I was thinking to make a background that can put inside the sealing bag. Then I thought of what happens if I mix the herb with clay? Here is the test I did, and it did still have the smell.
I individually mix with each colour and then make them into a ball and stick on the paper. The powder of herb indeed effect the colour little, but it only turns the colour to a bit yellowy.
After that, I drew on the clay. That still expressed my concept and in the meantime, it does not have the traditional sachet and herb. It was fun to explore the different possibility of achieving one goal.
I made the right one first, and I made a mistake by using black fabric. The black thread becomes invisible with the black background. Then I made one on seethrough yarn, and see which fabric is more suitable for this. As you can see that is the final work I made. I filled with a bag of lavender and Osmanthus fragrans Lour herbs. The reason for adding one more layer inside, is because that would protect the white fabric from getting stained(there are lots of herb powder that might gets on the fabric).
The image I used was scanned because the camera can not capture the detail of the thread.
Below are my process of making the whale character. I stitched on the transparent yarn and then put that on the white fabric. I tried to sew the extra two layers with the sachet directly then filled it with the herbs. The result from that is the edge that it gets stained because I put the herb from that hole.
The other two outcomes I made from the interviews. I am not really good with photographing but I have tried my best.
As you can see from the above images, there are a few changes I have made. Like the heart, I moved it to the left side so it would not cover the sound wave on the right. Besides, I remove the hair from the whale character because my initial idea was to stitch one side so the hair can move and will be really stand out, while now I want to keep three things like a series. I did not make too many changes to the third one because I made the draft with my friend and she wants it like this. I just used pearl and bead to present the sea wave instead of thread. I also fail to stitched the mini person(made of clay) because it is too tiny to let the thread go through.
I then decided to have a tag of description about the character.
-Instruction manual: put and gently squeeze the item in the sun if the smell gets thin.
-Shelf life: 12-13 months.
-Enjoy.
I used the paper I was saving for my collage work. Here are the papers.
I chose and cut to strips. I also tried to put those together with the character to see the effect.
After that, I start thinking about the background of the photos. I used the clay mix together and creates these. I made orange one first and I did not like it that much. I decided to make it black and white. It can go with all three characters.
In terms of packing, I want to use the sealing bag just to keep the smell longer.
I was kind of stuck to find idea from the first interview. As I have finally decided to make one object for each interview, I look back to the interview. On the one side, I want to keep it weird, but not in a creepy way. On the other side, I need to be thinking about the shape of the object, so it can seem like a professionally made item.
There is one topic on the interview I found especially interesting — The Whale Fall.
I being google some image about whale fall and there are impressive. This process of whale fall has provided the energy for an under-water ecosystem for decades.
As the third image, the microorganism and bacteria on the skeleton look like the flower grow on the skeleton.
This is the experiment of the ginger character I designed. I first stitch on the yarn then cut it out and paste on the fabric. I used thread to present the eyes.
I quite like this character so that I think it is a waste if I do not make it. However, the outcome is not exactly what I imagined. I believe that is the difficult part of making working with embroidery. You never know what it is going to look like before you finish.
According to her idea of being protected, I decided to use the emoji she sent me.
Here are the rough drafts inspired by the third interview. The clothing hanger is like the image I drew, it has the pulley under, so it can slide from her neighbour’s house. The person is hanging on the edge of the hanger and bleeding on the chest.
I have three initial ideas. The first one is the one with the hand holding the object. I used the emoji she sent me and make it as the background. Combining with few elements that I think is relevant, for example, the eye which she is afraid of, the person in her nightmare, and the sea that can help her relax.
The second one is the one covered with the blue sea like a bubble around the person in the middle. I designed it looks like a doll but with one eye on the head. However, she thinks that is still too scary so I began to design the third idea. I tended to used the bubble as the protection and in the meantime, it can be seen as the eyeball. Inside the eyeball are the sea and the person from her dream.
I want to keep things simple because when it gets to the handcraft stage, I might be able to present it in the best effect. I also have some outlay of how to make it, in details of materials and process.
Personally speaking, the small things like the sea wave and the stand out a person are the challenges for me.
– Recall back to my childhood when I was at my grandmother’s place, I heard my neighbor quarreling about some trivial things which almost all the residents who lived in the alley can hear their argument. Out of curiosity, I walked into the alley and wondering what was exactly happening of my neighbor. I walked closer and suddenly, a crucifix flied through the alley in a lightening speed. Since my nightmare happens in the midnight, so I can’t really see what was on the crucifix. When I checked back, there was a dead body hanging on the cross like the Jesus Christ.
– 啊。。。这个是有点毛骨悚然。
– Wow… It is quite creepy.
– 对，而且他那个就有点像是耶稣的造型，呈大字型，头是垂下的，然后胸口留着血，就还蛮恐怖的。
– Yes,and he is in a shape of Jesus, hands up, head down, and bleeding on the chest. It is kind of horrible.
– 你觉得在你那个梦里面，最恐怖的因素跟物件是吊着的那个人是吗？
– What do you think of the most horrible thing in your dream, is it the hanging man?
– 嗯，是的。还有留着的血。
– Yes, and the bleeding blood.
– 就是从胸口流出的血。你说是晚上对吧，那你觉得那种黑暗狭小的巷子会是一种造成恐怖的原因吗？
– Ok, so the blood is dropping from the chest. You said the nightmare was happened during the night, so do you think the nightmare makes you afraid because of the timing and the narrow alley?
– 会。
– Yes, part of it.
– 那你觉得在日常中提起让你恐惧的东西你第一个想到的是什么？
– Ok, the next question is during your daily life, what is the first thing come up to your mind that scares you the most.
– Personally, I think human’s eyes are scary. Eyes are connected to the brain. Therefore eyes are how we as human transmit signals and store them into the brain, so we can memorize what we see. In other words, if the person is bad, then we can guess the person basically by looking at their eyes. The fear a person’s eyes gave me is directly dash into my soul of the heart not because how they look, but the stories behind the eyes.
– 每个人都有不一样的眼型，就像杜海涛那种眯眯眼，你会觉得那种恐怖吗？
– So I guess different people has different shape of eyes type. Do you think the Chinese superstar HaiTao Du’s bright slitty eyes are scary?
– 不会。
– No, I think that is cute.
– 就还是要那种比较正常的眼型？
– So, you like Mr.Du’s eyes type.
– 就比较看得出眼睛的那种。
– Yeah, I’m pretty sure people who has bright slitty eyes are not bad people.
– （笑）
– (laugh)
– 就那种长得比较像坏人的眼睛吧。可能还是跟一个人的气场带给你的感觉有关系？
– Wow! So are you saying you can know he’s bad/good guy in the first sight? Or the feelings a person brought to you when you first met him/her.
– 对。
– I would say both yes.
– 那你觉得有什么样的东西会让你开心吗？
– What makes you happy in your daily life.
– 看电影吧，或者洗澡的时候听音乐。
– Watching movies, and listening to music while I’m taking shower.
– When you feel depress, sad, and scare, what will you do to relax yourself or give yourself positive energy.
– 看海吧。
– To watch the sea.
– 就比较平静。你觉得是海的平静让你不会那么害怕还是它的波澜壮阔让你觉得人的渺小从而不会那么害怕？
– Ok, you will watch the sea to make yourself calm. Do you you think is the sea makes you calm down your emotion from fear or it makes you small so you are not afraid.
– First of all, I would say by watching the sea rise and fall makes me calm and gives me a feeling of running away from the world. Secondly, the sea brings you to another world, forget all the annoyance matters that you have in the real world.
– 那如果有这么一样东西，专属于你的，你会希望看到一个什么样的元素在那个物件上呢？
– If you have a chance to get an item that belongs to you, what symbol you would like to show on the item.
– 我会想要看到一双手，这样子。
– Hands.
– 保护着的感觉吗？
– Like the feeling of something is protecting you, am I right?
– 是的，就像那个手在保护着它。
– Yes, like someone is protecting me.
– 这是不是有点婴儿还在母胎时那种状态，就比较被保护的状态，那种安全感。
– Do you think this is a type of feeling you have when you are in your mother’s womb? Being protected, and the sense of security.
British artist Tach Pollard transformed knotty roots into fantastic creatures inspired by European folklore. The graceful root-carving has long, slender legs and longhorns, giving it a mysterious feel. He works with various kind of wood, mainly studied oak roots, but in recent years he began to study hawthorn.
I was deeply inspired by his work and I love the uses of the black cape contrasting with a human face. The slender and abstract body makes it looks more like walk out form a folktale.
The first one I tended to make a human shape but I stitched the neck too thin so it could not be flip over. I would say this experiment failed. Then I turned to the second one, according to my first interview, I decided to make something for her. I picked up the elements like flower and pink and white colour. It went quite well at first, I made nice embroidery work. When I tried to stitch the edges, the thing gets different. Before I stitch the edges, I remind myself to leave the bottom that I can flip it. Somehow when I flipped over it looks like the image above… even the piece from the middle of the flower fell.
Last but not least, I spent most of the time on this one. I stitched on yarn then attach it on the white fabric. I made my mind on a simple shape like a circle rather than flower shape. The reason for that is I need to put those herbs inside, the simple shape can fit more of the herbs, the circle shape I believe is easier and more effective. As a result of this, I am satisfied with the outcome and I think I could get better next time.
Here are the sketch and models I made for the interview. It is the mud monster. According to what he said, it has red eyes and mud over the body.
Reflection.
I think from the interview, I did gather more information about the individual’s definition of a nightmare. The difference between male and female is intriguing. Female prefer to gain mental safety while a strong figure can provide a sense of security for male.
I put a bag of herbs inside the models, the smell needs some time to volatilize, hopefully herbs still work with clay.
LUVIANHUANG 