Project 8 - Stage 2 - Exercise 4 - Grids

Exercise 4

I began this exercise by experimenting with some pipe cleaners and craft straws from my kids make and do box but I found the colours really unappealing and verging on the offensive, so I decided to use some other materials to start making my 'proper' samples from.  They did help me figure out some good construction methods though.

I began my grid making proper making a large rectangular open grid inspired by a box of coppery supplies that I found in a cupboard.  It was difficult to get the thin copper wire of the grid to sit at the correct tension within the thick copper wire frame so I decided that my grid wouldn't be having a huge number of boxes within it.  I believe the same type of grid would work better with the outside frame made of a less smooth material, but then it would have lost some of it's appeal so I decided to persevere.  I also had some copper machine thread that I wrapped around the frame in two perpendicular panels, this gave a really nice effect at the point where the two sets of wrapping crossed over each other.  Also within my supplies I found a roll of something that looks like knitted copper wire sheets, I have no idea what it's intended use is, or even where I might have bought it but it is very beautiful and texturally interesting so I was determined to include it somehow.  The method that I settled on was using a fine copper wire to 'stitch' through the knitted links and then around the squares of the grid, literally sewing the two together.  It was a very laborious and time consuming process but I'm glad I stuck with it, the knitted copper really adds something to the piece that I think it needed.  As a side note, I later saw Cornelia Parker in  BBC4 documentary working on one of her drawn wire bullet pictures and was struck by the similarity of her technique, I also noticed that she had the good sense to wear very thick gloves and use pliers!  I completed this grid by suspending some interesting looking copper shavings within some of the empty grid squares.  I felt this added a degree of movement and interest that it had needed and rounded the piece off well.  I'm very pleased with this piece, and I very much enjoyed using textile techniques on a non textile piece.

I also found, sitting about doing nothing, some very long and thin pieces of wood that I guess may have been intended to be used in model making, with one I made a frame, bound together with yarn, and then created a simple but very full grid using paper string.

With the other length of dowel I created the grid itself from the wood, glued it together, and as it was self supporting I decided to do without the frame.  I filled some of the grid squares with some pasted on sheer ribbon which gave an almost stained glass like effect and then to add some movement I wrapped the grid diagonally with some eyelash yarn, not only does this add a bit more interest than using a plain yarn but I feel very pleased that I've finally found a reason for using eyelash yarn!

Something else that I found lurking was a roll of very small chicken wire.  I suspect that it probably should be used at a florists but I was more interested in it providing me with a ready made grid.  I wove my favourite dusky pink chunky yarn through the grid holes but only one thickness of yarn left it too gappy for my liking so I wove another set of chunky yarn through, this time in contrasting white.  This filled the grid better and I was pleased with the result.  It gave me a nice surface that is very pliable and I believe that it could probably be stitched into to add further layers of interest.  It's a technique I would like to return to in the future.

For my final grid I wanted to use the lovely thick jute that I liked so much in the previous exercises.  The really thick four ply jute seemed perfect for creating a grid with so I made a very simple square shape by knotting four lengths together at the corners, I then constructed the grid form the finer jute by tying lengths of that along the frame edges.  I did quite like it as it was then but it had a feel of the cargo net to it so I began to work further into it weaving through the grid work in a spiral.  If I had had more time I would've liked to try out making a circular grid in the same fashion.