Sophie Ashdown

For the end of year show, I am planning to create multiple pieces based on data.  I know that my overall plan is ambitious, as I am hoping to use multiple different methods and media across the different pieces, but there will be some elements that are unifying across all of them.  Hopefully the resulting work will be a cohesive collection that makes sense as a theme.

Currently I am working on a reasonably sized (100cm x 100cm) piece that combines five different elements of data.  I’m using multiple different types of fabric, each of which represents and different person and personality.  The process is quite time consuming as it takes time to cut each of the fabrics into the correct shape to fit into the pattern.

I am learning as I go because I have not worked with fabrics in this way before.  Currently I am gluing them onto the canvas and then I will sew them with silver thread, which will also provide another data point.

In my five minute video, I included a timelapse of where I was on the piece at that time, and I have updated that with where I have got to recently. Even the process of making the timelapse video has been an interesting new creation for me. I’m using a different software than usual, Clipchamp, as it was recommended by a web designer friend. It is just a standard software that comes with my laptop but it is surprisingly simple and easy to use.

I originally sped up the video x16 which made it 9 minutes long. That seemed slow for what I am trying to achieve, so I sped the whole thing up another x4 and now it is about 2.5 minutes. I think any faster and it wouldn’t be meaningful to watch.

Then I used Canva to add audio to the video. (My day job company, Audiosocket, supplies a lot of music and sound effects to Canva.) It took a long time to find a track that would pace well with the video without distracting from it so I went with a lowkey instrumental track by an artist that I know from work.

I’m planning to keep adding to this video until the work is completed but here is where I’m up to currently:

I will post again soon (hopefully!) with a video of the completed work.