WEEK 1- Leather and Sheep-Skin

I was very enthusiastic about the idea of working with and learning a new craft of leather work. I found the first week very useful as we found out how to make a pattern for a bag. This was something i had previously had no experience with. I found this process challenging at first as i didn't realise the importance of the measurements. I firstly created my pattern to my bag on patterned paper and then on to cartridge, however once i cut my patterned pieces out the measurements didn't match up exactly which is why i then had to remeasure the pieces accordingly. Although this was something that went wrong it taught me a vital lesson to take forward with making my bag in the further weeks.

This process of creating a paper bag made me realise that it was infact a bag that i wanted to create for my final piece. When it came to ansembling the peices together, they matched up correctly however i struggled as do the paper not being flexible, glue wouldnt hold it together and so i hade to use staples. This made me want to use a soft leather for my bag as it would be much more flexible and easy to work with.

Another thing i learnt about working with leather is that the leather is sewn on the outside rather then the inside. After finishing my bag i realised that i hadent worked out the proportions properly which left my bag slightly too oversized this is something i will correct in my work in furtre weeks.

Blackpool Pleasure Beach Archive

After the MOSI archive we visited Blackpool pleasure beach. We were given a talk about its history as a fairground and the rides. The fairground first opened in 1896 and was owned by William Bean, the fairground is still owned by the same family today. We were took on a tour around the park to see the rides and attractions and then to the pleasure beach archive. The archive itself had a variety of collections. Something I found highly interesting was the photo showing the pleasure beach as it was the vast difference to todays pleasure beach was shocking.

Belle Vue Archive

After having the Unit x Launch. We were introduced into the idea of Fairground and Belle vue. We went in groups to visit the Belle vue archive. I found it interesting being from Manchester myself and not knowing of the Belle Vue extravaganza which opened in 1836 and closed in the late 70's. I was a huge plot of land which had three tram stops due to its size it had a variety of attractions; fairground, zoo, circus, ballrooms races and many more including "freak" side shows. It attracted hundreds of thousands of visitors per year and was coined the disney land of England. When I returned home and spoke to my parents and grandparent about Belle vue I was shocked to find out how influential it had been in their lives my grandma told me of how she would go on dates with my granddad at the ballrooms and how many of her friends had met their husbands at belle vue.

I found the archive very interesting as I learnt allot about Belle vue and its history I also found it interesting as I felt I could somehow relate to it as my family had told me their stories of it and I could imagine what it would look like from the archive and stories. On wednesday Claire Turner the director of Manchester histories festival 2014 gave a lecture on Belle vue and its history in the 17th and 18th century.




The archive was at Manchester's Chethams library which was outstanding the large bookshelfs and towering stairs with thousands of books. It had tickets and leaflets from the years at belle vue. I found it interesting comparing todays fairgrounds with the historical fairground of Belle vue

MOSI- Victorian fairground

During the lead up to the unit x launch I took a trip to the MOSI museum as it had an exhibition of a working Victorian fair. One of the first things I noticed about the difference between Victorian and modern fun fairs was the use of materials for example the Helta Skelta was made from wood whereas now it is a type of metal as this is a stronger and more durable material. The colours were much richer reds and oranges combined with their complimentary colours of blues and green, this almost made the colours pop and draw the eye towards them.

The idea of looking at the Fairground as something in the past that rekindles feelings and memories of childhood is something I found very interesting. It left questions in my mind; why did the fairground stop?where did it go?. these idea are something I would like to experiment with as I find out about the unit x. launch. I really ;ike the pattern of the Heltaskelta the way it twist around this is something I will look more into in furture weeks.