Whilst making 3D woven structures using layered strips of tape I discovered its potential to fold flat and reopen again. I immediately thought of these structures opening and closing like the pages of a book, only the text coming out from the two-dimensional restraints of the pages. After researching into ‘3D Woven objects’ I soon realised that there were people out there far more accomplished than me with the creation of interesting shapes and objects using a similar slotting technique, and far more advanced technologies similar to 3D printing to create woven structures and fabrics. Looking into the complex processes of making these highly structured fabrics I realise that the technology at my disposal is far inferior to what is possible, yet on close inspection I am fascinated with the images produced of the different weaving processes and how one measurement or thickness of fibre can change its whole structure. Like my work, the materials are subject to a series of trials, each resulting in a different construction. The images created to demonstrate each type of fabric reminds me of the 3D woven structure that I have already created, plus other images link back to my experiments with line including drawings and the use of shredded paper. However I soon realised that as interesting as these shapes and processes were, my aim was different in that I didn’t only want to create a tangible object but something that explores how we approach and interact with text. Trial and error allowed me to create a triangular construction that would open and close in a double page spread with a continuous yet folded line of text at the front. From there it has been a case of trying out different arrangements within the ‘book’ layout.
I hesitate to call these objects books. On one hand they open and close like a book and contain pages of ‘text’, and as Katherine Hayles describes in her book ‘Writing Machines’, a page in a book is a unit of reading. But at the same time I wonder if they would not perhaps be better suited as ‘readable objects’ or ‘readable structures’, as there is more to these objects than the flat pages inside them, the page being an interface that constructs textual ‘space’- and the text that they contain present challenges to the reader as they are unconventional in both layout and content; both of which are abstract. The text has been stretched from 2D ‘pages’ into 3D, Hayles describes this as a topographic space; onto which a reader can project themselves. As a result the reader experiences the object as a space to explore rather than just a line to follow.
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AuthorThird Year BA Hons Fine Art student studying at Falmouth University Archives
April 2017
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