AUCB Foundation Diploma in Art and Design Final Exhibition

A Sensory Experience - Final Piece

When it came to deciding what to do for my final project I decided to base it on what I had learnt from the beginning stages of the diploma, such as learning to draw using senses other than the eyes. This got me thinking about how costumes are mainly made to be visually aesthetic. It is very rare to find a costume that alerts all the senses, therefore I decided to set myself the challenge of doing this.

Final skirt with cinamon stick cage and bustle pad stuffed with ground cinamon

After 10 weeks of research, sampling, designing and experimentation I came up with a final piece. I made a skirt that had hidden smells, sounds and textures through layers of fabric, a bustle pad and a cage made out of cinamon sticks inspired by the Eiffell Tower structure.

It may be a part of the child in me but whenever I go to an exhibition it has always excited me when there is interactive art. It just has that added interesting element to it that I am sure adults find alluring too! I initially had the idea of allowing the audience to touch, smell and dance in the skirt at the exhibition. But after speaking to my tutor I realised that in order to allow the audience to be aware of their other senses I could take the sound and scented elements of the skirt and display them without the costume. This way they can imagine what the costume would look like by using their other senses.

 I designed an exhibition piece that included small bags of different spices that I used on the skirt. I had a recording through headphones of the skirt being danced in along with a photographs of the skirt being danced in. All the elements together would create a sensory experience.

Overall, I think that this project has been extremely challenging and difficult, which is what I wanted as I have learnt so much. Throughout this Foundation Diploma I have gradually been building in confidence.

After seeing the Tim Burton exhibition on my research week in Paris I was completely inspired by him. I adored his character illustrations and was captivated by his creative way of thinking.

“’Fuck it, I don’t care if I can draw or not. I like doing it.’ And I swear to God, from one second to the next I had freedom which I hadn’t had before. From that point on, I didn’t care if I couldn’t make the human form look like the human form. I didn’t care if people liked it. There was this almost like drug-induced sense of freedom.”

“I’ve never been able to predict or think what an audience would like to see. I’ve always felt: how can anybody else want to see it if I don’t want to? And if I want to see it, and nobody else wants to, then at least I get to see it. So, there’s one person who’ll enjoy it.”

·         Tim Burton: “Burton on Burton” Edited by Mark Sailsbury (10)

I really like Burton’s positive way of thinking. This also encouraged me to be more confident in my ideas.

I was really happy with my final exhibition. My project as a whole was graded as a distinction which I am so so pleased with! I will be going to London College of Fashion to study a degree in Costume for Performance in September.

Final Exhibition Show

Final Project - Costume Illustrations

Final Project - Sketchbook work

Experimenting with cinnamon sticks

Cinnamon stick cage and cinnamon bustle pad

Final Project - Design work and sampling

Here are a few sketchbook pages from my current project about the Human Senses.

Making a basic skirt to experiment with when exploring the senses

Experimenting with hair and buttons - working with how things feel and sound

Working with plastic bags - how things sound/feel

Working with plastic bags and tissue paper

Initial design ideas

Dying with man made dyes and pinning on the mannequin

Experimenting with a Parisian colour scheme

Dying with tea, coffee, cocoa and chilli to develop scented fabric

Experienting with paper - working with sound

Working with spices to develop the sense of smell

Experiementing with a toile to see how fabric moves when danced in

Experiementing with a toile to see how fabric moves when danced in

Design ideas

Dying with cinamon and vanilla. Felting with fennel seeds, cinamon and basil. Keeping to the Parisian colour scheme.

Final Project - Initial Research

My idea for my FMP is based around pleasing the human senses. I would like to design and make a costume piece for dance that satisfies more than just the eyes. There is so much scope in terms of finding new and innovative ways of making something that is aesthetic to the ears, nose and hands as well as the eyes.

Here is a few sketchbook pages of my initial research and from my research week in Paris.

I went looking round charity shops and picked up anything I could find that made sounds. I wanted to find things that wouldn't obviously make sound. Examples of these were: a lampshade, glass beads, a badmiton racket, forks etc. Above is an example of drawing with the objects I found eg. a fork with acrylic ink.

Magazine research into images that typically smell nice.

Magazine research into images that typically feel nice. Hair is something that is always advertised as being 'soft if you buy this conditioner' etc. There is some sort of unnatural obsession with having soft and shiny hair.

Inspiration from French architecture and colour for costume for dance.

Inspiration from French architecture and colour for costume for dance.

Inspiration from French architecture and colour for costume for dance.

Inspiration from French architecture and colour for costume for dance.

Inspiration from French architecture and colour for costume for dance. Looking at texture as well.

Designing using images that subconciously say to the eye that they smell nice.

A collection of perfume samples from Paris woven together. This page smells lovely!

Drawings from Paris

Drawing in response to the sound of The Musee D'Orsay

Continual Line Drawing

A sense of place photoshoot

Curtosy of my model, Laura Bourne and blanket holder Eve Catling!

A sense of place - final piece