Development

Research reveals that ‘collaboration is the act of working together to produce a piece of work’ and is a ‘result of people or groups working together’. This caused realisation that collaborative work allows input of others to lead to exciting development towards my original ideas.This has great impact as it allows new, exciting areas of exploration through a collaborative mindset. 

So far my collaboration has been through weekly tutorials with peers and a tutor. At first I thought we would work in a very similar minded, therefore limiting new ideas. However, it has become clear how even though we all fall under the same specialism, our thought/creative processes differ greatly.The ideas and knowledge I have gained from these collaborative discussions have been extremely beneficial.

This collaboration has lead to considering various materials, and using materials in ways that I wouldn’t consider. This is daunting, as I’m moving away from traditional techniques and processes, into the unknown. This means research and exploration is crucial. Risk-taking will help create exciting outcomes, and will hopefully have a positive impact on my work. 

In my work I also have become interested in interaction and collaboration between myself as the maker, and my audience. This fascination and idea started forming in my tutorials as people gave feedback on how handling my samples made them feel. This will impact my development and processes, as the samples I create will focus on interaction, and how certain materials evoke feelings. This will add purpose to my work. 

I want my work to reduce anxiety in an act of meditation. Interactive textiles have been explored in similar ways, such as with Alzheimer's patients.Whilst creating sensory textiles, I feel it will be effective to use various mixed media materials and processes. This will require research and exploration.

Moving on, I will start researching materials/processes that reduce anxiety, and the impact of sensory material and textiles within my specialism. This will be extremely important in underpinning the context of my work. Research and exploration through drawing and sample making will now lead my plan of action for this project.