Presentation

So I began my research with looking at utopia. Above is what I view as a stereotyped and typical utopia. After discussing utopia in class I realised each utopia different for each individual.

I then thought of what my utopia would be. The pictures on the above page show my utopia. It is my local park. It is my utopia because it represents peace and earth's true state. Everything is natural and as it should be.
After researching the recent war in Afghanistan, I began looking at military uniform and basic training exercises. My boyfriend is in the army so I was able to access the official army uniform and photos from his training. I wanted to see what basic survival techniques they were taught and what precautions they took, as these would be needed in a war environment.

Above is examples of a 'confidence test' during basic army training. Gas masks are placed on them and they are then submitted to CS gas. They then have to remove their gas masks. The aim is to give them confidence that their masks work. They are also wearing CBRN suits, which covers all of their body and is lined with charcoal, stopping anything from reaching the skin.

I then looked at camouflage, which is a main way of natural survival. I also looked at Jean Shins work of creating a collage of army uniforms, creating a camouflage. This is a easy and very efficient techniques which could be used for survival.

Above is a design I did using collage, to create camouflage. This late influenced my final design.

I then looked at Lucy Orta. I found her work really inspiring. She talks about the civilians in Iraq who are forced to leave their home and become 'a flock of refugees'. This made me think of the innocent Iraq civilians whom I may have previously ignored. If I was in their position I would want somewhere safe to flee to; a utopia.

This then led me to my final apocalyptic scenario. My scenario is a escape to utopia. Innocent civilians are forced to leave their homes due to war, and must journey to utopia to find peace and safety. I don't want to incorporate weapons into my theme,as they are escaping violence not joining in. They must escape from the war using natural ways of survival only.

To avoid a typical camouflage (natural way of surviving) I then wanted to create my journey to utopia more versatile. I had heard of a volcano (Ol Doinyo Lengal) which ash dries harder than concrete allowing no trees or plants to grow through. As this is a strong contrast to my Utopia it will be part of the environment which must be journey through to reach utopia; hard concrete dry land.

Another designer who really inspired me was Lenny Pier Ramos. His designs are inspired by environments and landscapes. They reflect the surfaces and surroundings. This is something I want to achieve with my design, to assist camouflage as a natural way of surviving the escape to utopia.

This is my final chosen fabrics. My surface pattern is reverse appliqué, which was inspired by the surface of the volcano and the colours used to camouflage. I have also chosen a black and a green fabric. As both are main colours in the environments that will be travelled through therefore resulting in a effective camouflage.

This is my final design. It was inspired by Lucy Orta and Lenny Pier Ramos. It incorporates a camouflage print, but not in a predictable way. The high collared hood provides shelter and covers up most of the body. This was inspired by the CBRN suits worn during basic army training during the confidence test, as covering all their body protects it and enhances the camouflage. My jacket is unfortunately not fully complete, however it isn't very far of. I am ready to attach my hood and zip, but was very unsure how to attach my facing, hood and lining and think its important to maintain the high level of production I currently have and not ruin it by rushing and doing in wrong.

I had also designed a pair of trousers to go with my jacket. Unfortunately I haven been able to begin constructing them due to focusing on completing my jacket to as high a standard as possible.