This week I’ve been preparing materials ready to start prototyping and bringing my making practice back to the forefront after unit 2 and the thesis hand in. I feel like these first few weeks of Unit 3 feel very preparatory and I see them as a time of ‘gathering’. Today I began formalising the industrial waste streams I want to utilise in my project and began to firm up ‘symbiotic’ connections with other businesses from the first two terms. Many of these are from within the film/ photographic world, which I have previously worked in. Utilising waste, in today’s case colorama paper, means I need to find a steadish supply of material and plan ahead. It’s a much slower process because I can’t just go to the shop and it’s this slowness that I’d like to lean into in my practice too. It does mean I need to be quite forward and open up dialogue with people in non traditional ways. It has forced me to make connections with old friends or work acquaintances and the support I’ve received and the network im building feels energising.

Even though I’m asking to use someone’s waste I do still feel very aware that I might be adding more work load for them, especially having worked in the photo industry for so long, I understand the precariousness of work and the pace of the waste, storing it or contacting me might be a stretch for some so I want to make it as easy a possible. What is needed on sets, and therefore the waste generated is quite haphazard and on many levels is can be hard to gain consistency when working in that industry. . So my expectations, if I want to utilise waste from here, will need to be fluid and accommodate this. I’m reframing this chaos and something to be excited about, where there is an element of chance in what I might source which will to inform the project outcome.

I spent the rest of the day creating a batch of slime mache from what colorama paper I had left of my supply. I will use this to create a set of tests and samples this week which allow me to explore how the material might be used to create some puzzle like / interactive objects, and really understand the capabilities of the composite. I will be exploring the 4 main materials I’m interested in using over the next month and then using these in depth test to inform my final designs.

I was interested in how I might capture the way I work in a soothing or engaging way, as a way to explore how my practice might translate to video. It was fun to set up the rig and film from different angles, creating rhythmic edits. I’d quite like to continue the film through the entire slimache making timeline.