Week 3 (26/08 - 29/08)
Paper Weaving
Activity: Create patterns relating to the theme of millennials and media
Description
Going with the theme of ‘Nostalgia’, I decided to create 2 paper weaving patterns, one being a Mario mushroom and the other being the Limewire logo.
I chose those elements because firstly, Mario is a game that most millennials played growing up. It also happens to fit the ‘pixel art’ feel that paper weaving reminds me of. Secondly, Limewire was prominently a tool used for the download and distribution of pirated music and it was extremely popular amongst millennials for that purpose.
On the side, I also placed a triaxial weaving using black as the base, with reflective silver and shimmery silver strips. I decided to create a frame around the piece, choosing to cut out a heart shape. The reason behind this is due to the mess on the sides of my weaving. I also think it makes the overall piece more unique
Mario Mushroom
After mapping out a diagram of the pixel mushroom on a piece of graph paper, I proceeded to weave it. I cut 0.5cm strips of paper for this pattern. Realizing that I needed to use 3 colours for the weave, I decided to use purple paper as the loom, then use black and white strips of paper to weave.
I started off with the black strips, creating the outline and eyes of the mushroom. During this process, I had to tape down the corners of the paper strips to prevent them from moving while I was weaving. When I finished weaving the black strips, I realised that there was no way to fit my white strips in the loom using the traditional weaving method. Therefore, I had to cut up the strips and force them over the loom, slotting the sides into the loom to keep the white pieces secure.
When I was done, I wrapped the entire loom in a piece of red cellophane paper. This was done in an attempt to ‘colour’ the mushroom red, just like the original image, and also hold my white paper strips in place. The overall red look also references how people often view nostalgia with rose-tinted glasses.
Limewire Logo
For the Limewire Logo I was very conflicted on how to approach this. Given the circular nature of the logo, it was hard for me to intepret this in the form of pixels. Additionally, I was lacking time at this point, after spending alot of time configuring the Mario Mushroom. Similar to the mushroom, I cut 0.5cm strips of green paper for this pattern.
I spent alot of time thinking about how to approach this but due to the lack of time, I simply weaved the green paper strips in the black paper loom, using it as a green background, like the logo. I then cut a piece of yellow cellophane paper and glued it onto the paper strips. When the glue dried, I cut shapes out of a piece of black paper to use as a frame, like how I did for the triaxal weaving. Using the leftover green paper trims, I glued them in between the Mario mushroom and the Limewire logo weaving, acting as pixelated grass, and also to bind both the pieces together.
This piece was done when I was in a rush, therefore the lack of quality, and effect of paper weaving. Furthermore, I also did not have yellow paper prepared.
Overall Reflection
I did not perform well during this session as well, largely due to a lack of preparation and time management. I should have prepared the colours I needed, and mapped out both the patterns on a piece of graph paper so I wouldn’t run into the same problem I faced while working on the Limewire piece. Regarding the mario piece, it also lacks the structure for the papers to hold on to, I should have used glue in order to solve this problem, but once again, due to time constraint, I was not able to fix this component of the piece. This resulted in the weaving coming apart and becoming messier over time.
As someone with extremely shakey hands and a tendency to knock things over (clumsiness), I have decided that paper weaving is not for me. It was extremely difficult for me to cut the strips especially, as I struggle with cutting things in a straight line. Most of the paper strips I sliced up were uneven and varied in width, which affected my weaving as the measurements often did not tally up. Albeit the interesting results, paper weaving is too tedious for me and I do not think I will be attempting it in the future. The only exception would be if the pattern is simple and the paper strips are wider and precut for me. Even then. I would have to reconsider due to the sheer amount of work. However, I do like the look of paper weaving when overlaying 2 pictures together, forming a visually interesting look and effect.
I did not perform well during this session as well, largely due to a lack of preparation and time management. I should have prepared the colours I needed, and mapped out both the patterns on a piece of graph paper so I wouldn’t run into the same problem I faced while working on the Limewire piece. Regarding the mario piece, it also lacks the structure for the papers to hold on to, I should have used glue in order to solve this problem, but once again, due to time constraint, I was not able to fix this component of the piece. This resulted in the weaving coming apart and becoming messier over time.
As someone with extremely shakey hands and a tendency to knock things over (clumsiness), I have decided that paper weaving is not for me. It was extremely difficult for me to cut the strips especially, as I struggle with cutting things in a straight line. Most of the paper strips I sliced up were uneven and varied in width, which affected my weaving as the measurements often did not tally up. Albeit the interesting results, paper weaving is too tedious for me and I do not think I will be attempting it in the future. The only exception would be if the pattern is simple and the paper strips are wider and precut for me. Even then. I would have to reconsider due to the sheer amount of work. However, I do like the look of paper weaving when overlaying 2 pictures together, forming a visually interesting look and effect.