Project BALANCE
Keeping wool alive through connecting a
new generation to the beauty of wool, its origins and characteristics
Project BALANCE
WORKTEAM:
Andrea Paldan, Ciara Harrison, Fiadh
Durham
WHAT IS THE PROJECT ABOUT?
« Balance» investigates innovative applications for the discarded brightly coloured, painted
fleece that farmers use as identity markers and theft deterrence. The project
intends to propose on how recycling
can be developed into a campaign for
promoting wool as a relevant and contemporary material. The farmer becomes a
creator or an artist, transforming the discarded wool into profitable product for the producer and a recyclable material for the
local craftsmen:
Felting the whole
fleece, transforming it into brightly coloured carpet;
D.I.Y (do it
yourself) ‘Shibori’ sheep or ‘spray
your own pattern’, recuperating the fleece after shearing to be felted;
Story telling Tell a story about the pattern, create a label;
Creating something
unique from personalized fleeces to make it stand out;
Develop the local craft
industry through a small collection of objects made from the fleeces;
Build up a marketing
campaign.
TECHNIQUES:
Dyeing, felting, spinning, knitting, crochet, weaving
INSPIRATIONS MASTER CLASS WORKSHOPS:
Days 1 & 2
- Discovery of wools of Europe
-Marie-Therese Chaupin
/// Part 1
Wools physical quality that make it a multi-functional material with many ways
of treating it
The breed and the health of the sheep as well as the
influence of the climate and the food determine the quality of its wool.
/// Part
2 Trend books and blog creation with Jeanne Goutelle
-Learning the role that Trend Forecasters play by
establishing a map of what’s going on now in our societies in all the
production sectors of the market.
- Seeing what a Trend Book looks like
-Jeanne’s research process in determining a trend by
linking an idea with words, colours and materials.
-Shaping ideas to become attractive, practical and
communicate with visual elements.
-Using a Brainstorming technique to identify the ideas
- Making the blog – organizing and loading down
the first pages of the blog
Day 3 - Lainamac & Felting
Felt making, spinning and knitting are traditional
techniques that use wool.
The "WOOL-COCOON"
Project that promotes wool properties, local artisans, sheep farms and wool
events.
Day 5 Shibori - Ysabel de Maisonneuve
The variety of colour and
patterns that can be obtained from the shibori technique gave them the idea to paint colour and patterns directly onto woollen
fleece.
Day 6 – Labopull
Alice Egler &
Sonja de Monchy’s creative experience and
working methodology helped them understand a process that gives shape and
definition to a project.
PROJECT OBJECTIVES:
We want to:
- Define a project centred on colour as a
communication concept and design methodology as a
tool to develop applications for discarded fleece,
-. Create a marketing
campaign strategy that attracts potential partners and the younger
generation.
- Renew ways for processing the recycled wool
- Develop original and unique items that have been created
either by the farmer or the client.
ADDED VALUE:
- Giving
importance to the use of the material
- Innovative applications for wool as a creative and
conceptual thought process tool within art and
cultural field
-Awareness
of the endless possibilities for the wool, as a raw material or as a source
of inspiration.
-A
new generation fibre that parallels with a healthy lifestyle
- Communication strategies the add value to the sheep
production industry
