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| Inspired by Mies Van Der Rohe |
This has been a fascinating and difficult challenge - emphasising how difficult it is to make simplicity work well. I have enjoyed taking the time to find out more about Mies Van Der Rohe and his time at the Bauhaus.
I have lived in several homes that have clearly been influenced by his architectural style and I now realise it is my preference. I currently live in a British dolls house, chopped up into tiny rooms without the room to swing the proverbial cat. I long for space, clean lines, marble,stone, glass and open views of the land/sea and sky!
My piece for this challenge has been guided by two of MvdR's buildings; The (never used) Barcelona Pavillion 1929 and the apartments built in Lafayette Park, Detroit between 1958 - 1962 .
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| The Barcelona Pavilion, Mies Van Der Rohe |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barcelona_Pavilion
https://www.themodernhouse.com/journal/house-day-lafayette-park-mies-van-der-rohe/
https://www.wowhaus.co.uk/2017/12/05/1950s-mies-van-der-rohe-property-in-detroit-michigan-usa/
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| Lafayette Park, Detroit |
The simple straight lines, squares and rectangles of this style remind me of Korean Bojagi, so I used that technique for this piece. I used white semi-transparent cotton fabric, some of which I screen printed with a breakdown screen and fibre reactive dye. The simple neat seams yielded a single layer of pieced cloth. For the second layer I used a whole piece of the same cloth and free machine embroidered my interpretation of a photo of Mies Van Der Rohe reclining on one of his iconic chairs.
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| https://theversatilegent.com/ludwig-mies-van-der-rohe/ |
I find it a fascinating photo. It reminds me so much of Alfred Hitchcock - for a while I did wonder whether they were related.
This is my stitched interpretation of the photo
I placed this behind the pieced fabric, putting him 'inside' his structure.
It was an interesting piece to make and looks its best when illuminated from behind. Here is it in my window overlooking the garden.
For a little fun, I found this during my research:
It is a website that takes you into a virtual recreation of the Barcelona pavilion which you can mess up with all sorts of furniture. If you have 5 minutes spare have a try!
Claire
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Oh my word, Claire, there is nothing simple about your piece! It's a wonderful idea and I think you have pulled it off. Love the link between Pojagi and the clean lines of his architecture, and the marble-like screen printing of some of the sheers reflecting that magnificent marble panel in the pavilion. Yes, he does look like Hitchcock! Hilary
ReplyDeleteWhat a fascinating piece. I love the way the Pojabi looks 3D against the window, and the way you look through it to the figure. Creating simplicity is hard!
ReplyDeleteHow effective, Bojagi was an inspired choice of technique. Including the man himself in one of chairs was neither simple nor easy you've managed it. Bravo.
ReplyDeleteWow Claire you have brought all your choices into one great piece which in the outdoor picture really makes it stand out beautifully. Well done on an inspired piece of work.
ReplyDeleteDitto ...... a fascinating piece and you have nailed it. How have you managed to get the little jutting out 'boxes' to sit perfectly?
ReplyDeleteThey are just pieced into the seam. To get them to sit horizontally I had to make the horizontal parts shorter than the height by a third. That way the fabric was able to support itself. I had to discover that by trial and error!
ReplyDeleteHitchcock's close relative for sure! So the simplicity became not so simple and I am lost in admiration as to how you constructed this piece .
ReplyDeleteWOW!
I love your piece Claire. The Bojagi lends itself to the transparency of the windows and the use of glass in hie buildings. And it was clever to put a picture of him behind. This will not be an easy piece to hang in a show!
ReplyDeleteYeah! Love that you used Bojagi. Perfect for this exercise. I really love the way you have combined the different aspects - the building, the chair and the man himself! Inspired!
ReplyDeleteThe idea to use pojagi was brilliant. I didn't notice the three dimensionality of your piece until I read Phil's comment: I'm even more impressed now than I was when I first saw it.
ReplyDeleteVery different Claire! And so clever to put Mies into your piece too! He certainly looks a lot like Alfred Hitchcock. You will have to hang it against a big window to see the effect clearly. I have never heard of Bojagi, so will have to investigate for future artworks.
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