Project Report
When wallpapers were first introduced they were extremely expensive as they were hand printed and sometimes hand painted. Having wallpaper in a household represented wealth. When mass production was introduced everyone was able to afford wallpapers and so the division in class disappeared. Wallpaper can even be found in hardware stores at as little as £1.99. Subconsciously we use interiors to express how we feel just like our clothes. You can tell a lot about a person by how they decorate their house.
In the first week of the project we were asked to research all types of wallpapers and wall coverings. I have gathered research throughout the project and organised it into a technique file. The file gave me many ideas on how to approach making my own wall covering samples.
In week two we made a trip to Temple Newsam in Leeds. At this point I had chosen to focus on Toile de Jouy – Scenes of the day. The house displayed original and modified 17, 18 and 19-century papers. There were examples of Toile de jouy wallpapers – although these were related to my theme, the wall coverings were traditional and very complicated, whereas I was focusing on simple, modern designs. It was good to experience wallpapers in actual rooms as appose to seeing them on strips of paper. We were given a talk of the historical techniques used to create these papers. The Chinese wallpapers were often hand painted and very detailed. Before flock paper was invented they would use chopped and dyed wool known as ‘flock’. This technique was hugely popular for bedrooms and dressing rooms in mid 18th century England. We were also shown ’Green Flock Wallpaper’; the lengths of paper were made up of individual pieces of linen-rag paper, pre-joined to form rolls. The wallpaper had a shiny ground due to a varnish pigmented with Malachite (a semi-precious stone). This wallpaper represents the first time that the technique had been used for 150 years; it also included flock. The ‘Crimson Flock wallpaper, Pomegranate’ pattern was introduced in the late 1990’s – The pattern is typical of Regency economy and must have been popular as it was known from French and American contexts. This paper was created using a slightly different technique; Originally Sheets of paper were pre-joined to form drops, they were then printed with adhesive and varnished from wooden blocks; the varnish was then covered in flock. A more detailed pattern was then embossed into the flock. Later in the 19th century flock papers were embossed by being passed between heated rollers under pressure. The final paper we discussed was ‘Gothick’ Paper, which was called Stucco paper in the 18th century. The contemporary revival of the Gothic style affected all the decorative arts. This was soon replaced by the neoclassical revival. Overall the wallpapers focused on everyday objects such as flowers, fruit and architecture. I chose to focus on everyday objects in my life such as cordial, cereal bars, fruit, marmite, and fairy liquid… Basically I recorded edible items I consumed in a day by taking basic photos. When I spoke to my tutor, we discussed where I could imagine these wallpapers would go, I then broadened my photos by looking at everything I used in a day (not just food) - consumerism. Maybe my wallpapers could be themed for each room such as bleach and shower gel inspired wallpaper would belong in the bathroom. Then again they could be muddled up; it would be up to the customer.
In my observational drawings I was originally copying the photos exact with every detail, even the label. I then focused on the negative space and drew the outline of the objects. To my surprise the outline still allowed the objects to be recognised.
I looked at various artists such as Andy Warhol and Timorous Beasties, but was particularly intrigued by a Dutch wallpaper designer; Rachel de Joode. Her designs are not clear from a distance, but when you get closer the shapes and patterns are made up of fashion style photographs, of models. Rachel de Joode is also interested in contemporary, everyday objects. She allows her objects to create a new pattern from a distance.
“Within my work I seem to portray the other worldliness of the most profane aspects of our world. I investigate the collective memory of our time, pointing out and magnifying the absurd of contemporary culture.
I am a magician, I sanctify the emptiness of common day life seeking a balance between the ethereal world of the unconscious and the rationality of daily life, and my work can be characterized as magic realism of the new century.
I create contemporary Mis en scenes using modern symbolism. I use tokens of our daily life (for example coffee cups, carpet spray, sport socks, pre-sliced bread, post-it, shoulder pads, Venetian blinds or remote controls). I portray these modern symbols metaphorically and redefine them in very diverse ways, deconstructing common life in contemporary times. This leads to absurd and surreal imagery, which takes the viewer on a strange imagery, which takes the viewer on a strange trip to the other side of things.
I scanned some of my observational drawings and edited them on adobe illustrator to create my final screen print designs. Using the pen tools I traced my drawings one at a time resulting in a silhouette, I then used blocks of colour from the original image and layered it in my silhouette; this produced an illustration which is entirely different in feel from the original print. This technique reflects my negative space drawings - using blocks of colour to define an image without completely copying it.
I particularly enjoyed the flock and foiling workshop. It’s a simple technique with a professional outcome. As this was the first time I had used this technique it was very difficult to know what kind of designs worked and what wouldn’t. One screen print design looked good on paper but didn’t work well as a screen print.
I found it difficult to imagine what will look good covering a whole wall when you are making samples, some designs may look incredible on one sheet but hideous when in a room. My knowledge of this will improve with experience. If I were to repeat this project I would have used the technique draping on CAD to give me a reliable idea of the outcome.
The definition of Toile de Jouy is:
Toile de Jouy: sometimes abbreviated to simply "toile", is a type of decorating pattern consisting of a usually white or off-white background on which a repeated pattern depicting a fairly complex scene, generally of a pastoral theme such as (for example) a couple having a picnic by a lake. Toiles also often consist of an arrangement of flowers. The pattern portion consists of a single colour, most often black, dark red, or blue. Greens, browns and magenta toile patterns are less common but not unheard of. Toile is most associated with fabrics (curtains and upholstery in particular), though toile wallpaper is also popular.
When looking at my final designs it’s hard to see the resemblance to this theme, but this title was only the starting point for me. Traditional Toile de Jouy consists of black, dark red or blue detailed design on a white background. I was interested in the way Andy Warhol uses colour and repetition. I found that using two contrasting bold colours works very well with the negative space and continues line drawings. Working with one colour on a white background didn’t work as well for my screen prints as they were simple, graphic designs…one could say they lacked detail but that was not the point of them. I didn’t want to make wallpaper that is fussy or overwhelming to the eye. When I imagine my designs I imagine them in a room with modern furniture. Contemporary furnishings are often uncomplicated and therefore if the wallpaper was complex the furniture will most likely look out of place.
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