Threaded screen / first part

Ready to go. The challenge is to keep the density and tension of the threads evenly. Also, the material is extremly slippery and difficult to knot.

Warp for close-up screen

The screen will be made of a shiny white polyester embroidery thread, 60 tpi (threads per inch).

It's happened again: the miracle that hundreds of fine threads (1300), one after the other, found their place on the loom, the tool to organize this all. Sometime while handling the warp it all looks very muddled...but then it worked again.

Close-up screen

A 1:1 outline of the screen for projections of close-ups. While working on this I realize that the shape of the screen isn't only 'defined' by the proportions of the image (video). The waves back then in August '08 came from east, so they move from left to right in the image. The shape of the screen has to go with this movement.

Humber Mouth

I received a Humber Mouth special commission 2009 award to show one or the other of the FR-AGILE screens at the literature festival in Hull in June this year. This is wonderful because now I can start to complete the screens in full size.

Sounding

A site-specific installation commissioned by FRINGEMK 2009. Sounding will be displayed in Midsummer Place in Milton Keynes from September '09.

Midsummer-Place is a building approximately 20 m high featuring a wave form roof which spans a concourse of about 60m x 90m between the old and new part of the shopping centre. Daylight enters through five skylights of about 4m x 20m and through the two glass façades towards Midsummer Boulevard. The roof is supported by 48 crossbeams which rest on two rows of pillars, six to support the low part of the roof and six for the high part. A couple of trees and the odd bird join the congregation of shoppers among the cafes and food stores within the building.

Once inside the building it is difficult to grasp the vastness of the space. The huge volume above the retail area is filled with light and air but there is little to guide the eye. I was surprised to find that each of the 52 tiny looking glass panels which compose one single skylight must be about 1m x 1.5m. The following proposal relates to the height of Midsummer Place and to the way light illuminates it.

SOUNDING
Material: royal blue man-made string with a silky sheen
Dimensions: One or two bands, approx. 30 - 40m x 1.8m (1 fathom)

Near the west entrance one or two threaded bands will span between high points of the skylight and roof supports, similar to stretches of warp taken from a loom. The bands will twist slightly while keeping their width of one fathom from top to bottom. Sounding fathoms out the height of the space and ‘puts it into perspective’.

Sounding will be composed of man-made thread which captures and reflects the light. Depending on the onlookers position the shade, shape and transparency of the piece will change.

Seascape projection @ Cupola

Over the past couple of weeks I've been glued more or less to my desk writing proposals and applications. And now I really look forward to making something real!

Possibly one of the Fr-Agile screens will have a home for one month at Cupola Gallery in Sheffield next July. Below is a plan how it will sit in the space.

View from projector fixed underneath ceiling

Looking back

On a more quiet note, Jo and I have been to Spurn to say good bye for now.

Vehement elements

Ten days ago, when we had a test projection on the 1:3 maquettes of the threaded screens, a friend said: 'this looks like a body'. He was talking about the yellow buoy being tossed about in the video.

This comment brought back the vehemence of the sea as I had felt it during the performance. And again it brought to mind the book I had read about the history of the Spurn Lifeboat Station, the first one hundred years. (see: Books about Spurn)

Or rather, I recalled some of the countless tales that describe the life and drama of the lifeboat families at Spurn Point 100 to 200 years ago. - And in the light of these stories the buoys slightly seemed to shift their hue and meaning.

(Extract from Spurn notebook)

Images: Jo Millett

Wide Screen

Another test to project the Fr-agile footage of the whole scenery (click here to see projection of close-ups). The curved screen consists of about 25 threads /inch and is composed of different materials to find out which threads work best.

Maquette 120 x 120 x 70cm (1:3) of wide screen
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View from right hand side

Fr-agile / wide screen 2 from Onspurn Artist on Vimeo.

Another screen

A screen stretching between floor and wall (as in post of 10 Sept 08) seems to be good to project close-ups. So, I've been working to find a shape to project some footage of the whole of the scenery.

Currently I'm building such a 'wide-screen', about 1:3 in scale, as well as a new close-up screen.

Screen test

1600 silk threads stretched between floor and wall form a curved screen (about 2 x 3 feet) onto which we - Jo and I - project the Fr-agile footage (see posts 14 August 2008).

Test screen

Working out possible proportions and shapes for a threaded screen. The warp is still on the loom but ready to be cut and transformed.