Blythe House.

4th December 2009.

Blythe house holds an enormous archive which began in the late 1970’s to accommodate the V&A’s ever growing collections. The vast amounts of material held here is such a wonderful thing to see, the piles of designs and colour chart books for the seasons fashion forecasts from the past is amazing. Along with many other stores are Heal’s fabric sample books, a record of each colour, which one sold best and how many were sold. There were also photos and illustrations, some dating back as far as the early 1900's, with incredible detail and colour throughout

Apart from Fashion and Textiles, Blythe house also holds objects from the V&A’s collections such as furniture, fine arts, glass, ceramics and jewellery.

Visual Recording

From the Spitalfields market I purchased a box of three preserved Butterflies.

One is a ‘Peacock’ Butterfly, the second a ‘Clouded Yellow’ Butterfly, and the third a ‘Silver-Washed Fritillary’ Butterfly. They are all different in size, colour and pattern, but have the same soft and painterly look to them, almost as if they are made up of dust. Their wings are like tiny delicate leaves and have very fine hairs leading to the bodies of the insect. The ‘Peacock’ Butterfly is made up of red brick, hazelnut and coffee browns, with metallic pearl, gold and lavender circles, whilst the ‘Clouded Yellow’ Butterfly is made up of a sunshine yellow, a golden brown and a pale lime green, with a hint of delicate peach around the edges of the wings and antennae. The ‘Silver-Washed Fritillary’ Butterfly is not quite as it sounds, it is largely a rusty orange with a woody brown for decoration and pattern. The Butterflies make me feel calm, they bring out a peaceful quality in me and remind me of happiness and tranquility.

I would imagine if the butterflies were placed in a museum or a gallery space people would be fascinated by them, by the detail of their small form. In this context you are forced to analyse what you see and I think they would look very special and precious.

At the same time, if the Butterflies were put into a shop or boutique, people could again admire them, but as a piece you could purchase they may become lost in a collection of many other obtainable objects. I would hope they would be made a feature in this context, something to draw attention and inspire people, but not to buy from the shelf.

I bought an Ornamental Ceramic Bird from as shop near Brick Lane, called Queens. It is an elegant piece, a warm off white in colour and glazed to finish. it has a hollow body which has a ‘branch-like’ pattern cut out from it, so light passes through. It makes me think of something vulnerable, something that needs to be cared for, and something sweet and friendly. Together with the colour, size and subject of the bird, it conjures up a feeling of innocence.

If I had seen this little bird on a market stall, I would probably have thought of it as nothing more than bric-a-brac, it may not have been as well looked after and depending on what it was placed with could go unnoticed. Placing this object into a gallery or museum would attract craft makers admiration as it would have been made by an artist. More thought would go into the making process and technique used to form the piece, as a pose to only visually appreciating the object.

I was really drawn to The Lampshade in the V&A Museum Of Childhood during my visit, it was big, bright and full of fun. The ‘Kitsch-ness’ of it all was most amusing - Bright red next to fuchsia pink, next to lime green with very bold black outline and white panels were just brilliant. There was a playful-ness to it, roughly cut out by school children as their interpretation of decoration.

Being in a gallery did make me appreciate it more, however if it had been placed in a shop or boutique, I do think I would still want to buy it, it is still unique and still lots of fun. Being placed on a market stall, it may lose some of its appeal but I do think people with a creative eye would still be interested. The great thing about it is it could be in anyones living room, and could look great anywhere.

Triangle Gallery; Ethical Fashion Forum

"The garment industry is served by complex supply chains that connect people from different countries across the globe. Clothes are often manufactured in countries on the other side of the world from where they have been designed, or where they are destined to be marketed and sold. For many garment workers, poor working conditions and the abuse of human rights are a day to day experience. Their lives could be positively transformed by changing standards within the garment industry." (fashioninganethicalindustry.org)

This was the first Global Sourcing Marketplace launched by The Ethical Fashion Forum (EFF) and held at Chelsea's UAL very own Triangle Gallery. There were lots of companies at the event with one thing in common - supporting fair trade and ethical manufacturing within textile design. There were extensive products and samples on show that gave me a huge insight into the concept of the EFF, to provide companies and designers with the opportunities to source fabrics ethically and reduce any environmental issues that arise from the processing, for example in dyeing.

Aura Herbal Textiles Ltd, based in India, were just one of the companies that I related to the most, as a print student I love the innovative concept they use in their design process. They use natural and herbal dyes to print and colour their fabrics, which are 100% organic and biodegradable. They also specialise in woven fabrics and yarns and pride themselves in keeping all the design and making processes in-house, from cutting and sewing to finishing and packaging. Most conventional processes in dying release amines which are allergic to human skin and a carcinogenic, so using herbal and natural dyes just makes sense! For health reasons if not to help the environment.

There is no waste involved as they have developed a clever re-cycling system that enables them to re-use water produced (about 1,00,000 litres per day). 8,000 chemicals are used in conventional dyeing which actually weaken the fabric, even if the fabric itself is a natural one. Aura use dyes from plants, flowers and herbs etc, and are rich in medicinal properties for the skin, and actually strengthen the fabric it is applied too.

This is the step forward for all future fashion designers, ethical is the way to go.

A Rough Guide; Brick Lane and The East End.

My first initial thoughts of Brick Lane were.. Well, it was a nice place. An ‘Arty’ place.

Coming from Brighton, the cobbled roads and hippy arty crowds hanging out of rustic eateries reminded me of home.

It was the first time since moving to a vast and lonely London that I felt settled. There was a sense of community, all of the friendly and relaxed faces warmed me. I had heard about Brick Lane from my Dad previously, he likes to tell me stories of his youth - especially during his days as a dedicated Punk. Having grown up in London, Brick Lane was one of the places he would frequent with his friends. He remembers the Rag Trade being heavily based here, which in some cases is still famous for, amongst other things.

He tells me it was predominantly Leather trading in those days, which was nice to see a shop still specializing in Leather during my visit. The fruit market is another aspect Brick Lane and the surrounding area was renowned for, he remembers people from all over London would come here for their groceries. Of course, this is just one encounter, one memory, of a small part of Brick Lane’s history.

Brick Lane was originally called Whitechapel Lane and got re-named in the beginning of the 15th Century because of the brick production which took place here using the local red clay.

Brick Lane has always been inhabited by many different groups of immigrants, even as far back as the 17th Century by the Huguenot refugee’s, spilling over from Spitalfields. Then came the Irish, followed by the Jews. The Jewish community were drawn to Brick Lane to live and work in the Textile Industry. With them they brought the Brick Lane Market, and The Sunday Market, selling fruit, vegetables, bric-a-brac and other things. It became the centre for crafts and the clothing industry, as well as a base for ‘masters’ in tailoring and weaving. A new community of people were drawn to the area because of all the Immigrant Labour going on, they were to offer their skilled, and often unskilled services to the industry, and make Brick Lane their new home. This was of course the Bangladeshi people.

Before families migrated and settled here, the men were sent over looking for work in all of the big cities in England that had large amount of industrial employment. Many ended up in sweatshops on sewing machines and the men that were working in the docks and shipping from Bengal would also stop over in this area.

Brick Lane was a dark, damp, depressing place as described by many who lived here, with many derelict homes, and a poor people occupying them. Some Bangladeshi’s decided to set up indian restaurants to cater for all the working men, and very quickly became the centre for London curry houses. Before long there were around 40,000 Bangladeshi people living in and around Brick Lane, and the street became more commonly known as ‘Bangla-Town’. The Bangladeshi people are still heavily occupying this area and now want to officially re name the street ‘Bangla-town’ as they have dominated the area for such a long time.

In 1976 they inherited a grade II listed building on the corner of Brick Lane and Fournier Street as their place of worship, now known as The Great London Mosque or London Jamme Masjid. The mosque was formerly La Neuvetglise from 1742 to 1809, a Huguenot chapel, which then became The Jewish chapel until 1819, and finally consecrated as The Machzikei Hadath or Spitalfields Great Synagogue in 1998. The mosque was really what lead to the families of the working men to come and permanently settle here, it was now a place where they felt safe and at home, with more opportunity and quality of life, even in its derelict state. However, they soon came under attack from racist Britons who felt threatened by the Bangladeshi ‘invasion’. They were often subject to assaults and violent protests against them in the street, however, the Bangladeshi people became defiant against the abuse and came together to enforce to the racist attackers that they were not going anywhere, and are still to this day growing in numbers, and community spirit.

One feeling I do get in knowing all of the history here, is that maybe a new set of people are moving in on this area. During the run-down, empty and derelict period of it’s past, artists were attracted to it for its edgy, rough, bohemian feel, and the very cheap rent! A spitalfields trust was set up called New Georgians which rescued the derelict houses and restored them. This attracted a young, trendy, and more importantly, wealthy people. Amongst my peers now, predominantly students, Brick Lane is well-known for its Vintage shops, Market stalls, Cool hang outs and vibrant Art and Fashion scene. It is still THE place to go for a curry, but I feel people are generally appreciating it for different reasons now, the artistic appeal is great with inspiration around every corner and many studios and gallery spaces becoming more common. There is lots of graffiti by well known artists such as Banksy and D*face, and The Killers recorded their music video here, All These Things I’ve Done.

The popularity of Brick Lane amongst students could be an overflow from the other ‘student’ area of Hoxton. Hoxton is well known for its bars, restaurants, vintage shops, and galleries. This is also a very ‘hip’ and ‘arty’ scene for the young and shares many of the same qualities as Brick Lane, as well as a similar history of poverty and trade.

Hoxton was a poverty stricken area with many slums in the victorian era and was where furniture trade was based in London. Today Hoxton is still mostly made up of council estates and deprived people, but the appeal is still strong in the southern half of the district for trendy students and fashionable successful people.

Since the 1980’s it has been occupied by young artists who would live and work in the converted lofts of once industrial buildings. Many galleries and clubs were set up in the 90’s to entertain this crowd, and thus forth drew in other creative groups such as designers, photographers, musicians and writers. The epi-centre is on Hoxton square, where all the bars, clubs and fashionable people hang out, and is home to many famous models and designers, such as Alexander Mcqueen. As more and more people were drawn to this area, to late it has risen dramatically in value and many galleries are moving to near by Shoreditch to keep down costs.

Spitalfields is a place which ties in with the image of Brick Lane and Hoxton, but has a more clean-cut feel to it. This is down to the huge modern office blocks that have expanded into this area over the years, dividing Bishopsgate with the Spitalfield Market. The difference with this place is it FEELS wealthy. Even the Antique market is expensive, it still has the same clientele as grungy Brick Lane and Hoxton, but the surroundings are very different, with many of the busy restaurants full up with city slickers and rich business men and women.

This area is merges into Brick Lane and Whitechapel and has done since the victorian era, being another area of trade, Spitalfields was home to many weavers, was part of the silk industry, and saw new trades come in such as boot making and tailoring. It was also derelict and run-down, and was included as part of the rejuvenation program created by New Georgian. The inflation caused by the development of these buildings has pushed out the last of the vagrants and is home to many famous artists, such as Tracy Emin, and also to rich city workers. During its dilapidated period, Spitalfields was a dangerous area, known for its high crime and prostitution, one of Jack The Rippers victims lived here in 1888.

I have found out a lot about this part of London, and it will always remain to be one of my favourite places in the city. This is a place that has made me feel happy and settled in a city that was engulfing me with unhappiness, which I am sure is a similar story to many other students, artists and down to earth people who aren't just in the big smoke for big fat pay cheques, but to remind themselves that even in the most grey and depressing places humanity can shine through, and does exist.

Collections; Telling Tales

30th October 2009

The V&A gallery is an open and vast space on entrance, with a dark and dramatic surround. A perfect backdrop to the Telling Tales exhibition. The work on show was both beautiful crafted and compelling, each piece had an underlying meaning, a purpose, or a story. It was magical, my imagination was able to run wild within a ‘fantasy dreamland’. The inspiring work was, i feel, taking the adults in the room back to childhood adventures and indulging the children’s minds by making these ‘make-believe’ objects something very real.

The Forest Glade.

‘The Linen Cupboard House’ by Jurgen Bey caught my eye in the first room. It made me think back to building fortresses in my bedroom as a small girl, and the safety of having a secret place to dream. The setting of the Linen Cupboard House was like a wild forest, and possibly a dangerous place, this little ‘home’ felt like somewhere I could crawl into and be safe, sleep, play and be happy. I had a very strong imagination even as a young child and was forever dreaming up fantasy ‘worlds’ so this piece was the closest to my memories of my childhood, a happy one, making me connect with the work.

The Enchanted Castle.

‘Lathe Chair VIII’ made by Sebastian Brajkovic was my favorite piece from this collection. I love the shape of traditional furniture and this piece had been modernised with its design, it reminded me of a ‘love-seat, a romantic scene between two people sharing an intimate or loving moment. The 18th century feel to this collection evoked a feeling of romanticism in me which is maybe why I chose this piece.

Heaven and Hell.

'Damned.MGX' chandelier by Luc Merx was a really nice piece. The setting of this part of the exhibition was something uncomfortable and scary, so the softly glowing illuminant light seemed comforting. I knew on closer inspection that it would perhaps have a more sinister meaning behind it, it was in fact "inspired by Peter Paul Rubens's depiction of the fall of the damned at the moment of Gods last judgement." This piece is no doubt about spirituality, which you can feel from its ghostly imagery, but spirituality is something comforting to me, it makes me not fear the inevitable.

Each piece in The Forest Glade was given almost its own space for different stories and fairytales to take place in each section and appeal to different childhood memories for the visitors. The overall ambience was dark but fantastical, an interesting place to explore. In The Enchanted Castle the surfaces were all shiny and the pieces seemed like grand gestures with bright lights focusing on the works and dark in between. The pieces were based on ordinary objects that had been altered to become make-believe and there was a feeling of hierarchy and order to the room as if the objects were possessions of a king which you must not touch. The last part of the exhibition, Heaven and Hell, was a very anxious and tense space. It was dark and reminded me of a cave. The collections were again lit up with lights but this time I could see a lot of red, the works were eerie and had something deathly about them. Seeing how the setting for this collection alters or adds to the overall 'mood' makes me think about my Table Theatre and how choosing the objects and colours can change what they mean to somebody. I really enjoy the fairy-tale theme to Telling Tales and I want to incorporate this into my Table Theatre. I could think about using feathers and jewels for example.

I think the titles were very cleverly chosen for this exhibition, The Forest Glade represented what features in many fairy-tale stories and gave the impression of the outdoors and an adventure. It was going to be a journey back into the innocence of childhood imagination, somewhere to become lost, possibly afraid, but to make a discovery.

The title Heaven and Hell immediately conjures up imagery of suffering Vs enlightenment. You are already prepared for the collection by this title, you know there will be reference to death which for most people is not a comfortable feeling. Tension is built in the title, it intrigues the viewer to see what they have to offer but perhaps with a drawn breath and peering through the gaps in their fingers.

The Honeycomb Vase by Tomas Gabzdil Libertiny particularly caught my imagination due to the clever design process and the fact that it is actually real and a naturally formed piece made by Bee's.

Sir John Soames Museum visit.

23rd November 2009.

I visited the John Soames Museum in Holborn recently, and what a delight it was. There were intriguing ‘nooks and crannies’ filled with neat and ordered objects and incredible artifacts, wonderfully placed all over this truly inspiring and beautiful house. Sir John Soames spent his life collecting artifacts from all over the globe, choosing and hoarding so many special and often ancient items. This is one of the most intimate museums I have visited and there is a very personal feel to the place, as if you have been invited in to experience some of the worlds history, and I really felt absorbed by the sheer amount that has been collected by one person. I read that Soames’ aim was to use his house as a place where ‘amateurs and students’ could come and ‘consult, inspect and benefit’ form his collections. This is certainly what I did. The sculptures and castings were particularly fascinating for me, maybe it was the symmetrical manor in which they were displayed, or the grand ‘hall’ they were given. Whichever, they were captivating, I wanted to know more, about the makers, about where they had come from, and to truly appreciate them being here in front of me.