my hands to fit inside the container along with the embroidery hoop.

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d i f f i c u ltie s

T h e I n s tit u t e o f U n l e a r n i n g

UNLEARN I NG EXPER I MEN T 0 1 : I N T EA

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1.

2.

3.

(Fig 1-2)

K n o ts g e t t a n g l e d e a sily underwat er The thread gets easily knotted when underwater, especially when there is more slack, and once tangled, the water in the knot makes it very difficult to untangle so it’s best to prevent it than to untie it.

I also have to make sure not to pull the thread through too quickly as a knot would form.

(Fig 3-4)

Long t hre ad can ge t qui t e p robl e m at ic I started off cutting a long thread to sew because it usually saves time because I don’t have to tie a knot to end the thread and thread the needle too often. However, the long thread caused a problem because the container only had just enough space for my hands and the hoop and if there is too much slack thread, it floats around in the tea, making it hard to control them and becoming easily tangled.

It is also difficult to pull so much thread through the hole when I make a stitch because there is not enough space for my hand to pull freely in the container.

Therefore I learned to cut shorter threads to prevent any possible trouble.

(Fig. 5-6)

P o or

visibil i t y The tea was more murky than I had anticipated. I cannot see the penciled outlines unless the cloth is closer to the surface of the tea. While I was embroidering, I had to control the level of the hoop because it naturally floats up above the water surface but because of the experiment, I have to embroider under water, and so I have to forcefully push it under the surface yet not too deep because the murkiness of the tea prevents me from seeing the outlines.

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4.

5.

6.

7.

Wat er

h e l ps

to

T h e I n s tit u t e o f U n l e a r n i n g

un t ie

t he

knot

If a knot is formed, the instinct would be to take it out of the water to fix it but I’ve realised that the water is the advantage in this case. When untying the knot underwater, the water helps to “flow through” the knot to loosen up the threads and separates them as you fix it. When you take it out of the water, the threads stick together in a clump, making it extremely difficult to untie it.

P ul l ing t he t hre ad force underwat er

wi t h

more

When embroidering under normal circumstances, the pulling of the thread is effortless and quick.

However, the water adds ‘friction’ to the cloth and thread and a lot more force is needed to pull the thread through the hole in the cloth when making a stitch. This is made more difficult when the needle goes through not only the cloth but other stitches.

Keep ing

t he

wat er

st i l l

In addition to the murkiness of the tea, another problem that hinders my vision of the outlines is the ripples that form when I sew. I find myself having to adapt by pausing my movements every now and again so that the water would become still and I can see the outlines.

Se wing a we t under wat er

clot h

is

e a sier

After embroidering for some time in tea, I would sometimes lift the hoop out of the water to inspect the sewing and make some additional stitches thinking that it is a quick fix above water. This led me to discover that once the cloth and thread have been wet, just like untying the knot under water is easier, sewing is easier under water because there is less friction. This was an interesting find.

Unlearning experiment 01: In tea

Le s s o n s learnt:

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T HREAD

I have grown to become aware of the thread.

When doing it normally, I almost never have to pay attention to the thread because it’s dry and when I pull it will just fix its own mess and pull through without a knot forming.

But for this experiment, I have to keep an eye on where the slack is and how to pull the thread so that it will not become tangled. I have also learnt to keep the thread short to reduce the likelihood of knots.

HOOP

I adapted to having to constantly apply force to press the hoop into the tea because it keeps floating up. My left hand is hardly free because I have to control the level of the hoop to be just right under the surface of the water and not too deep or else I will not be able to see the oulines.

SLO W I NG DO W N

I have learnt to slow down in general to avoid the knots, and to avoid splashing the tea out of the container with my quick actions. The small container also restricted my movements and speed because I have to keep everything under the water when the opposing force of the hoop to float up is strong.

The slowing down gave me time to enjoy the process and to observe how the thread flows in the water in it’s own rhythm.

EN J O Y T HE W A T ER

There is something therapeutic about having my hands in the tea and embroidering at the same time. Moving my hands underwater was calming because everything is slowed down.

In addition, there is something about having your hands in water that is calming, relaxing and cooling.

T EA STAIN

The tea gave the cloth a beautiful stain that gave the entire piece an aged look which somehow ties in with the plant imagery. The meaning of the embroidery changed completely as opposed to the usual look.

SCEN T

I also enjoy the light scent of peppermint in the air as a result of the peppermint tea.

It contributed even more to the relaxing experience.

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T h e I n s tit u t e o f U n l e a r n i n g

d u r a ti o n o f a cti v it y 5h 30min

e n v i r o n m e n t Normal

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E S S EN T I A L S (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10)

U S ED

Cloth scissors White cotton cloth Embroidery hoop Embroidery scissors Embroidery flosses Needles Threads Guidelines Sight Hands

MA T ER I A L S U S ED FOR UN L EARN I N G (1) (2)

Mounting board Binding clips

unlearning experiment 02: without hoop

T HE

I MPOR T ANCE

OF

T HE

HOOP

The hoop is important for helping to hold the cloth taut for embroidering. Without the hoop, it is extremely difficult to hold the flimsy cloth and try to get a proper stitch at the same time. It takes a lot of effort and the result may be messy. The hoop is integral to the activity.

02 WITHOUT HOOP

T UNLEARN h e I n s tit I NG u t EXPER e ofIU MEN nle Tar 0n 2i :ng W I T HOU T HOOP

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HO W T HE HOO P W OR K S Because it is circular and has a tightening notch at the top, the hoop is able to hold every angle of the cloth taut. Not a single spot is loose. It is very reliable as the notch is very tight. There is another hoop (indicated in pink) behind that is used to hold the cloth in place and the notch at the top tightens the outer hoop around it to form a tight clasp all around the cloth.

T h e I n s tit u t e o f U n l e a r n i n g

u n l e a r n i n g e x p e r i m e n t 0 2 : wit h o u t h o o p

S o l u ti o n

T HE

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RE P LACEMEN T

I thought of using a wire to make a circular hoop at first but it would not be sturdy enough and will probably bend as I’m embroidering.

So the final solution was to use a mounting board to make two frames to hold the cloth front and back, then securing the cloth tightly to the board with binding clips already available at home. The main point of these experiments is to try to adapt by finding creative solutions.

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T h e I n s tit u t e o f U n l e a r n i n g

5cm

c u tt i n g 5cm

20cm

14cm

24cm

30cm

t he

b oard

It took roughly 30 minutes to measure the suitable dimensions and cut the two frames. I gave the border of the frames a generous 5cm so that they would be more sturdy for holding the cloth and less likely to bend since it’s paper after all. Judging from the duration of the experiment, It seems like it takes the same amount of time to embroider on this as it does the normal embroidery hoop.

u n l e a r n i n g e x p e r i m e n t 0 2 : wit h o u t h o o p

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Di f f i c u l tie s

T h e I n s tit u t e o f U n l e a r n i n g

u n l e a r n i n g e x p e r i m e n t 0 2 : wit h o u t h o o p

t h r e a d

g e tt i n g

c a u g h t

Fig 1-2 One problem with this solution is that the thread kept getting caught with the clips. At first I wasn’t too aware of this fact. When the thread is long at the beginning, it gets caught frequently. I started being more cautious of where the thread goes.

My habit is to pull the thread to the side, but in doing so, the thread usually gets caught.

Fig. 3 Eventually, I developed a new habit of lifting my hand upwards when I make a stitch so that the thread slack would not go to the side where the clips are.

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T h e I n s tit u t e o f U n l e a r n i n g

u n l e a r n i n g e x p e r i m e n t 0 2 : wit h o u t h o o p

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I t wa s a sim p l e e n o u g h s o lu t i on t h a t de li v e r a lm o s t t h e s a m e r e s ul t s a s t h e or i g in a l . G r an t e d i t wa sn’t a b l e to hold the cloth as taut as the e mbr o i de r y h o o p, i t s t i ll di d t h e j o b.

T h e c or n e r s whi ch w e r e n o t c lip p e d an d t h e g a p s b e t w e e n t h e b in din g c lip s w e r e s li g h t ly l o o s e . Ho w e v e r, c o m p ar e d t o c o m p l e t e ly h a v in g n o t hin g t o h o l d t h e c l o t h a t a ll , t hi s i s a g o o d c o m pr o mi s e . I di dn’t r e a lly fe e l t h a t t h e l o o s e p ar t s a f fe c t e d t h e a c t i v i t y . I w o ul d s a y t h a t t hi s a d a p t i v e s o lu t i on i s a s u c c e s s. I wa s a b l e t o w or k m y wa y ar o un d t h e h an di c a p o f h a v in g n o h o o p whi ch i s an e s s e n t i a l t o o l for e mbr o i de r y an d c o m e up w i t h m y o wn “ h o o p � whi ch w or k s.

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C l o t h

c l i pp i n g

The cloth goes to the back of the board to be clipped. I had not taken to account the length of the cloth so I was lucky that there was just enough cloth on the sides to be clipped. The top and bottom edges were not long enough to extend beyond the board but were clipped through the boards. Clipping through the boards is alot less tight, so that compromised the tautness even more. All in all, it was still tight enough for me to complete the embroidery without having to retighten at all.

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Learnt tha t thi ngs do es n’t h ave to be per fect f o r it t o wo rk equa lly well.

Someti mes we wi ll ha ve to compro mi s e but a s lo ng as we a re a ble to wo rk arou nd i t, we wi ll be a ble t o st i ll get wha t we wa nt.

Lessons learnt: THINK DIFFERENTLY

WORK WHAT

ADAPT

WITH i HAVE

To think creatively outside of the box to come up with something to hold the cloth taut i.e it doesn’t have to be round or be a hoop, and it doesn’t have to fully secured.

To achieve my goals with what I already possess.

To work with what I have and achieve the same goal.

When the clips got in the way of my usual habit of pulling to the side, I adapted to it and gradually learned to avoid the clips by pulling up.

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d u r a ti o n o f a cti v it y

E S S EN T I A L S

5h 30min

e n v i r o n m e n t Normal

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10)

U S ED

Cloth scissors White cotton cloth Embroidery hoop Embroidery scissors Embroidery flosses Needles Threads Guidelines Sight Hands

MA T ER I A L S U S ED FOR UN L EARN I N G (1)

Bamboo mat

unlearning experiment 03: irregular grid

B AM B OO

MA T

When I sew on cloth, I can sew wherever I want since it’s soft and structureless. Embroidery becomes about the craft and nothing else.

Therefore I want to attempt to sew on something that isn’t cloth, something different and solid that will force me to confrm and adapt to it’s structure, so I can learn a different side to this activity, hopefully to discover something new in the process.

03 IRREGULAR GRID

T UNLEARN h e I n s tit I NG u t EXPER e ofIU MEN nle Tar 0n 3i :ng I RREGULAR GR I D

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M arker

T h e I n s tit u t e o f U n l e a r n i n g

t r acing

Up still now I’ve been trustingly using the same tracing paper with the plant design on it to copy onto the cloths by pressing and burnishing. However, the graphic wasn’t going to take onto the bamboo so I had no choice but to try my best and copy freehanded onto the bamboo with a marker.

The embroidery ended up being slightly bigger than the rest.

The marker lines stood out a lot at the start especially where I made mistakes but I was eventually able to cover the black lines with extra stitches.

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The bamboo mat had an irregular grid. I can’t sew anywhere I want to and I can’t sew diagonal stitches onto the parts without vertical strings. The bamboo stick is quite thick and hard so I sometimes need to use some force to push the needle through and the embroidering is inflexible because of the existing structure of the bamboo mat. This gave the embroidery an entirely different look because the stitches are less fine as they have to weave through the sticks. As I was embroidering, I became very aware of the difficulty of what I’m doing and the mat that I’m sewing onto because I didn’t expect this to be harder than it looks due to the fact that it resembles those embroidery cloth with gridded holes in them.

It turned out to be quite different. Most of the time I find myself in a bind because I can’t make a stitch as the verticals are not there to hold it and I have to pause to decide if I should go ahead with it anyway or try another way.

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B ack

T h e I n s tit u t e o f U n l e a r n i n g

n e tt i n g

One great thing about this particular bamboo mat is that it has a reliable back netting.

As the irregular grid didn’t have vertical lines at certain areas, the threads have nothing to ledge onto so they end up in a messy cluster.

With the netting at the back, there is at least something to stop the threads from getting too messy even though they didn’t really help with the appearance of the embroidery on the front.

Di f f i c u l tie s

UNLEARN I NG EXPER I MEN T 0 3 : I RREGULAR GR I D

t hre ad

g e ts

cau gh t

Similar the what happened with the binding clips in the “without hoop” experiment, the thread keeps getting caught and stuck at the sides of the mat over and over again. It is less easy to get it out when it’s stuck as compared to the binding clips so it was quite a nuisance. After awhile, it became quite natural for me to shift the thread slack onto the mat before I pull the needle so that it doesn’t get caught.

Fail ed

diag onal s

The stitches ended up looking messy because alot of the diagonal stitches cannot be achieved so they appeared to look like verticals instead, giving the entire embroidery a boxy appearance. As the sticks are so thick, there are some points that cannot be sewn through since the wood is in the way, so the leaf in the second picture looks odd as there is no clear middle vein to be seen because it passes through the stick and hence, cannot be sewn. I think it’s interesting to see how the changing of the base of the embroidery can affect the whole look of it so much. It looks unique and is only possible with this particular bamboo mat.

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unique

lo ok

When you look at the embroidery closely, the thread weaves front and back of the mat which gives it an interesting look like the threads are being rolled in. The threads fit the sticks tightly so the surface looks wavy and not flat. It’s also interesting how the threads blends into the bamboo mat because the mat itself has brown strings.

T h e I n s tit u t e o f U n l e a r n i n g

UNLEARN I NG EXPER I MEN T 0 3 : I RREGULAR GR I D

Lessons learnt: LEARN FROM INFLEXIBILITY

THE LITTLE THINGS

CONFORMING ISN’T ALWAYS BAD

Sometimes the things we are required to do doesn’t allow us to be as flexible as we would like to, but maybe through that, we can learn something new. We can learn how to make something that’s uncomfortable comfortable. Personally, I like to think I’m a flexible person, but I think in reality, I can be pretty inflexible in my thinking sometimes and it hinders my creativity. So it’s good to learn to be more flexible.

Even when we do the same thing, if our environment or a variable in our life is different, there’s a possibility that the result of our doing can be drastically different. Do not underestimate the little things.

Learnt to conform to the structure of the bamboo mat to achieve the goal even though the irregular grid was less than ideal. On the way, I find that the resulting image is something quite unique.

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d u r a ti o n o f a cti v it y 3h 45min

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E S S EN T I A L S (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10)

U S ED

Cloth scissors White cotton cloth Embroidery hoop Embroidery scissors Embroidery flosses Needles Threads Guidelines Sight Hands

MA T ER I A L S U S ED FOR UN L EARN I N G (1) (2) (3)

Broom Mask Awl

unlearning experiment 04: without thread i

B ROOM It took me awhile to think of how I can replace the absence of the threads since they are such an integral part of the embroidery. For awhile I thought about using hair but wigs were too expensive. Other string-like materials would be cheating. Then it occured to me that I can use the traditional broom, not the modern nylon type. The result was beautiful. This experiment didn’t take as long as the rest because the stitches were bigger and thicker so I was able to finish it quickly.

04 WITHOUT THREAD I

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UNLEARN I NG EXPER I MEN T 0 4 : wit h o u t t h r e a d i

c olours

of

t he

bro om

It was a happy coincidence that the broom had so many shades of earth-toned colours that is suitable for the plant embroidery.

It fit the imagery perfectly and I think it even looks better than the original. I tried my best to match the colours to the original thread colours. I really like how I’m using an organic material to embroidery an image of an organic subject.

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Di f f i c u l tie s

st a l k

n e e d l e

I started plucking out a thin strand of straw from the broom, enough to be inserted into the needle eye. However, it wasn’t as sturdy as I thought. It broke immediately. That’s when I realised how breakable the straw is as a single strand. So I proceeded to pluck out a single stalk of straw (Fig. 1) and tried to insert it into the needle eye but it wouldn’t fit and broke.

I tried to poke the cloth with the stalk to test if it might pierce through but it was a long shot. So I decided to try to use an awl to create a hole in the cloth first, then use the tip of the stalk (Fig. 2) as a ‘needle’ to weave through the cloth to embroider. It worked nicely.

It wasn’t easy finding good usable stalks. Some were too short or thin, others were not the right colour, or the stalk is attached too deep into the handle of the broom and can’t be plucked out.

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The awl made things alot easier. The needle was too thin and didn’t make a conveniently big enough hole so the awl was more suited for the job. It was fun doing this experiment because there was no need to thread needle or tie knots. It was straightforward and the result is pretty. I also like the back of the cloth, it’s a beautiful mess. There’s no starting knot or ending knot to avoid breaking the stalk, so I just leave some leeway after I insert the first stalk and after making the first stitch it will stay put. That’s why the back is so messy.

I’ll cut off the ends of the ones that were unnecessarily long.

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Need

for

m a sk

I started off embroidering as normal but after awhile I noticed that the broom was producing alot of tiny seeds from the straw and it flew everywhere in the room like a mist. I was definitely breathing in the seeds by the time I noticed. I suffer from a poor respiratory system so I didn’t want to take the chance so I brought out the trusty N95 mask that Singaporeans are all too familiar with. It was also a discovery to find out that this kind of traditional broom causes so much dust. It’s pretty ironic.

T h e I n s tit u t e o f U n l e a r n i n g

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Le s s o n s l e a r n t : BEAUTY IN THE UNASSUMING

It was enlightening to realise that the traditional broom that I hate (it sheds when sweeping) was actually capable of producing something beautiful.

I don’t think I’ve even thought about it once within this decade and it just suddenly came to mind when I was wrecking my brain to overcome the problem of having no threads. Even things that seem ugly or useless can shine if you find the right use for it.

SOMETHING DIFFERENT

This is the only experiment that required me to wear something extra on myself for selfpreservation. It’s somewhat intriguing to think about how this whole project went from embroidering normally to having to wear a mask so I don’t suffer an asthma attack. Anything that’s out of the ordinary makes me happy.

CREATIVE THINKING

This learning point will probably appear more than once.

But it is the point of this project after all. I think what I enjoy about this whole project the most and why I wanted to do it is because of my desire to want to do things that are out of the ordinary. Having to come up with creative solutions and digging my brain for ideas to adapt to things like that is refreshing and very enjoyable. I would definitely consider doing another repetition project with another activity.

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UNLEARN T h eI NG I n sEXPER tit u tIeMEN o fT U0n5l:e awit r n ihnogu t c l o t h I

d u r a ti o n o f a cti v it y 6h 00min

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E S S EN T I A L S (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10)

U S ED

Cloth scissors White cotton cloth Embroidery hoop Embroidery scissors Embroidery flosses Needles Threads Guidelines Sight Hands

MA T ER I A L S U S ED FOR UN L EARN I N G Newspaper

unlearning experiment 05: without cloth i

NE W SPAPER When I was thinking about what to replace the cloth with, my first thought was to find something that is difficult to sew onto, something thin and brittle. I thought of tissue at first but ended up choosing newspaper instead because it looks visually more interesting since tissue just looks white from afar like the white cloth. I aimed to find a big enough piece of newspaper that didn’t have photos on it. It’s surprising how rare it is for newspapers to have large chunks of text unaccompanied by any photo. In an entire issue of The Straits Times, I only found two pages that had enough text space without photo interference.

05 WITHOUT CLOTH I

(1)

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swe at y

pal ms

I don’t always have sweaty palms/ fingers but sometimes it happens.

During this experiment, it happened for a short while at the beginning and I grew more aware of my hands interacting with the newspaper because it is so thin and the moisture from my fingers could destroy it.

T h e I n s tit u t e o f U n l e a r n i n g

UNLEARN I NG EXPER I MEN T 0 5 : wit h o u t c l o t h I

Di f f i c u l tie s

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guidel ines

t r ansfer

I expected the guidelines to transfer well since it’s paper but it didn’t really. It’s faint but it’s there, so I used a pencil to go over the guidelines. As I go along, the guidelines sometimes disappear into the grey of the paper or get rubbed off so I keep a pencil beside me to go over and missing guidelines along the way.

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T h e I n s tit u t e o f U n l e a r n i n g

It is also important not to pull tightly or the newspaper will easily rip. Everything is to be done with a lighthand. A couple of times I accidentally ripped the paper when I inserted the needle into a spot but it was caught in an existing knot at the back so the needle was stuck to the knot. Since I didn’t know and pulled quickly, the paper was ripped.

The experiment was completed quite quickly because the stitches were quite far apart to avoid tearing the paper from conjoining needle holes. At the beginning , I had sewn the stitches as per normal – close together, and the first and second needle hole tore to merge into one hole. That’s when I realised I have to do this differently. I also had to adapt to the minimizing of number of holes by reusing existing poked holes to ‘shade’ the leaves/roots. This ended up using slightly more thread but otherwise it was managable.

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It was stressful getting the newspaper into the hoop and tightening it because I wasn’t sure if it would tear from the bending.

Luckily it didn’t. When I removed the newspaper after the embroidery was completed, the paper was fine and I was able to straighten the crease slightly.

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I enjoyed this experiment.

Maybe it’s because it was the first one that I did after the original and it felt new and different.

It also felt very nice to poke the needle into paper. There’s a special tautness to paper that cloth doesn’t have and it was satisfying to pierce through it.

This experiment was challenging but not stressful or draggy. I had fun in the process trying not to tear the paper and didn’t get too tired of it. I think sewing paper sounds like an interesting project to look into. Will consider.

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Le s s o n s l e a r n t : THE SIMPLE PLEASURES

It was really fun sewing through paper and poking paper with the needle. I found myself smiling as I was embroidering because I was having quite some fun just poking the newspaper. It has a very thin yet tight feeling to it when poked through. I enjoyed it.

EXERCISING CAUTION

For the previous experiments, I never had to worry about getting rough with the cloth or the bamboo mat. I could poke however I want and the needle will pull through if I used enough strength. This experiment however required something different from me, which was refreshing. I had to keep reminding myself that I have to make sure the needle isn’t poking into some knot at the back which may end up tearing the paper if I forcefully pulled.

ADAPTATION

This was the first of two experiments where I had to reuse existing holes because creating more holes would damage the embroidery. It was new and discovering how to make the embroidery work with the limitations was fun.

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UNLEARN T h eI NG I n sEXPER tit u tIeMEN o fT U0n6l:e awit r n ihnogu t n e e d l e

d u r a ti o n o f a cti v it y 11h 00min

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E S S EN T I A L S (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10)

U S ED

Cloth scissors White cotton cloth Embroidery hoop Embroidery scissors Embroidery flosses Needles Threads Guidelines Sight Hands

MA T ER I A L S U S ED FOR UN L EARN I N G Wire Awl

unlearning experiment 06: without needle

T HE

NEEDLE

The needle is easily the most important thing when it comes to sewing and embroidering. The cloth and the thread can be easily replaced with a close substitute but the needle is a special tool. The unlearning experiment is a good test of my adaptability skills to try to replace a most essential tool in the activity of embroidery. It is also the second longest experiment that was conducted after “Without sight”.

06 WITHOUT NEEDLE

(1) (2)

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The needle f i tt i n g needle hole The needle hole fits perfectly within the slim body of the needle letting it serve its threading purposes without compromising on the quality of the holes created.

slim bu t st u r d y b o d y

Out of all the essential materials, the needle is the only tool that is designed soley for its purpose to sew. It is made of one material and everything about it is by design. That makes it hard to replace it. If you think about it, the needle is quite a genius invention, really.

The needle has a perfectly slim body that enables fine and detailed work when it comes to creating tiny holes for the sewing of equally thin threads.

Despite being slim, it is strong and durable to withstand the poking of soft and hard materials to be sewed on without worrying it might bend or break.

By just one tool, three things are achieved simultaneously:

Sharp & hardy tip The tip is tapered and pointy to make the puncturing of holes an ease with simultaneously pulling the thread along all in one step.

1. A hole is created 2. There is a sturdy controller for the hand to guide the thread 3. The thread is being pulled through the hole successfully to make a stitch.

This is something I only realised after trying to substitute its purposes for the experiment. It’s an easily overlooked tool because it’s so small and cheap but without it, sewing, patching and repairing clothings can be such troublesome and tiresome tasks.

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the attempts This experiment proved to be one of the more challenging of the twelve because it wasn’t easy trying to replace something that was specially designed and then made from scratch by machines in a single material of such a small scale. The other materials of embroidery became significant in the success of my experiment, in particular, the cloth. The experiment exercised my rusty brain to rethink my solutions over and over as I attempted 5 times to perfect my needle substitute, finally succeeding on the 5th attempt.

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Attempt #1 : Safety pin

m i st a k e

of

a ss u m pt i o n

Before I started thinking about a solution for this experiment. A helpful adviser mentioned the use of a safety pin as a solution. I did not question it or think of other solutions. I just assumed it was going to work. That was a mistake on my part. I think this rings true in many things I do or believe in. Perhaps we are all guilty of this.

Sometimes, when the advices we are given sound reliable or confident, we tend to be biased and take their word for it and neglect giving too much thought into it or having our own input. This is because we naturally assume that if the adviser sounds so confident, they have probably succeeded using those methods before and so we are more likely to believe it will work. This is another aspect of unlearning that we need to learn about.

UNLEARN I NG EXPER I MEN T 0 6 : wit h o u t n e e d l e

One of the reasons we find it so hard to adapt or change our ways is because of The Network Effect. This is when the people around us assure us that the previous method of working is ‘the right way’ to do things.

When the people around us discourage us from wasting resources to explore further when the present working model is adequate in delivering results, we tend not to challenge the status quo.

BIG

NEEDLE

EYE

I used a pair of pliers to break the safety pin, leaving only the half with the sharp end. Then the other end was bent into a loop to create the ‘eye’ of the ‘needle’. I was naively thinking it looked good and was glad that the solution was simple. I was wrong. In the photos above, it is obvious that the end with the needle eye was too big to go through the hole that was created. I tried bending the needle eye to make it tighter and slimmer but the metal was too thick and there was just no way to pull it through without damaging the cloth. Another solution was needed.

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Attempt #2 : Wire ver. 1

ob servat ion

l e arning

The safety pin in Attempt #1 was too thick so I opted for a thinner medium, a wire I happened to have.

I remembered seeing a couple of women at a bracelet store beading some beads into elastic strings using this method so I tried. I cut a piece of wire from the roll and bent it into a simple V shape, each side of equal length. The string goes into the apex of the V and by inserting the two open ends into the cloth, I create a hole and pull the string through to make a stitch. It worked seemingly well at first. It was a success as compared to the safety pin. However problems started to surface.

wire

bending

While it was possible for the wire to poke through the cloth, it wasn’t thick enough or resilient enough. It bends every time and I’ll have to bend it back. So I decided to use an awl to help create a hole first then inserting the two ends of the wire into the hole. This worked better.

UNLEARN I NG EXPER I MEN T 0 6 : wit h o u t n e e d l e

m o st

diffic ult

p robl e m

Even after using the awl, there was a problem that wouldn’t go away. It was a cumbersome

problem that I will spend the rest of the attempts trying to solve.

The two ends of the wire would almost always enter different holes. This is because the wire is so thin that it can easily enter the fabric of the cloth.

Even after creating a hole with the awl, it was difficult to get both ends in at the same time unless I hold the two ends very tightly together but it wasn’t always successful because when I poke the hole, the ends will poke the fabric around the hole and close it up. A lot of time was taken to get the two ends into the same hole.

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Attempt #3 & #4: Wire ver. 2 & 3

T h e I n s tit u t e o f U n l e a r n i n g

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m aking

ends

mee t

The problem mentioned in the previous attempt proved to be taking too much time so I tried non-stop to make the ends meet so that they can enter the same hole created by the awl. As I was embroidering, I kept having to pinch the ends together.

No matter how much I try to bend them together, they would still rotate around until they are facing opposite directions.

t w i st i n g I decided to twist the entire wire body so that the ends will be tighter. Even though the most part of the body is twisted tightly together, the ends are still effectively two separate points. They still poke into different holes causing the wire

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to not be able to go through with the thread. In retrospect, I should have just soldered the ends together so that they are finally one point. I didn’t think of it then. I also tried poking with the twisted version without the help of the awl, thinking it might force the ends to go through one hole but it didn’t help.

The wire bent instead.

Losing

t he

ot her

end

Attempt #4 saw me trying to eliminate the second end completely since it was causing such a big problem. I thought perhaps now, with one end, the wire can enter the hole smoothly. It did, until it reached the part of the loop where the wire twisted and it got stuck again. This problem was driving me crazy until I arrived at Attempt #5.

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Final Attempt : Wire ver. 4 - Success

s olving

i t

for

re al

The problem of the two ends was getting so frustrating and time-consuming that I was really losing my patience. I had to poke many times for each stitch to get the two ends into the right hole.

After tolerating this for awhile, to calm down and think rationally proper solution that could really problem. I remember asking myself

I decided for a fix the exactly

What is the real problem here?

Getting two ends into the same hole at the same time That was when it clicked.

The solution was simple.

If the problem lies with getting them in at

all I needed to do was snip one of the ends shorter than the other. This

the same time then

way, I can put one end into the hole first then using the first end to keep the hole open and insert the other, shorter end in.

UNLEARN I NG EXPER I MEN T 0 6 : wit h o u t n e e d l e

The problem was largely solved after I shortened the other end. Coupled with the help of the awl, I could easily bring the whole wire through with the thread to make my stitches. However as the wire is still as thin, I will have to slow down to poke the second end into the hole which still takes time but at least it’s faster than the other attempts. Occasionally I still get a very thin string of cloth fabric stuck between the two ends which I cannot see until I try to pull the wire through and it still is annoying when that happens. Most of the times I will have to flip to the back to see the hole better to know where to insert the wire.

previous problem: )

problem solved: )

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This experiment was one of the few that really made me wreck my brain to come up with a solution. It’s the only one that I had attempted so many times to arrive at a solution. It was enriching to try so hard to solve a problem. It also made me realise that I wasn’t thinking hard enough for the 3rd and 4th attempts. I didn’t think hard enough to solve the real problem and instead kept trying to fix the surface problem, which led me nowhere in solving the challenge.

Only in the 5th attempt when I have had enough, did I really sit down and think.

I think this is applicable to a lot of problems we face. We tend to see the problems on the surface and think up a quick fix instead of recognizing the root problem. The solution can be so simple if we know where the problem lies and what questions to ask.

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Le s s o n s l e a r n t : ALWAYS HAVE A BACK-UP PLAN

If not for the suggestion to use a safety pin, I would never have thought of it. I would have gone straight to wire and that would have saved me some trouble.

I’m not blaming the suggestion because most of the time suggestions are helpful and we can benefit from them. I’m saying that I shouldn’t have taken for granted that the safety pin would have worked without a hitch.

It was my mistake for counting on the word of another without having other possible solutions of my own for back-up at first.

We should always be prepared for plan B.

LOOK OUT FOR THE ROOT PROBLEM

I was blinded by the nuisance of the two ends being the problem that I failed to see that the real challenge was trying to get them both into the hole ‘at the same time’. Therefore, I kept trying different ways to make the two ends meet when it was impossible and useless. If I had identified the root problem earlier, I could have fixed the problem more efficiently and effectively.

IF IT DOESN’T WORK, TRY, TRY AGAIN

At the beginning when I first encountered the problem with the ends, I contemplated just going along with it and dealing with the annoyance until I finished the piece. But it just wasn’t working and I know there must be a way I can fix it, so I kept trying to change the wire to find a way out. I was glad that I didn’t give up after the attempts and could even calm down and think properly and actually have a eureka moment.

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E S S EN T I A L S (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10)

U S ED

Cloth scissors White cotton cloth Embroidery hoop Embroidery scissors Embroidery flosses Needles Threads Guidelines Sight Hands

MA T ER I A L S U S ED FOR UN L EARN I N G (1)

Receipts

07 PATCHING RECEIPTS

unlearning experiment 07: patching receipts

PA T CH I NG As the experiments proceed along, I was starting to run out of ideas to do my experiments on. There were too many materials that are similar and wouldn’t give my experiments variation.

I was also limited to using things that could be framed up because of the plan I have to exhibit the works. I have already replaced the cloth with a few materials so I didn’t want to do that. I started thinking about how I can make the medium that I am sewing onto even more difficult and that led me to think about patching as I embroider. I will no longer just be embroidering onto a piece of material. I will be forming the backing while I sew. It seems like a fun challenge.

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T h e I n s tit u t e o f U n l e a r n i n g

Us e

of

r e c e i pts

When I first thought about patching as I embroider, my first thought was to use scraps of plain paper or ruled paper torn from notebooks. Then I thought of using post-it notes because they have the patched-up look when they are stuck on notice boards. It was a suggestion from a friend to use receipts because receipts are natural scraps of paper that lie around and are readily available. It helps to further emphasize on the spirit of these experiments to use materials that are already at hand.

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P l anning

t he

patch

The guidelines were usually drawn onto the cloth for embroidering.

In this case, there is no cloth so I will have to draw onto the receipts. In order to do that, I’ll have to envision how the final patching will look like, tape them up together and draw the guidelines freehand onto them.

The patching wasn’t as spontaneous as I had originally thought I was going to go about doing it since I’m planning it to draw the guidelines but I think this gives me more control over the final look to be framed, the size and specifications, and also to make sure it will not turn out a mess without proper guidelines for me to follow. The focus will still be on the act of patching nonetheless.

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g e tt i n g

used

to

T h e I n s tit u t e o f U n l e a r n i n g

patching

At the beginning, I wasn’t used to the idea of patching, naturally, so I made the mistake of sewing a whole leaf onto one piece of receipt without patching another piece below it.

It completely slipped my mind because I was so not used to it.

I ended up having to remove all the stitches and redo it completely because there was just no way around it. The holes were preserved when I removed the stitches carefully so as not to damage the paper. I could reuse the same holes when I redid the stitches properly this time while patching.

UNLEARN I NG EXPER I MEN T 0 7 : p a t c h i n g r e c e i p t s

Up until this experiment, most of the time I have the trustworthy embroidery hoop to hold onto as I embroider. The cloth is sturdy with the help of the hoop and I could sew with ease. This experiment, however, proved a little bit challenging in this aspect. It was interesting to see how at first when I started off with one small piece of paper, it was difficult because it was small and I had to hold it properly with my fingers on the top and bottom edge of the paper to hold it slightly taut.

But as I progress further to having more pieces of receipts patched on, it didn’t get easier. Instead, the whole piece got flimsier as it got larger. The paper flops from the weight of the stitches and I have to be aware of the parts I’m not holding onto in case they bend or tear or crease.

I don’t have the slimmest or daintiest of hands so my fingers were all over the place trying to manage with the holding without poking myself with the needle. I could get by reasonably when I bend the paper slightly as I poke the needle into it. It doesn’t cause damage to the piece and I’m cautious at all times.

Like the newspaper in one of the previous experiments, I cannot poke the holes to closely to one another or the paper will tear into a bigger hole so I had to make sure the stitches were further apart and reuse existing holes to make extra stitches instead of creating more.

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s m a l l a n d f l i m s y p a p e r

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Le s s o n s l e a r n t : BE MORE MINDFUL OF THE UNFAMILIAR

Despite being prepared for the experiment, planning the patching and knowing exactly what to do and the order to patch the receipts in, I still completely forgot to sew the first patch. It was surprising to me. It was the whole point of the experiment, I was totally ready to patch, excited even. But as soon as I started sewing, and having done so many of the other experiments where patching wasn’t involved, I got into the habitual motion of embroidering stitch after stitch without pausing or thinking because I was so used to it. This is the very thing I was trying to unlearn­— unlearn the habits. But I fell for it still.

en j oy the change

I was glad that I thought of this experiment. It was different from the rest because I have to patch the thing that I’m sewing onto and it was refreshing. I was having alot of fun. It was also different because it doesn’t have a hoop and challenged my fat fingers to hold the paper properly. I felt pretty dexterous, my fingers dancing with the paper as I make stitch after stitch, holding different corners with as little room as possible so I don’t poke myself with the needle. It was relaxing almost, because I was holding the paper with a lighthand and gently sewing along.

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d u r a ti o n o f a cti v it y

E S S EN T I A L S

17h 45min

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(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10)

U S ED

Cloth scissors White cotton cloth Embroidery hoop Embroidery scissors Embroidery flosses Needles Threads Guidelines Sight Hands

H E L P U S ED FOR UN L EARN I N G (1) (2) (3)

A friend Blindfold Stick

unlearning experiment 08: without sight WITHOUT SIGHT

08

SE W I NG

B L I NDL Y

Sight is, needless to say, needed for everything we do when we are awake. It is especially important for embroidering since it’s crafting an image and without sight, it’s impossible to do it. I challenge myself to do it with the help of a friend’s sight instead. She will be my eyes as I sew, telling me where to poke the needle and guiding me through the process to achieve the desired goal.

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A simple white cloth was used to blindfold me. It’s the same cloth that I used for the embroidery.

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When considering for a candidate for the position of the guider to help be my eyes for this experiment, I know it was important that I’m comfortable with this person and vice versa. It was easy to anticipate that this will be a very taxing experiment and will require a huge amount of patience so I will need a friend who is able to sit with me throughout the entire experiment without losing his/her temper. It is also important that the guider is someone I am familiar with so that we can communicate better and understand each other more efficiently because we are familiar with each other’s personal language and nuances.

guider:

Jade yeo

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JADE:

Jade:

reference

p iece

I’ve provided Jade with a completed piece from one of the previous experiments for her to refer to the stitch patterns and colours, to more effectively direct me to embroider. I’ve also drafted a simple drawing that details the order of the parts to be sewn. She is also allowed to ask me verbally what to do next if she has questions or is lost.

Jade:

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or al

guidance

For some reason, I was under the impression that this whole experiment was going to be solely based on oral guidance. Jade was beside me, patiently telling me to go left and right, up and down, to get to the correct spot for the stitch. It was taking so long for each stitch.

a little to the right,

yeah.”

up,

“Left,

“Right,

yup.”

right,

left,

left,

“Left,

down

yup.”

right,

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left up a bit,

left,

I think we both felt pretty helpless.

I couldn’t see anything so I could only listen to her, and she knows exactly where the needle should be but it takes forever to guide me to that one particular point on the whole surface of the cloth.

You just never know how far to go when one says ‘left’. So if she says ‘left’ and I go a little bit to the left, it’s not enough, and she will keep saying ‘left’ until I reach the point; or exceed it then it’s ‘right, right, right’.

After awhile, I told her that when she says ‘left’, I am going to do a straight line to the left until the point she wants and she can say ‘stop’. Most of the time, we go around in circles because I keep missing the spot.

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sense of touch

T h e I n s tit u t e o f U n l e a r n i n g

After an hour of using only oral guidance, it suddenly occurred to me that we can use the sense of touch to better guide me. We employed the use of a pointy kebab stick to help us out.

Things turned out for the better.

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We started to pick up pace with the help of the stick. Jade will point the stick to the spot where the needle should go and I’ll use the tip of my finger to feel for the spot and insert the needle.

It took me awhile to get the hang of it at first.

Even though I can feel the point of the stick and insert the needle, it would somehow end up wrong.

After awhile I adapted to feeling for the stick with the needle in between the stick and my finger so that as soon as I feel the right spot I can just poke the needle in right away. I got it right most of the time.

While it got easier poking the needle from the front of the cloth, the stick didn’t help much when it

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came to poking from underneath the cloth. As Jade can only tell from the top of the cloth where the needle should go, she can only place the stick on the top and when I try to feel for the stick from underneath the cloth, I couldn’t feel much. I could feel a general pressure in an area but not the exact point.

This was made harder when there are existing knots or stitches at the back thickening the amount of material between the tip of the stick and my finger.

Jade will still have to guide me a lot verbally when it comes to poking from underneath the cloth. After awhile, Jade realised that by constantly poking or twisting the stick, I could sense the tremors and could more quickly identify where the stick is. The difference was marginal but it helped nonetheless.

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angl e

differences

A problem arised a couple of times when Jade was directing me. Even though we were seated right next to each other, from her point of view, things look slightly different. Our point of views are not exactly alike and so sometimes when she tells me to go ‘up’, I went ‘left’ instead. It was strange and we couldn’t really explain it. In retrospect, I’m wondering if perhaps the fact that I was blindfolded also played a part in my misdirection. When I’m not paying full attention and move my hand, being blindfolded, I feel like sometimes I might have went off the path alittle bit. I guess it has something to do with how sight contributes to our sense of balance.

After awhile, Jade learned to come closer and lean over to try to see the embroidery from my point of view so that she can guide me more effectively.

T h e I n s tit u t e o f U n l e a r n i n g

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When I was blindfolded, I noticed that I would start off facing downwards at the embroidery as I would normally, even though I can’t see anything, but I would gradually start to look up. It happens constantly. I kept finding myself looking upwards lifting my chin. Perhaps it was a subconscious effort to focus and heighten my other senses that were more useful for this experiment ­— touch and hearing.

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c u tt i n g

bl indfol ded

Despite being blindfolded, I am still able to tie knots quickly since I’m so used to the motion. Using the scissors was alittle disconcerting but I am able to do it slowly by feeling the blades of the scissors carefully and cutting only after I’ve made sure I’ve gotten my fingers out of harm’s way.

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lacking knowledge Embroidery was something that came naturally to me without prior learning. I saw how stitches looked like and I knew how to create them.

That was why I thought that this was the case for everybody; until Jade proved to me that that is not true.

Of all the things I worried about prior to the day of the experiment, I have never once thought that Jade wouldn’t know how to embroider.

This was an interesting revelation.

I thought that as long as I had provided her with a completed piece to follow, she would be able to replicate it. When the first leaf was completed, it was so unimaginable to me that she wouldn’t know how to embroider that I thought she was playing a prank on me. It looked nothing like my example for her which was so fascinating to me to find out. Her lack of knowledge in embroidery made this experiment a lot more fun and spontaneous. Her first experience in embroidery through my hands gave birth to something so beautifully imperfect. After I got over my initial shock, I was able to talk Jade through the process more clearly before we proceed further and she quickly managed to pick up embroidery and the stitches that she had directed me to do started looking better and better but still retaining the nonchalance of someone who is new to the craft that gave this particular piece its uniquely imperfect look that I adore.

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Jade’s reflection

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huge thanks to Jade for being so patient and for being such a good sport and sitting through the entire experiment with me from start to finish.

This was the longest experiment out of the 12, lasting 17 hours and 45 minutes. We had fun but we would be lying if we said it was fun throughout all 17 hours. It got tiring and mundane along the way but we pulled through and it was because Jade was kind enough to lend herself to this tedious experiment despite her busy schedule.

Without her, this experiment would not have been possible.

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Through this experiment, I finally got to understand how the blind experience things. I learnt to rely on a friend and adapt to our difficulties. Losing my sight temporarily gave me the chance to feel more and hear more. I was making use of my sense of touch more than I’ve ever had and I could hear sounds more clearly than before. I could hear the children running along the corridor, the birds in the balcony and jade’s calming voice. i WAS CONSTANTLY BUSY TRYING TO FEEL FOR THE STICK, MAKING THE CONNECTION BETWEEN MY SENSE OF TOUCH AND MY THOUGHTS, DECIDING IF THIS IS WHERE i INSERT THE NEEDLE. aLWAYS UNCERTAIN. ALWAYS THINKING.

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Le s s o n s l e a r n t : I MIGHT SEE MORE WHEN MY EYES ARE CLOSED

I learnt to appreciate my sense of touch and sense of hearing more. When we have our sight, we hardly ever need to use our sense of touch to recognize what something is or where it is. This experiment let me experience that and being blindfolded made me feel alone with myself, being able to focus to think and feel more acutely. I could feel my sense of touch improving after using the stick for awhile.

learn to rely and trust

Personally, I am someone who doesn’t like to ask people for help or trouble people. In addition to that, I also have trust issues when it comes to relying on somebody to do something for me. This experiment forced me to thoroughly rely on my friend to dictate my movements and I can only trust her judgements that I am doing the right thing.

This experiment lets me understand that there are things that one person cannot do by themselves and it’s alright to ask for help.

the j oy of perfecting something new

The entire process was a constant learning journey. This is our first time doing something like that so we don’t know what is the best way to go about it. From using only oral guidance to learning to use the stick for the sense of touch, and then proceeding to learn the quirks about the stick and manipulating it to help our efficiency, we learned plenty. Also, we were learning about each other­— I’m picking up her way of directing and what she means when she says certain things and she’s learning about my inabilities without my sight. I am constantly thinking about a better way to feel for the stick, trying to find a way that I hadn’t noticed before, perhaps holding my hand a certain way would speed things up or not using my fingers and using the needle to feel instead etc.

don ’ t make assumptions

I think when something comes easily to us, we tend to assume it’s the case for everybody.

I learned that despite being able to do some things naturally, I shouldn’t assume that other people will be able to do it too. We all have things that we are better at and things that we need practice on.

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E S S EN T I A L S (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10)

U S ED

Cloth scissors White cotton cloth Embroidery hoop Embroidery scissors Embroidery flosses Needles Threads Guidelines Sight Hands

MA T ER I A L S U S ED FOR UN L EARN I N G (1)

Books

unlearning experiment 09: without DOMINANT HAND

WITHOUT DOMINANT HAND

09 M Y

R I GH T

HAND

Hands are probably the second most important aspect of embroidery after sight. I contemplated doing this experiment completely without my hands but decided ultimately that it would be too difficult and possibly unsightly for the camera if I were to use my legs or my mouth. In the end, I’ve decided to do without my dominant hand instead. There’s a level of difficulty to it as I need another hand to hold the hoop up so I can sew.

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holding the hoop up

The difficulty in this whole experiment was thinking of a way to hold the hoop.

Under normal circumstances, I would be holding the hoop with my left hand and sewing with my right.

The hand holding the hoop is important because it allows me to manipulate the hoop while having a firm grip of it while I sew. I can flip the hoop easily to the back to check my stitches and tie knots.

now that I only have one hand, I need to find a way to hold the hoop up.

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possible ideas (1) Ask someone to hold it as I sew (2) Retort stand (don’t have it) (3) G-clamp to clamp it to the table (don’t have it)

BOOKS.

then it occurred to me,

using something as simple as books to hold my hoop emphasizes on the spirit of using readily available materials to think out of the box to solve my problems. the books were heavy enough to hold the hoop and wasn’t complicated to work.

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t he

l ef t

arm

I put my dominant hand on the table at all times while I sew so that I can be reminded not to use it. At the beginning, as I wasn’t used to it, there were a couple of times where I forgot about it and almost used my right hand for some stuff like clearing the thread slacks or shifting the books.

It took me a little while to get used to using my left hand to sew like adjusting my elbow and trying to work the needle and find the spot to poke.

As my left hand is so under-used, it was difficult at first to get it to go quickly to the exact spot I want to sew.

It was slow, weak and lacking control. It quickly got tiring and my strengthless arm started to ache after awhile.

There were a few times where I had to pause for a couple of seconds to rest my elbow on the table so my arm muscles can recover from the sudden excessive usage. Over the period of these 6 hours, I got more used to the motion, my left arm started gaining strength and momentum and my actions got more natural and controlled, and my arm wasn’t aching as much.

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Di f f i c u l tie s

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sl ack

T h e I n s tit u t e o f U n l e a r n i n g

cau gh t

When I have my hand to hold the hoop, I can manipulate the hoop around so that when I notice that the thread is about to get caught onto the hoop tightener, I can shake the hoop and set the thread free.

Without my hand, using something stationary to hold the hoop, I can’t do that.

Most of the time I’m careful not to touch the hoop or the books in case they shift or fall. All I can do is stick my hand into the gap between the two towers of books and lightly insert the needle into the cloth, take my hand out slowly and stick it into the gap below the hoop and pull the needle through to complete a stitch. Because of this, I can’t control anything else, the thread slack usually falls over the hoop tightener and gets caught. I can’t avoid it by pulling the thread to the side like I usually do because the books are in the way.

I adapt by constantly taking the thread off the tightener after I insert the needle and before I pull the needle through.

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t ying

t he

knot

I can’t see the back of the embroidery when I sew since I try to minimise shifting the books and the hoop. It doesn’t cause too much problem, I can still see where I’m inserting the needle even if it’s from the back. There are times when I will want to check the back but can’t but I’ll just let it be. The only time I touch the books is when I need to end a thread by tying a knot. I used my left hand to the best of my abilities, strictly not using my right hand. It took a long time to tie a tight knot using only one hand but it was possible if I work at it slowly. Sometimes if it really wasn’t going to happen and time is slipping by, I’ll use my right hand to help tie the knot.

Cutting the thread is doable without the right hand so that’s fine.

T h e I n s tit u t e o f U n l e a r n i n g

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Le s s o n s l e a r n t : OPEN

MY

MIND

USING THE NON-DOMINANT HAND CAN BE FUN

When I was thinking up the solution to hold the hoop, my thoughts were centered around a one-sided clasp, much like how I would hold it with my left hand and sew with my right. I kept trying to come up with a way to hold the hoop on one side and it was difficult because the rim of the hoop doesn’t have alot of room to grab hold of. When the idea of the books struck me, I scolded myself for being so narrow-minded. It was a simple method to hold the hoop without spending any money and didn’t involve someone else’s time or having to clasp onto the rim of the hoop which I find isn’t very reliable since the pull from my sewing might affect the grip I actually enjoyed using my left hand for this experiment.

I hardly get to train my left hand even though I was originally born a left-hander. I’ve always wanted to train my left hand more so that I can be ambidexterous.

I’ve practised writing with my left hand in the past but this experiment was a different kind of practice. When my left arm started aching, I was actually glad because it means it’s finally being used. It’s nice to use our non-dominant hand once in a while; it’s like learning an activity all over again just by changing the hand you do it with.

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E S S EN T I A L S (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10)

U S ED

Cloth scissors White cotton cloth Embroidery hoop Embroidery scissors Embroidery flosses Needles Threads Guidelines Sight Hands

MA T ER I A L S U S ED FOR UN L EARN I N G (1)

Plastic wrap

unlearning experiment 10: without cloth ii

PLAS T I C

W RAP

When thinking about things to replace the cloth with, I thought of many materials and plastic was one of them. I think it’s interesting to try sewing on plastic because of its soft and stretchable material. I would later find out that the fact that it’s clear would pose a challenge.

WITHOUT CLOTH II

10

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be au t y

of

t r a n sp a r e n c y

For most of the experiments I trace the guidelines on a tracing paper then transfer the mark over to the cloth by pressing and burnishing. Since this is a plastic material, I can’t do that. Right when I was despairing over having to copy it over manually because it might end up losing its standardized look, I realised that its transparency was an advantage. I put the tracing paper with the guidelines under the plastic wrap and traced along. It’s actually easier than having to press onto the cloth and burnish.

T h e I n s tit u t e o f U n l e a r n i n g

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spaced stitches

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As the plastic stretches a little bit when I put it in the hoop, I can’t poke the holes too close together hence my stitches are further apart, much like the newspaper experiment. The plastic will tear and stretch open. As with the newspaper experiment, I have to reuse existing holes as much as possible to minimize having to create more holes. I also can’t pull the thread too tightly so as not to stretch the holes. I noticed that when I was sewing onto this plastic wrap that it’s alot more obvious that the stitches are far apart on the wrap than on the newspaper. This is because the newspaper has an opaque backing that hides the spaces a little bit while the transparent plastic wrap lets light through, making the gaps between each stitch more naked to the eye. At the beginning, I was a little bit disappointed of this fact because it made the embroidery look sloppy and less detailed, but over time, it actually looked quite interesting and is an evidence of my unlearning and adaptation.

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I was worried about inserting the plastic into the hoop because I wasn’t sure what the hoop will do to it. I was worried it might stretch or get damaged or crease too much. The first two didn’t happen but it did crease a lot on the parts attached to the hoop after I removed it upon completion and there’s no way to get rid of the crease since I can’t iron it like I would the cloth. But the beauty of it is that it’s transparent so if the light doesn’t catch onto the creases, it’s more or less invisible.

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I think this experiment looks really pretty on camera when you can see me embroidering the seemingly empty space within the hoop; and my body is visible through the clear plastic wrap as opposed to the usual opaque materials. The visual of me embroidering looks clean and for once, you can see what I’m seeing as I sew, albeit from the back.

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needl e

and

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When I was sewing, I discovered something surprising that I never knew before nor have experienced in the other experiments. You would think that a needle poking through something as thin as the plastic wrap would be easy, smooth and satisfying. For the most part, it is satisfying and fast to poke

But I was surprised to find out that there were many times where the needle couldn’t poke through the plastic! It was so surprising to me. through the taut plastic.

It’s a sharp needle! Someone smart somewhere probably have something intelligent to say about this regarding the material of the plastic. When I poke the surface, the plastic would wrap around the needle and hug it without breaking. It would stretch so far until it turned white at the part the needle tip was at and I’m sure it would break if I kept pushing but the surrounding plastic was stretching so much and destroying the smooth surface of the plastic so I would have to take out the needle and poke again. It got slightly annoying after awhile because it happens quite frequently when I’m inserting the needle from the back.

When it’s from the top of the cloth, it’s problem-free, but somehow, from the back it always stretches instead of breaking a hole. I would try to flip the hoop over and poke the back like I would poke the front, thinking the problem might be caused by the change in the pressure of my poke when I’m pushing upwards from the back instead of downwards from the top. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. I’m wondering if it could perhaps be because of how it is held by the hoop. The direction that the wrap is held is upwards so perhaps when I’m pushing from the top, the opposing force breaks a hole more cleanly, whereas poking from the back would be going in the same direction as how the cloth is held so it isn’t as forceful? I tried a couple of ways to make this problem go away. At one point I guessed that the problem may be from the angle of the insertion so I would poke 90 degrees perpendicular to the surface from the back.

It’s not 100% successful either. I also tried poking faster and harder thinking the sudden force will make a clean break but it doesn’t always work either. In the end, I couldn’t figure out a real way to fix the stretching problem but it was enjoyable to explore different methods and make every stitch an experiment to fix the problem.

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What I like about this experiment is that it presented me with a huge challenge that I never thought about before I chose this material. If I had known, I would still have picked it because it is a good challenge. I was pleasantly surprised that I hadn’t realised that the most challenging but also most fun part about using a clear material is that I have to be very mindful about the back of the embroidery.

The whole process from start to finish was radically changed because of this fact. The back of the cloth is usually completely disregarded. The opaque cloth hides everything ugly in the back and there’s no need to care about where to enter or exit the needle. The mess at the back is not a problem.

This time, however, as soon as I started embroidering normally, I realised what I had overlooked. Things started getting interesting because it wasn’t just the usual motion anymore.

The main goal of the experiment became all about keeping the back clean, meaning no random strand of thread stretching from one end to the other or ugly criss-crosses here and there. I had to watch where I start the needle because there’s always a knot at the end of the first stitch from the thread so I will

have to hide it strategically based on where I enter the needle. The same applies to ending the thread with another knot that has to be hidden. Sometimes I have to start at a place that was a little away from the spot I wanted to sew at because there wasn’t any spot to hide the knots there. I’ll have to start the needle at a different spot and then slowly find a path along the back that will hide the thread from the front and weave my way to the desired spot. It was strategic and fun. Instead of the regular moves, I now have to think before each stitch so that I dont make a mistake before it’s too late. Usually when I end a thread with a knot, I would just tie the knot when and where I end the stitch. But this time I’ll have to weave around the existing stitches on the back to find an area that has shade and would hide the knot from the front and tie it against other stitches. I had a lot of fun with this one.

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c o m p a r e th e b a c k o f th e p l a s t i c w r a p w i th a l l th e o th e r s

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This experiment touches on a challenge that none of the other experiments could provide.

It let me try something I’ve not tried in any of the other experiments and I really enjoyed having to adapt to the material that I’m sewing onto and to achieve the goal of having a clear back for the embroidery. I have unlearned the way I start and end my stitches.

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Le s s o n s l e a r n t : ADAPTATION

The major part of this experiment is of course trying to hide any strand of cotton from being seen from the front. It prompted me to look more closely at the threads and the stitches to find paths where I could hide my threads. This was something I’ve never looked at in the other experiments. I was paying close attention to my entry and exit points, thinking at all times for the path to sew so that I won’t have any unsightly thread revealing. Adapting to a transparent material has made this embroidery activity so much more interesting and tough. Unlike some of the other experiments where it was somewhat similar to sewing the original, this was completely different from start to end and I really appreciate it.

sURPRISE LESSONS

When unlearning, we get to do things we hardly get to do and when this happens, we sometimes get surprises and discover new things we never knew. For this experiment, it would have to be the fact that it is possible that a sharp needle cannot penetrate a piece of thin plastic wrap without stretching the plastic drastically. It’s mindblowing. This is one of the things I like about doing these experiments, I keep exploring things I don’t know and learning new things and honing my problem-solving skills at the same time. I really do feel like I’m working my brain more than usual, which is great.

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E S S EN T I A L S (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10)

7h 15min

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U S ED

Cloth scissors White cotton cloth Embroidery hoop Embroidery scissors Embroidery flosses Needles Threads Guidelines Sight Hands

MA T ER I A L S U S ED FOR UN L EARN I N G (1) (2) (3)

Paper roll Colour Pencils Scissors

unlearning experiment 11: without thread ii

PAPER

&

COLOUR

PENC I LS

There were many things that I had considered to replace the thread, one of it being wire, but it turned out to be almost impossible to embroider with wire unless it’s really really thin wire. The wire was tearing the cloth so I gave that idea string and didn’t pose a challenge, or they were too thick to use to create a proper image. The idea of using paper seems likely under these circumstances because it wasn’t easy and it was soft enough to weave. Since I was going to use paper, I decided to colour on the paper.

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up. Other possible materials were too much like thread or

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and

c olouring

I used a receipt roll of paper that I already have that I had used as a notepad to colour with colour pencils and cut thin strips of paper threads. I don’t cut more than one thread at a time because they are so thin that they would fly off the table and is hard to maintain. So everytime I’m done with one thread, I’ll colour the paper and cut a fresh new one. I cut about 30cm each time and I was amazed how long one thread would last me. I would need the help of an awl to create a hole before inserting the paper thread into it and start weaving. I kept in mind to cut the paper threads thin enough to fit inside a tiny hole created by the awl but not too thin that it breaks easily. It’s also good to cut it the maximum thickness that is allowed because that gives me a greater surface area to shade my image. If the paper is too thin, it will take a long time to finish the embroidery. I wasn’t too strict with the cutting. I didn’t measure 1 or 2mm specifically because it was too time-consuming and unnecessary. I just approximated the thickness by eye and cut.

Because of this, the strips aren’t perfect and may taper towards the ends due to my cutting skills but the imperfections didn’t matter once I started weaving.

The strips were about 1.5mm thick each.

1.5mm

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it actually felt quite fun colouring and cutting my own ‘threads’. It did feel innovative to me at the time.

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I could weave the threads surely and quickly but still maintain a gentle touch. I didn’t break any paper threads during the experiment.

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a

l igh t

hand

&

a

sharp

Even though I’m sewing onto cloth, I can’t poke too many holes because the paper threads were in the way and I would end up breaking the paper so most of the time I will try to weave through existing holes.

The paper threads were, needless to say, breakable, so everything was to be done with a light hand.

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ed ge A neat trick I discovered by accident at the beginning was to give the end of the paper that enters the cloth a sharp edge. This makes the insertion and exiting alot easier and faster. When the hole is clear, it’s usually smooth-sailing but when I’m embroidering over an area already filled with stitches, it can be difficult to pull the paper through.

Sometimes, a tweezer would be needed. I was stubborn enough not to use one so I just picked at it with my fingers until I got it to pull it through. In retrospect, I could have taped the end onto a toothpick or even a needle to help it along so it isn’t so flimsy but I guess I wanted to try to use as little materials as possible to carry out my unlearning so it would feel more adaptable because I’m making it work by using my creativity to think of ways to deal with the situation, like cutting an edge for the paper.

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flip. flip. flip.

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c olour

Looking at the final piece now, I think I should have done a better job at colouring the paper. I should have coloured it harder and gave the paper a stronger and darker colour because now it looks faded. I tried to colour onto the paper after it was sewn when I realised how faded it looked but it just didn’t work that way. The colour wouldn’t catch on well to the little stitches and the paper was starting to bend from the force of my colouring.

It’s not easy to insert the paper from the back to the front without flipping the cloth. So I’ll have to adapt by flipping the hoop everytime I make a stitch:

1. Use awl to create hole 2. Insert paper thread into the hole from the front 3. Pull out paper thread from the back 4. Use awl to create new hole 5. Flip the hoop to the back 6. Insert the paper thread into the hole from the back 7. Flip the hoop back to the front 8. Pull the paper thread out

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It was fun to weave the paper because it wasn’t as forgiving as a cotton thread. I had to be careful not to break it but it was also tough enough to take some fast actions. It felt satisfying when the flat paper shades the shapes perfectly like wrapping a gift. It was also interesting to see paper as a medium to create an image rather than being the base of one.

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Le s s o n s l e a r n t : THERE’S SOMETHING TO LEARN FROM EVERYTHING

It wasn’t easy coming up with experiments to do. I thought it would be. But there were many factors I had to consider for my project. If I hadn’t planned to show the works on display or in frames, I would have had more choices. But since it’s embroidery, it would be alot better to show the works in a uniform manner in frames on the wall. That limited my options significantly and there weren’t many materials available that were far from the materials taken out of the equation. I do think that it was good that thinking up the experiments wasn’t easy because that in itself is training me to think out of the box. I have thought about it so much that I’ve completely exhausted all the ideas that could possibly be thought of. When my friends tried to help me think of ideas for the experiments, everything they came up with, I have already thought of and have an answer for them why those ideas can’t be used. I wasn’t super excited about this experiment at first because I felt like I could have used a better material to replace thread.

But every other material was either too much like thread or were too thick to embroider with, weren’t challenging enough, or was too expensive (wigs). But eventually I settled for paper threads. Which turned out to be very fun and challenging.

TEST FIRST TO AVOID MISTAKES

The part I find most regrettable about this experiment are the colours. In the state it is now, not colouring it would have been better. I should have tested it out beforehand to see if the colours were good, if I should have coloured with more pressure, or used coloured markers or even water colour. There just weren’t enough time and resources to test all my experiments before doing them, and it would probably defeat the purpose and spirit of this project.

the more you work to get something , the more satisfaction you receive

So far, when it came to replacing materials, I’ve been using things that already existed. For this experiment, I had to get the paper and the colour pencils to make the coloured paper thread by myself, in order to embroider. It’s a longer process which gave me more satisfaction. It felt like I worked for it and created it from scratch even though that’s not really the case. This was, perhaps, more engaging because, for the other experiments, I just had to make the unlearning materials at the beginning and use it for the rest of the experiment while for this experiment, I was making threads as I go along, making and weaving, then making, then weaving. It felt like those adventure camp quest games where you have to work for each clue to get to the next stage, which made the experiment more fun.

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E S S EN T I A L S (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10)

U S ED

Cloth scissors White cotton cloth Embroidery hoop Embroidery scissors Embroidery flosses Needles Threads Guidelines Sight Hands

unlearning experiment 12: without guidelines

GU I DEL I NES For every experiment so far, I’ve always insisted on having guidelines to sew onto, whether it’s by pencil or marker.

This will make sure that all the pieces have a standardized look and size. The focus is on my unlearning and the materials replaced, so I didn’t want anything else to distract the viewer. After sewing the image so many times, I decided to test my ability to adapt if I were to lose the very guidelines that I rely on. It’s up to my memory to help me this time to

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unlearn my reliance on the guidelines.

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losing the guidelines The guidelines are an essential part of the experiments for without it, I would have to take a lot more time to manually achieve a standard look just by looking and gauging.

For the first time, I was looking at a blank canvas. I didn’t know where to begin, I was afraid I might start too low and have no more space left for the roots or start too high and have no space for the stems. It was at that moment that I realised how much I rely on my guidelines. I was so filled with uncertainty when I started because if I took a wrong first step, everything else that follows is going to be ruined.

Before I started the experiment, I was quite nervous. I wasn’t sure if I could really remember.

When I close my eyes, I see a general image of the embroidery.

I can remember some parts very clearly, especially the leaves and stems, but when it comes to the complicated roots, I wasn’t sure if I would remember which root lies over which root and where to embroider the darker shades. I was determined not to cheat so I was really worried I would hit a block and make a mistake. So I took some time before the experiment to look at a completed piece and tried to memorise the image. I tried not to stress myself out and told myself that if I do make a mistake, it’s the beauty of this experiment to document my attempt and failures.

In retrospect, I didn’t have to be so worried because if I were to hit the edge, I can just loosen the hoop and shift the cloth for more room. I can be so inflexible sometimes.

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Considering my level of anxiety when I started out, I was surprised to find that it is very liberating to embroider without any guidelines. I could sew however I like and craft the image as I go along.

I didn’t have to stop to check where I’m poking and look to see where is the next stitch to be made.

It was truly liberating and enjoyable, surprisingly.

I was moving along so fast because there was nothing to stop me or cause doubt in me. I even completed the experiment faster than the original piece. But this could be because my unguided version of the embroidery was slightly smaller and probably didn’t have as many stitches. But it is more likely that it’s due to not having any guidelines to follow and hinder me and just sewing freely.

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I was nervous for the first half an hour to an hour until I started to realise that it’s just impossible for me to get the exact copy by memory so when I’ve accepted that, I started to loosen up and begun to have fun with it and felt lighter and liberated.

Le s s o n s l e a r n t : FUN WITHOUT RULES

I’ve always seen myself as someone who values freedom and loves to do things without rules but I think the truth is I still like order and guidelines. I like to be able to have something sturdy to rely on so that everything falls into place nicely.

This fact became more clear to me when I lost the guidelines and was really nervous about embroidering on an empty canvas. I thought I was someone who would enjoy the freedom and wouldn’t have felt the surprise of feeling liberated because I would have expected it. I didn’t. The fact that I didn’t see it coming shows me that I’m still not as flexible a person as I thought I am. I’ve learned through this experiment that when we loosen the reins once in a while, we will enjoy the freedom. I’ve learned not to sweat the small stuff.

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dealing with stress

F inding the line

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I learnt to be more independent through this experiment. With the help of the guidelines for all the other experiments, I’ve never had to worry about thinking about where to sew. This time, I was counting on myself, my memories, and my accumulated experiences from the other experiments to help me complete this experiment. I didn’t have any references and I didn’t cheat. It was just me and my decisions and I think it did change me a little bit. I’ve never enjoyed uncertainty, I like to know how things are going to happen and that I’m going to be able to do it. So when I was looking at the empty canvas, it really made me feel unsettled and stressed. But I felt the stress melt away as I moved along, there’s the thing in your head that clicks where you know you just have to deal with it and hope for the best. I think that’s a valuable lesson to keep in mind, for me at least, since I’m always nervous about the unknown and feeling unconfident with myself and my abilities.

After the piece was completed, it’s obvious that it’s not as perfect as the original. It’s slightly smaller, a little bit awkward-looking, kind of wonky. I still am quite proud of myself for even being able to remember the pattern and having a result like that but I guess it’s good to know that while it may feel liberating to ditch the rules and the guidelines, sometimes they are there for a reason, and the result of ignoring them might be a less ideal, or less beautiful product. Perhaps that is where we learn to improve ourselves so that we become better and will be able to find the line between forsaking the rules and still being able to produce wonderful things.

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st r u c t u r e

I was trying to think of interesting experiments that are innovative and challenging. I considered sewing onto a 3D structure like a juice box of some sort and open the box up to frame it up.

I tried sewing onto this small milk carton but it was too difficult to do it with the box closed. I used a curved needle to help me with it so I could insert the needle and find an exit easily. The carton was just too thick. I tried my best to sew but the thick curved needle (the only kind I can find) wasn’t working with the equally thick material of the carton. The poking in and bending out of the box was destroying it and the holes were starting to tear from the bending and it was just a mess. It was incredibly difficult to make a stitch, a lot of strength and force is needed. I tried my best but when it hit the corners, and the carton started to really tear, I knew it just wasn’t going to happen. I could foresee that the more I sew, the more holes created, it was just eventually going to breakdown from the rough handling. The leaves was already so difficult to embroider when they are the parts with the biggest surface area, I know the smaller areas like the stems and roots will be impossible. While it lasted,

curved needle

it was actually quite fun, not to mention exciting because I couldn’t wait to see how it will look when it was completed.

It felt special and interesting since it was a 3D structure. Perhaps I could have made a thin box with paper to create my own 3D structure to sew onto. I wanted to use the milk carton because it felt more spontaneous and available.

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Failed Experiments wire Wire was one of the materials I thought of to replace threads. I have tried this so many times, it just doesn’t work. My first attempt was using wire to embroider on cloth. The cloth would threaten to tear when I tried to bend the wire, even if I’m using really thin and bendable wire. Perhaps if my image was really huge, wiring is possible because the wire doesn’t have to make such small bends so closely together to form a stitch. Wire wasn’t suited for my small embroidery. When the cloth wasn’t working, I thought of using wire mesh. I actually thought it will work because how could the wire mesh tear? I was wrong. I was struggling a little bit for the first two stitches but I was hopeful that if I pull through, the wire on wire mesh combination might work, but then the mesh tore as well. I do still think that wire will look great as a material for stitching embroidery but it just has to be of a certain size and above, not too small.

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Prior to using plastic wrap for Unlearning Experiment 10, my first choice was to use clingwrap.

I thought that clingwrap would be really challenging considering how thin it is. In retrospect, it was probably really stupid of me to even entertain the idea of doing embroidery on clingwrap. Firstly, it was a pain to fit it into the hoop since it was starting to stick at the ends and I had to be really careful since it might tear when I tighten the hoop.

It was fine, it fit and it didn’t tear. I prepared my threads and took the first insertion into the taut clingwrap, the hole created by the needle instantly stretched open into a really big hole. It was like poking an inflated balloon almost, except it didn’t burst.

Of all the difficult materials and failed experiments, this would be the one that really was impossible to do. It cannot be done. The clingwrap’s material was stretchable and thin, it cannot be controlled so embroidery is out of the question.

Even though it might be obvious to others that sewing onto clingwrap is not possible, I didn’t know and I learned something new.

failed experiments

I prepared my threads and took the first insertion into the taut clingwrap, the hole created by the needle instantly stretched open into a really big hole. It was like poking an inflated balloon almost, except it didn’t burst.

Velcro When the idea of using velcro was conceived, I thought it was going to be a great experiment. I thought the thread was going to get hooked onto the velcro and it was going to be tough to embroidery, having to be mindful of where the thread falls, and adapting to a different method of pulling the needle and thread. It was surprising how none of it happened. The velcro (only hook side) comes with an adhesive back so I pasted them side by side on a piece of paper to make the velcro base for embroidery. The adhesive was a huge problem because when I inserted the needle through the base, it caught onto the adhesive and was really difficult to poke through and some adhesive was stuck to the

The adhesive that was stuck to the needle begain to accumulate on the second insertion and it was just too hard to poke the needle through. The most disappointing part was that the thread didn’t get stuck onto the velcro like I thought it would! I had

needle when it was pulled out.

to manually press the thread into the hook to get it stuck, loosely. It wasn’t challenging enough if the thread wasn’t going to get stuck and it was only bothersome that the needle keeps coming out sticky so I stopped the experiment.

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LAST WORD

last word

After these twelve experiments, I would say that I have successfully unlearned embroidery and cultivated many problem-solving and thinking skills adaptability in the process.

The truly wonderful thing about this whole project is how I now hate embroidering normally. I noticed this halfway through the project whenever an experiment differs alot from the original, I would enjoy it, and got really bored with the ones that were didn’t variate too much. Embroidery wasn’t something that I’ve done frequently in the past. It wasn’t something completely foreign to me, but it wasn’t what I do regularly.

Through this whole repetitive project, I have used the needle and thread, embroidering non-stop almost every single day for about a month. I did the whole sewing motion so much that it became too boring if I didn’t try something different to change it up. So when an experiment uses something completely different than thread and I would have to change the way I sew in order to complete the embroidery, it really changed how I feel about it. I feel more energized and excited to enjoy the process and complete the task, while learning in the process. I’ve learned so many valueable life lessons through this unlearning project. I’ve gained more self-awareness and understood myself better as a person. I’ve learned to enjoy the little things and used my creativity to solve problems that I faced and it really did make me feel more creative and flexible in the way I tackled the challenges I faced in the project.

Now I can imagine, for someone who works in the office everyday, doing the same thing, typing non-stop on the computer, churning out report after report for work, it must have gotten as boring as ordinary embroidery had gotten for me. Work life stagnates. There’s a ‘right way’ to do everything and innovative methods come to a halt because noone can spare the resources to be adventurous. I believe that resources should be invested to support and encourage employees so that they can let themselves become more creative and inventive at work. They should learn to unlearn their standard way of doing work because if it gets boring and stagnant, job satisfaction may decrease and eventually affect efficiency and productivity. More importantly, it may turn employees into machines who only know how to do things one way and not be trained to be flexible and innovate in times of crisis or when discrepancies arise. If employees are consistently allowed to unlearn, renew their method of working, and encouraged to suggest new innovative ideas, they may be more equipped to deal with changes and unanticipated problems at work, increase their capacity to be adaptable and help the company to greater heights.

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Alta Mira. (2015). Rewiring the brain: Teaching an old dog new tricks [On-line]. Available: http:// www.altamirarecovery.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Rewiring_the_Brain_Infographic.jpg Glei, J. K. (2012). Hacking habits: How to make new behaviours last for good [On-line]. Available: http://99u.com/articles/7230/hacking-habits-how-to-make-new-behaviors-last-for-good Gonzales, L. (2008). Everyday survivial: Why smart people do stupid things. New York: W. W. Norton & Company Martin, N. (2008). Habit: The 95% of behavior marketers ignore. New Jersey: FT Press Martinuzzi, B. (2009). The leader as a mensch: Become the kind of person others want to follow.

San Francisco: Six Seconds Prince, E. S. (2012). Adaptability – A key skill we must develop in ourselves and in others [Online]. Available: http://www.trainingzone.co.uk/community/blogs/emma-sue-prince-unimenta/ adaptability-a-key-skill-we-must-develop-in-ourselves-and Rae-Dupree, J. (2008). Can you become a creature of new habits? [On-line]. Available: http:// www.nytimes.com/2008/05/04/business/04unbox.html?_r=0 Right Management. (2014). The flux report [On-line PDF]. Available: http://www. rightmanagement.co.uk/wps/wcm/connect/350a18c6-6b19-470d-adba-88c9e0394d0b/ Right+Management+Flux+Report+Spread.pdf?MOD=AJPERES Rubin, G. (2015). Better than before: Mastering the habits of our everyday lives. New York: Crown Satell, G. (2014). Adaptability is more important than talent [On-line]. Available: http://www. businessinsider.com/adaptability-is-more-important-than-talent-2014-4?IR=T& Warrell, M. (2014). Learn, unlearn, and relearn: How to stay current and get ahead [On-line].

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special thanks

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SPECIAL THANKS TO: My Final Year Project mentor

Candice Ng

for her guidance & advices足

Habits-unlearning participants

Kevin Fee

for their time, effort & help

Jade Yeo Pete Tong Rayne Wong Neo Xian Zhen Broy Lim Ng Si Ying Jeremy Tan Rachel Goh

My family

Peggy Lee

for their support and resources

Ong Kheng Wah Fufu Ong

fyp JUDGES for their feedback and comments

Jackson Tan Nanci Takeyama Ina Conradi

Jolyn Ong Nanyang Technological University School of Art, Design & Media Major in Visual Communication Final Year Project Printed in Singapore All rights reserved Š 2016 www.cargocollective.com/joong hellojolyn@gmail.com