TACTILE STRUCTURES ( DAY 1 ) 

I was overjoyed by the fact that I got my desired course through the progress tutorial. It gave me a sense of motivation and assurance that I was taking the right and expected steps towards learning. Progress tutorial for me were really helpful as it helped me to know my weak points, what I lacked and how I should work upon it so that it is beneficial for my understanding. I arrived at the Barbican Centre for the first day of a new beginning. I was so used to all the people around me in the diagnostic area that now it all felt unfamiliar and weird but I quickly managed to divert my thoughts and channeled them into something productive. The first half of the class was more into observational sketches and putting down on paper what we perceived in front of our eyes. All these activities made me realise how observing each and every thing around us is vital for our thought process and how it can add as a boost to our ideas to use them in artworks. This activity also made me understand that anything and everything around us can act as a source of inspiration to a person’s artwork. This also aided in making my sketching skills better and realising that textures are around us, we should just have the eye to notice and capture it through our works.

Working with all kind of textures and materials later in the afternoon was something that I really enjoyed, It made my belief even stronger that this is something that I see myself doing and that opting for it was a right decision. I did not carry a lot of materials that day but looking at other people I understood that I should carry all kinds of mediums and materials everyday as one might never know what he shall need and when. I was all ears in today’s class and it kept me on my toes all day which I loved about this day as I like to keep myself busy. I think that the latter part of the class was better as I like to play with matter and substances rather sketching through observation. 

TACTILE STRCTURES (DAY 3) 

 This turned out to be a pretty bad day for me as I was really sick all morning and couldn’t really pay a lot of attention to my work. Pre lunch part of the class was mostly consumed by improvising and finalising the 10 original textures that all of us had to create. This window of a little “Me” time gave me an opportunity to look at other people’s work and and take inspiration from their ideas to frame your own, I became really insecure and unsure about my work as all the people around me had created some extremely creative as well as interactive textures which made my confidence drop to zero, but slowly and gradually I gathered my faith in my artwork and told myself to be proud of what I had created. I wasn’t actually there for the latter part of the class due to my increased sickness but I am sure I would have presented my idea with utmost conviction and confidence in whatever I had created and welcomed critics and feedbacks with open hands. 

PUBLIC ART ( DAY 1 ) 

I was really happy about the amount of research I had done through the weekend as it became a significant part of today’s class. It made me realise. That you get a lot of perks when you research throughly before the class as it helped in a  better understanding of the project which results in your overall development. I was prepared and well informed with the project details and what the projects expects from us. This day was completely similar to the first day of fashion while I was in the diagnostic mode, this past experience helped me as I was sure about what I was doing and where I was going with the project. It was a day full go rigorous sketching, model making, product placement on the body and experimenting with different mediums. The continuous sketching from the first day itself has really made my hand a lot smoother and my sketching skills a lot better. But I have to be very honest, I am really not a big fan of this exercise and I can say t with assurance as I have done the same twice. I feel that I am not a lot into pattern making ,cutting big shapes and developing them into models. 

Throughout the activity we worked with paper which was a good way to test an idea as it is not very expensive and can be used well to explore and Stretch the same idea. Extracting first hand information, like going to the public art and perceiving it made the activity very authentic for me. It also made me realise that looking at public art for me was better than getting inspired by architectural spaces. Overall it was a learning rollercoaster which will eventually help us through college. 

PUBLIC ART (DAY 3)

Last day was spent in making the part of the actual garment design. In order to make it realistic we had to use fabrics and materials and place it on the body. After working on it we were given an opportunity to photograph it on our partner’s body. This was a good experience as it made me spot out the problems with the garment that I couldn’t find normally. Putting the garment on the body also gave me an idea as to how it would look when someone wears it and what could be done to make it look more appealing and unconventional. 

Again we were asked to draw whatever we could see Ain different mediums. I cant emphasise it enough when I say how much drawing and sketching  everyday has helped to make my skills better. It has definitely improved which could be visibly seen through my sketchbook. I also got to know the difference between design drawings and fashion illustrations and how to work with both of them. 

We were also taught how to make a presentation sheet. The presentation sheet that we were taught here was completely different from the one we were taught back at school. It was an entirely new thing for me. I realised that the “Central Saint Martins” was more interested in looking at the process rather than the finished and finalised object. 

NEIGHBOURHOOD PROJECT (DAY 1 )

After the Brief of the project we were randomly assigned partners and places we had to visit with them in order to further develop the project’s objectives. I thought it was a really innovative way to make us familiar with our new classmates and peers which also became the foundation of a very positive cultural exchange. My partner was from China which made us both asians who have travelled here for education. We really interacted a lot in order to gain insight in each other’s cultural background. We traced through our sketch files while explaining it so that we can understand how significant our culture is to us and how it defines every individual. 

Peckham (The place we were assigned) was a new place for both of us as we both don’t belong to London.  We both mutually agreed that the place was quite boring as it was full of streets with pin drop silence, it was kind of eerie as there was no sign of life or people. We only were able to see old people walking their dogs. The streets were empty, the houses were old and the playgrounds had no children. After we walked a few hours capturing the silence and the beauty of it we reached a market which was quite different from the Peckham we just witnessed, It was filled with people and shops. It was busy with men and women running their errands. We liked this area as we both were used to crowds and a lot off people around us all the time. It kind of felt safe  and secure. In the end we had Lunch at an Indian restaurant. I really liked how she respected my culture and welcomed it to promote mutual understanding. 

The area we just visited was very different from both our countries. Our countries are full of different colours, festivity, celebrations and filled with people everywhere and this is how we both have been brought up. It was nice to see an area that disparate. Overall it was an enlightening experience. 

NEIGHBOURHOOD PROJECT (DAY 2)

I throughly enjoyed today’s class. I feel that this is something I could see myself doing in the future as it kept me on my toes all day. Today was all about prints  and the entire process was something very new or me, I had never created a “Lino” print of my own. I liked how the entire activity was somehow still connected to the identity project. The roots of the project still went down till our cultures and our inspiration was also a reflection of that. The day started with a lot of sketching and putting our ideas of prints in the sketch file. It was a good way to start as it made us sure about what exactly we had to do cause the resources and time were limited. After we sketched a list of our ideas we directly dived into the making process after a quick demo from our mentors, it was very new activity for me and I was really all into it. Though I was not very satisfied with my end product I really enjoyed the entire process of it. I got praised for what I had made but deep down I knew that there was a lot of scope for improvement, but I was happy as it was my first time and I really put my best.

What I took home with myself was how all the elements of design can be used to in the making process of a print. Shapes , textures, lines, colours, no colours, curves, inspirational shapes and designs can all be collaborated and produced into a print. 

COLOUR PROJECT (DAY 1 )

Random colours from the rainbow were assigned to each student to which I got “Red”. I really liked the colour red as it completely goes with my previous research of culture. The first half of the day was spent by creating different combinations, patterns and colour schemes from the products we got from home. We were divided into groups for the activity which made us interact with other students and know about them. Dividing in groups was a good idea as it made us open to plethora of ideas as every mind works in a different way. There was discussion, criticism and learning involved through  out the activity. I liked the activity as it gave me eyes to look at thing s differently and out of the box. 

The second part of the day was to create cultures inspired from the colour scheme and patterns we had created earlier, I was lost in the beginning but by looking at people around me and looking at how they working I realised that nobody knew what they were doing, everyone was trying to be as experimental as possible. So I started exploring materials and doing random things. I honestly didn’t know what I was doing but in the end it worked out and it all made sense. 

CURATE PROJECT (DAY 1 )

I have to say that today was the most enlightening day out of all the days. The former students of the foundation course came to our classes today to show us their work. It was comparatively an easy day cause we didn’t actually make something but all the work that we saw left me in shock. They created such wonders of artworks. It was honestly very intimidating as I thought that my work was not even close to what they did in the course, but then I realised that art can never be compared and only appreciated. I could use their examples in 2 ways, either to get scared by their  quality of work or to take inspiration from it and try to make my work better, I chose the latter. I am a little more confident today as I know what I am leading to and what I is my potential, I also know what my work should look like and what needs to be corrected. Overall it was an amazing experience to perceive, touch and feel their works and what they aimed too create. There were student all over London, not only from CSM, which made me realise that all this time I was only worried about if I would get in CSM or not, rather I should know that the world isn’t collapsing on that, I could create wonders of artworks even if I get or not get into Central Saint Martins. Hard work is what pays off in the end. 

LANYARD PROJECT

Working in holidays was the toughest for me cause I was always distracted. There were so many things my family and friends had planned and also these were the new year holidays which basically means family functions and lots of parties. I had to go visit my grandparents of both sides, go to a trip to the mountains planned by my parents, meet all the school friends for the first time in a while and also work on the holiday project in just a span of 15 days ? Whew, it was difficult but also mandatory. The lanyard project seemed simple on the first look, but when you went deeper and deeper into the essence of the project you realise that it can be translated and understood in a so many varied ways. Lanyard project helped me realise I am deeply connected to my culture, I always tend to find way to connect the project to how I was brought up and to the values and heritage of my country. It can prove to be both positive and negative for me, positive because I will always be connected to my roots and it will turn to be my strength in my artworks and negative cause it can be a bubble for me which will be hard for me to escape, it can restrict my thought process and can hinder in the way of my conceptual thinking. 

LANYARD PROJECT

Generating an idea and then sticking with it all along the way has proven to be difficult for me. Many times down the line while shaping the project I realized that I can do better than this or I get a new idea which I think is better than the previous one, but the key is  to trust yourself and understand that there will always be someone who will do better than you, but your competition is not with other but with yourself, how much better have you turned than your previous self. We have to stop contradicting and judging ourselves and realise that your idea is one of a kind and if you give it your best shot and all you got then it will turn out to be good. Even in this project, I found a way to connect it to my culture. I just feel that every time I join my culture to my project I am more clear in my head as to what I have to do. While I was selecting body parts as to where I would like to place the lanyard I was making I decided to give a twist to the same way it is worn around the neck. I decide to connect different body parts through my lanyard rather than selecting 

DENIM PROJECT

 I was really excited about this project as it was something that we wear and see in our everyday life and to make something out of the material that is so abundantly available around us sounds easy but it’s actually not.  What I really loved about this project is that for the first time everyone had the same starting point. A lot of time I feel intimidated by other people having so many new and completely bizarre materials to work with but this time material restriction for everybody is denim, so there is no bias or advantage for anyone here, everyone’s on the same page.

Rather than always start by researching on the internet for ideas and brainstorming, this time I directly started to think through materials. I began by exploring or researching the given material which was denim by creating samples and prints. I tried all kinds of things, I tore them into pieces and then again joined them through a different technique, sewed them together, stuck them on each other. Used metal wires to create a look and the list goes on.

I was having a lot of fun doing this, I was keen on trying new techniques and use materials that I haven’t yet used. It was a try or die situation which required a lot of risks but I embraced the fact that my failures are also a part of the journey and the process which made the entire learning process into an amazing experience.

DENIM PROJECT 

I  continued making samples of denim by using new techniques and materials. Through sampling and researching I came to the relationship between comfort and fashion. Comfort and fashion most of the times do not go well with each other for example, heels are fashionable but not comfortable. I wanted to look and study the relationship between these two terms and start by working on it.

Through further research, I finally found my topic or the theme of my project. I always wanted to connect it to religion and when I researched comfort and fashion I realized what exactly I would be interested in and I joined the dots to group them together. When I was researching religion I came across Islam and eventually I came across “Burqa” and why women have to wear it, so Burqa is worn by Muslim women because according to Quran (Muslim holy book) it is required by Muslims to dress modestly. Male modesty has been defined by covering the area from the navel to the knee whereas, the modesty of a woman is defined by covering everything expects their hands and feet in the presence of unknown men. I am not here to change the rules of religion. I just want to change how a ‘Burqa” or a “Niqab” looks like. The main reason that a burqa is black is that they don’t want to draw unwanted attention as color generally does, so in order to keep it modest as well as serving its purpose I wanted to create fashionable, chic and yet allowed by their religion for the Muslim women.

DENIM PROJECT 

While creating samples and tactile experiments I decided to sketch a few ideas as to how I would like my final piece to look like. Sketching and planning was always a good idea for me as it leads all my confusions away. I went to the burqa shop near my accommodation to gather some first-hand information, I wanted to see what they actually look like and are made of, I felt the material and how it was pleated. Though there might be a huge difference between my finishing and theirs but to be honest my artwork right now is a proposition to the world and how one sees a burqa to look like, I want to change the conventional look of it. I want them to be in vogue and be as fashionable as any other pair of clothes. I don’t want Muslim women to feel less of themselves, they should be able to be fashionable and at the same time follow their religion with utmost grace and perseverance. I now have a clear idea of what I want my final product to look like.

During the research week, we were supposed to come up with ideas and out our new and independent project. The tutors were confident that we were ready to make our own projects that interest us and work on them. I really feel that it was a great move because most of the time when we are given projects to work on we tend to lose interest through the course of the project as sometimes it feels stretched or overly elongated but here we have an opportunity to create interesting pieces of project and design them according to our taste without restrictions of any kind. It was liberating from the monotony of being handed over what we have to do.  For me to decide what I want to work on I had to do a lot of research. Our tutors told us to go over our days and schedules, look at what we are buying and how much we are spending in a week, they asked us to monitor ourselves in a hope that when we look at our days and what we spend most of our time doing we might get some ideas on what concerns us and what we should be working on.