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Journey into Textiles at the Edinburgh College of Art
 
BIOMIMICRY. Materials and possibilities. SAMPLING

BIOMIMICRY. Materials and possibilities. SAMPLING

Looking at my research boards and drawings I made samples, using unconventional materials, the ones found in the started pack, and some sourced personally.  Based on my recorded research, I have STRUCTURE and FUSION, TEXTURE, MOBILITY, RESPIRATION, WATER REPELLENCE, RESISTANCE and AESTHETICS in mind.


I have used leatherette, cork sheet, white vinyl, wood veneer, polyurethane, cotton wool, calico, grease proof paper, fusible breathable rubber, heat transfer paper, medical bandage material, polyester, bias binding, felt padding, steel wool, flexible metal sheet.

I have made 12 about A5 size samples.
Let’s talk about each of them in detail:

Sample I.
After seeing the workshop videos that my teacher Natalie recorded, I really liked her use of cork and straight away thought, that this material will be great to implement the shapes from my research and represent the textures. I then ordered few extra cork sheets online, I knew that the amount Natalie has given us, will not be enough. In my first sample I aimed for 3D shape. I laid three shapes of cork on top of another and fused them together with peva plastic, of which I also ordered larger amount. the fusing worked very well. The cut out shapes replicate a part of shark scale. Later, I fused metal, to give the sample some flexibility and mimic sharks skin texture. My sample now is waterproof, textured and flexible.

Sample II.
I used beige colour leatherette, bandage material, breathable rubber, felt padding. First I was attempting to a relief on the leatherette using paper stencils , but as you can see it didn’t work very well. I wanted to give it texture, the same as on sharks skin, but it did not work as I planned. Regardless, I cut up  the piece of leatherette and used the parts which had the most relief. Attached the bandage material in the metal, using rubber, which melted perfectly, yet was not too sturdy. I then fused felt padding using the same rubber, to exaggerate the shapes that I did not manage to achieve with leatherette relief. The sample is textured, beathable, flexible but at same time robust and resistance and quite visually pleasing.

Sample III.

I used cork sheet, flexible metal and peva plastic. I cut shapes from cork sheet, representing hammerhead shark skin scale. And gave the texture that scale has using the flexible metal strips. I fused all together using peva plastic. The sample is quite simple but it very well represents my research. All the materials worked well and my sample is really flexible, waterproof, shark skin textured, so in theory bacteria proof.

Sample IV.

Used cotton wool, cork sheet, white vinyl, heat transfer paper. I used the leftover cork cut-outs from the previous sample. Never used vinyl before, but I thought I’ll try to fuse cork to the cotton with it. Surprisingly it worked well! After all, I thought that visually the sample looks a bit plain, therefore I tried to print pattern using some heat press paper and a mesh. First try ruined the sample.. The print went through on the cork but melted the vinyl completely. I took all apart and tried to put the sample back together. I laid new strips of white vinyl, on the gaps without print.  Worked well! I got double texture, what a happy accident! My sample is resilient, flexible, breathable.

Sample VI.

Used White leatherette and peva plastic. Firstly I wanted to melt the leatherette on the wood veneer. That did not work at all. It just would not stick!
Having all these carefully cut pieces, I decided to fuse them all using peva plastic. The final result came out very nicely structured, strongly built but really flexible, adaptable to cover any shapes, water proof. The shapes mimic snakes skin.

Sample VII.
After failing to melt white leatherette on the wood veneer, I noticed that there were two types of leatherette in the material pack. I tried using the second one, which looked like being a little bit poorer of quality and thinner. This one worked very well! The grease proof paper left marks on the leatherette tho, therefore I covered them using vinyl, which also melted very well onto the wood. The sample represents the skin of a snake. It is flexible, textured.

Sample VIII.
Used wood veneer, rubber and peva plastic. I cut small strips of wood veneer to construct diamond shapes from my drawings and research. Fused the separate parts using rubber. It work very well although it took me quite a bit of time to place the strips perfectly. All the made up diamond shapes, I then melted together using the peva plastic. I particularly like this sample, it is super light but incredibly flexible. Quite sturdy, even the base of it, is made from such fragile structures. Would serve great for the medical bandage, because it is also waterproof.

Sample IX.

I used  medical bandage textile, steel wool, trips of rubber and cork. Fused steel wool onto the base textile using rubber, which melted really well and served the purpose. Also made the sample so structured and shape adaptable. Later, I attached a piece of cork to give the sample even more movement. It is resistant, breathable, flexible.

Sample X.
Used polyester, leatherette, strips of bias binding, cork and peva plastic. I placed the strips of bias binding in between polyester and leathered with hope that leatherette will melt all materials together. That is what happened. Afterwards, I attached diamond shapes cut out from the cork sheet to represent animal’s skin texture and fused it on using the plastic. I really enjoy using the peva plastic, it gives so much possibilities.

Samples XI and XII.
I made these samples last, using leftovers form the others. You can see cork, bandage textile, wood veneer, rubber, felt padding. Both samples represent  the main shape and texture I’m working with. In sample number XI I fused materials together using plastic and in sample XII – after melting separate pieces into one shape made form cork and padding, I attached it to wood using the rubber. Sample XI is breathable, water proof and theoretically bacteria free. Sample XII – flexible, antibacterial , resistant.

My sampling was quite successful. I explored how different materials work on their own and together. Experimented with shape, structure, texture and purpose. Now, I will consider which samples are the best serving the purpose in making the medical bandage. I will again consider main properties of my future design and make further decisions. Possibly produce more small samples before I get to the final bigger one.
Here is some consideration of merging the samples and placing them on different parts of the body:

One comment

  1. nadamson

    Ruta I did write this on Biz blog but I feel the same with you, I am blown away by the amount of work, ideas,effort and enthusiasm that has gone into this work. I am sorry You were not able to show me this yesterday but I had to give up the wifi situation was terrible it kept cutting out and could not hear anything, it was just not my day. Your material board is so exciting to look at and is full of experimentation and ideas and also links back to your theme its really great. You have then started to add in your own fabrics and and think more about the composition from your drawings for shape and form. Look back to your drawings again and try and refine your fabrics by really taking time over cutting out the exact shapes and really think about the aesthetics of the designs and outcome. its also great to see you starting to visualize them on the body and how they would work, keep it all going and really now its about refining and going back and developing the samples that really work and fit with the brief and your theme, well done loved looking through this.

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