Silver as Dye Sara Keith 10.6084/m9.figshare.11956926.v1 https://futurescan.figshare.com/articles/figure/Silver_as_Dye/11956926 <p>The transference of skills and design thinking from one discipline to another is often unconscious in the language of a textile practitioner, with fluid magpie like assimilation of materials and techniques from many other fields both within the dialect of the visual arts and beyond, to seemingly unrelated industries.</p><p>This practice examines a combination and range of skills more commonly associated with those of a Japanese artisanal dyer to those of a jeweller or engineer. During this body of work the adoption of dye techniques was an already familiar practice and therefore a natural solution to the challenge of changing scale; absorbing meters of textiles to the intimate scale of electroplating equipment.</p><p>The act of playing with unaccustomed materials, in this case silver, demanded a reexamination and adaption of a familiar making process. In turn this opened a series of “what if’s”. The aspect of play (or ideation in the world of design thinking) is a vital process and too often impatiently overlooked by students seeking a more immediate result. This practice interrogates and values this aspect of the design process, particularly at the intersection of interdisciplinary practice.</p><p><br></p><p>Futurescan 4: Valuing Practice Exhibit</p><p>University of Bolton</p><p>23-24 January 2019</p><p><br></p><p>Photographs by Tony Radcliffe and Di Downs.</p> 2020-03-09 17:04:30 dye techniques silver making design process interdisciplinary practice jewellery Textile and Fashion Design