The 2nd Block : Weave

Winding&Wrapping can be described as the preparation of weaving

weaving machine
I'm trying to weave out my first piece

At this stage, I started to use my own colour theme and  play around with patterns 

Despite those patterns on handout, this piece was finished by using my own technic.

exploring more technicals.

taking our samples off the machine
such a spectacular scene!!

Exercises in getting lost and flanerie

         
      I have to admit that the biggest improvement I've made since I came to London last year is that I am really enjoying hanging out alone in this big city. I even believe that getting lost is such a fortunate thing. One person can always meet unexpected surprise by accident in London, a city which is full of culture and creativity. In other words, you can find out new things only when you totally get lost. And that's indeed the joy of exploration.
        Last weekend I chose Covent Garden as my start point and alternatively traced one route towards a spot that I pick on the map as my destination. I walked around Covent Garden, feeling the joy of being one of the happy and relaxed crowd. I roamed along the way without thinking about anything, but looking up and down. Only in this way can I catch every detail that around me, for instance, the  flower on balcony, the book read by people who sitting in a cafe, the funny effect of street art, etc.  What a pity if a person always holds a cellphone in hand following the route directed by google map, as  he's going to miss all these sorts of experience.

      Fortunately, I got a trick this time as well. Just when I arrived at a theatre where Mamma Mia is played, I saw a street map which indicated that there's a gallery called Somerset House nearby. I recognized the name immediately, since I was sure that I had seen its add in the tube station. Guess what, it was hosting an exhibition  about Tim Walker's photographs!! That's exact what I had planned to visit someday. And doubtlessly, the exhibition was extraordinarily good indeed.

Sir John Soane's House

        Yesterday we visited an interesting place which is regarded as the best house-museum in the world. Refer to the name, it clearly demonstrates that this museum is owned by an absolutely wealthy person, and he is Sir John Soane.
       When we tried to find this house(I didn't think it was a museum at that time), I had a feeling that this collection must have been accumulated in an aim of showing polities. I t locates in central London and has an open view of a fancy park. The adjacent houses look so nice as if they were once belonged to those rich dukes. So it's obviously that Sir John Soane was one of the tops. As an architecture, especially a successful architecture, he could be able to gain a lots of money indeed. It seems like a general rule that rich people always intend to collect things that are extremely precious or expensive. This rule works on Sir John Soane as well.
    As soon as I walked into his house, I felt as I was standing in a small british museum. In this narrow space, thousands of decorated pieces of architechture  were hang on the walls. Sculptures and pictures are arranged closely to each other in a nice order. Its hard to believe that all these wonderful antiques are consisted in a personal collection. How much did he spent to get all of these and how much did he pay to take care of this in a house, in his own home? Well, definitely, it's good to be rich, isn't it?
     His collection is attractive not only because of these objects but also of his design and arrangement. As a architecture, it's his interest and responsibility to rerange the structure of the houseand make it possible to load as many collections as it can. I was astonished by two design of his house. First one was the double height area for desplaying and another one wasthe movable walls which allows visitors to see through the courtyard once it's open. From these carefully organizations, varieties of precious antiques, huge amount of books, detailed sketches ,etc. it's clear to see how much energy did he put into his collection.
    But back to the argument that we have at the beginning, what are these for. Were they really collected to teach the students about architecture? I mean, I didn't feel like I had learned much acadamiclly after observation. I don't know whether he would give students some talks in his display  room or just let them huang around in his house, astonishing by his wonderful collections as I did.
    Whatever he ment to do, he made an good example of personal collection remained a faninating house with tresures to later generations along with his masterpieces of architecture.

visit the Pre-Raphaelites

      I visited Tate Britain to see the exhibition about  the Pre-Taphaelits at Tate Britain. I have to admit that I feel really fortunate to have such a famous gallery close to my school.
     Before I saw this exhibition, I knew merely about the Pre-Raphaelites. In order to avoid a pointless visit, I read  the introduction in advanced. Then I was surprised that the Pre- Raphaelites happened in 19th century and was indeed a significant revolution in British art.  The Pre-raphaelite Brotherhood(PRB) was organized by a group of young painters most of whom were graduated from Royal Academy of Arts. As they were unsatisfied with what they had learned at school, which were basically traditional ways of painting, they decided to overturn British art. This reminded me of a film called Dead poets society. In this film there're also a coup of young people who had passion and dreams gathered together expressing their radical thoughts. But in reality, the PBH was more brave and successful, as they actually applied their thought into masterpieces.
     As I walked by each painting, I realized that the theme of the Pre-Raphaelites was very wide indeed. There are paintings about religions, landscapes and even modern city lives.  Though I am not good at analyzing artworks at all, I can still have a sort of feeling that all the paintings are very close to the spectators. And in fact, that is one of the principles of Pre-Raphaelites. They didn't want to repeat idealized works but create life like scenes. Typically, they overturned the tradition of form, colour, and composition as Raphael had done. For instance, paintings like Christ in the House of His Parents and The beloved broke all the rule of composing.

     I personally like the one called Ophelia the best. It's based on Shakespeare's flay Hamlet and depicted the tragic scene of Ophelia's death. As I had seen this painting on book before, I almost shouted out when I saw it displaying in front of me. It's full of crystal details, like the expression on Ophelia's face, her floating wetted dress, countless wild flowers, etc.  It can be said that each object in this painting relates symbolically to the tragic of Ophelia.

Exhibition about Helmet

      A helmet is a hat made of a strong material which you wear to protect your head.  In combat, however, a combo helmet is specifically designed to protect the head from bullets, shell fragments, and other dangerous weapons. I t can be traced back to ancient times, when our ancestors made a living by hunting and fighting with the protection of original helmet made of coconut shell, turtle shell, etc. Later on, as the development of metallurgy and the requirement of war, people invented sorts of mental helmets. Meanwhile its structure has also been improved for better protection. As Tim Newark described 'As with armour, it was essential for a helm to be well padded for it to be effective. At times when lance warfare or archery have been more prevalent, more face protection was evident, but this, in turn, was a trade-off against being able to breathe freely and being able to see clearly. ' Besides protection, which is the basic function, helmet also contains some deeper meaning with it. In different regions, cultures, or even classes, there are thousands of different shapes and forms, but whatever they look like, they all have a same principle,to show off the statue and power asa well as to get good fortune. Helmet is not only utilitarian but also artistic, moreover, it represents the features of times. Therefore, we should pay more attention on the symbolic significance and design ideas as we analyze them.
      Corinthian helm

Greek Corinthian helm

The Greek Corinthian helm was firstly invented in ancient Greece. They named it after the city's name Corinthian and generally it was made of bronze. It provided a perfect protection of the entire head as well as the neck, but on the other side, it made the soldiers very hard to see clearly and breath in deed. The most famous characteristic of Corinthian helm is the horsehair panache. But definitely, not all the soldier could be able to wear a helm with horsehair, it is the officer who had this prerogative. The royal corinthian helm always had a full nature horsehair plume which was both decorative and functional, perfectly representing the noble status of the people who was wearing it. 

Greek Helmets evolution

Viking helmet
People often associate Viking age with horned helmet. But in fact it is a common misunderstand,as even nowadays it still shows up in many scandinavian ceremonies and be regarded as the presentation of Viking culture. There's no evidence exists to say that horned helmet was once used in combat. It was the invention of 19th century romanticism.  In fact, due to the mere information exists, Viking helmet was actually made of iron or hardened leather and was in the shape of rounded cap. As warfare was the major activity in Viking age, it was general for a worrier to have a collection of weapon and armour. But only a really rich Viking could be able to own a helmet therefore to display his wealth and status. Besides, it's believed by experts that Viking used to hand the helmet down one generation to another, treating it as a sort of heirloom.

Viking helmet

Spangenhelm

Spangenhelm was probably the most popular helm in Europe from 5th to 9th centuries. It was basically made of several iron plates that formed together a bowl shape.  Some spangenhelm had a nose protector  or eye protector. It also inverted as a T shape and was always decorated with punched designs. At the apex of the helmet was a bronze disc with a ridged knob protruding from the centre, from which a plume could be attached.

Spangenhelm

Bibliography:

Newark, T. (2009) 'The worldwide history of warfare: the ultimate visual guide, from the ancient world to the American Civil War', London: Thames & Hudson, 2009. 304-05

    

Print Block works