The installation is almost complete!
Cultural Tech-Fusion Fabrics
Yesterday I visited the San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles to see the progress on the installation. Here are some photos of the interplay between Rick's and Colleen's creations for the 01SJ Biennial Festival.
After a month of intensive work, Colleen is completing her Emotion garment for the Zero 1 Biennial 2010. It is amazing for me, a novice textile designer, to see my fabric designs used in Collen Quen's creations. More info on this installation, TECHstlye SoftWEAR Surface & Shape, at the San San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles on their upcoming exhibits page. Also info on project here: http://fusionwearsv.sjquiltmuseum.org/artists.php .
Today in the San Jose Mercury New there was an article about The Zero1 Art & Technology Biennial 2010. This article is more specifically about the music and general info (does mention the San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles). More detailed info will be out on Thursday in the EYE section of the paper.
Today some installations begin in South Hall, San Jose. I am very excited to be a part of this exciting Arts & Technology Biennial and am very excited to be working with artists Rick Lee and Colleen Quen!
Today in the San Jose Mercury New there was an article about The Zero1 Art & Technology Biennial 2010. This article is more specifically about the music and general info (does mention the San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles). More detailed info will be out on Thursday in the EYE section of the paper.
Today some installations begin in South Hall, San Jose. I am very excited to be a part of this exciting Arts & Technology Biennial and am very excited to be working with artists Rick Lee and Colleen Quen!
A few days ago Colleen sent me some new images of the garments in progress. I love this top to the second garment. I'd wear this! I like how the collar echoes the solar panel design. I think it is both sporty and elegant and definitely is some thing I could envisions someone wearing to work during the day or dressing up for the evening. It is a functional piece.
Top for suspended garment. This uses the solar panel patterns.
Below: These are beautiful just stacked. I can not wait to see them assembled and hung in the museum gallery.
Colleen says, "240 yards of boning used already. 1/4 more ways to go!!! It's finally coming together. Assembling the entire art piece this week and next. Still need to sew sleeves and structure of peplum."
Colleen says, "240 yards of boning used already. 1/4 more ways to go!!! It's finally coming together. Assembling the entire art piece this week and next. Still need to sew sleeves and structure of peplum."
elements of the skirt for the suspended garment.
Topography garment just about completed.
Below are some recent in progress images of the topography piece in progress.
For the image of base of skirt below Colleen says "We have worked on 8 panels and 15 more panels to go."
For the image of base of skirt below Colleen says "We have worked on 8 panels and 15 more panels to go."
Detail of front in progress.
Here is the paper pattern being crafted.
Colleen sent me these images today. It took two full days to construct this sleeve. The print drew inspiration from San Jose's City Hall, Spanish tile roofs and Eichler homes. Colleen's sleeve is a gestural reference to the City Hall rotunda.
Front view of Topography sleeve.
Colleen Quen:
"Of course my shape has a little distortion of the City Hall in San Jose. It's symbolically showing the gesture. This is looking inside the sleeve. The complexity and building of structure needed to create the shape as well as my engineered pattern cut of sleeve."
"Of course my shape has a little distortion of the City Hall in San Jose. It's symbolically showing the gesture. This is looking inside the sleeve. The complexity and building of structure needed to create the shape as well as my engineered pattern cut of sleeve."
YToday J.R. Campbell, Director and Professor of the Fashion School at Kent State, and Susan Taber Avila, artist and professor at The University of California Davis , visited the studios of Colleen Quen and Rick Lee.
J.R. Campbell's digital textile department printed the silks for the Surface and Shape collaborative project Colleen, Rick and I are working on. He was in town to see a show at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts and he had an hour window of time that matched Colleen's window of time to meet. I almost was not able to make the meeting but am so glad that I did! It was an extra bonus to meet Susan.
J.R. Campbell's digital textile department printed the silks for the Surface and Shape collaborative project Colleen, Rick and I are working on. He was in town to see a show at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts and he had an hour window of time that matched Colleen's window of time to meet. I almost was not able to make the meeting but am so glad that I did! It was an extra bonus to meet Susan.
Colleen shows the scale of the skirt portion of the topography garment.
Emotion mapping textile print incorporated into forms.
Colleen's long time seamstress works on one of the sleeves of the topography garment.
Intern Elena works on the lantern like forms for the emotion garment.
Intern Barbie works on the garments.
J.R. Campbell and Rick Lee discuss project.
The textiles.
Colleen shows us her many pattern pieces.
In the last few days Colleen has been sending me images of her process of creating a garment pattern. She studied French couture and was an engineer in a prior career so she has that special mix of left and right side of the brain working in her artistic creations! A lot of math goes into her pattern drafting (I saw math equations on her initial pattern pieces). This really the best part of the project for me....seeing the process of other artists who work in very different media.
Musiln of sleeves for topography garment.
Here Colleen maps off sections with tape. This is to determine pattern shapes for the topography garment.
back view of topography pattern markings.
More pattern work for topograpy garment.
Sleeve pattern pieces for topography garment.
Huge (I mean huge) patten for base of topography garment. This photo was taken from Colleen's second story balcony looking down onto her showroom.
Start of designing frame structure of emotion piece. This garment will be hanging.
64 of these forms will hang from the emotion piece to form a sort of lantern skirt.
At our meeting last week, Colleen Quen shared her initial pattern studies. I was awed by how much hand work will go into these garments and was struck by how inventive and intricate these creations will be.
Colleen Quen with dress form and pattern sketch.
Colleen's pattenr sketch of the diameter of the hanging garment cage frame from which the lantern like pieces will dangle.
Colleen explaining the haning lantern like shapes. She will be creating 60 or so of these!
Fabrics from Spoonflower and from Kent State University's School of Fashion's TechStyleLAB
Colleen Quen's Emotion Piece sketch
Colleen Quen's Emotion piece concept sketch
Colleen Quen's Topography piece concept sketch
This morning I had a meeting with Colleen Quen and Rick Lee to review textile designs, color, fabrics and scale. We also decided on a name for the installation: Suface & Shape: Reflections on Silicon Valley. The museum wished to modify the name to fit the grant application, so the final name is:
TECHstyle SoftWEAR: Surface & Shape
TECHstyle SoftWEAR: Surface & Shape
Below: I was amazed by how quickly Colleen honed in on the patterns she was draw to for each garment. She will be making one for a woman and one for a man. She selected three fabrics for each.
Below are the revisions to colors and scaling of designs after Colleen's feedback. The top row is for the woman's garment. The bottom textile row is for the man's garment. I ordered silk test swatches from Kent State University's School of Fashion's TechStyleLAB and cotton lawn swatches from Spoonflower .
Rick shared some great concept sketches for the installation. I am so very excited for this collaboration!
Rick shared some great concept sketches for the installation. I am so very excited for this collaboration!
