My initial idea when i was first given the brief was to create a womb from soft fabric, i would make it to be like a tent so that the viewer was capable of crawling inside. on the outside of the ‘tent’ i want it to be creepy and dark. by this i mean having a weird path leading up to the tent making the viewer not wish to walk through it. I would use things to represent life and death in reverse leading to the tent. this would be things such as disturbed toys to represent childhood, keys and bills to represent adult hood and pills and graves to show old age. These are just basic ideas and will no doubt change throughout the development of the project.
As i still wanted to keep with the womb tent idea i started by going to a fabric outlet near my home to look for ideas of what i could use. i just so happened to find some fabric that was perfect for the job. it was a reddish pink colour that was velvety to the touch as an added bonus it was at a very reduced price. Once getting the fabric home i started with the construction of the tent. i searched online to try find some help but couldn’t find what i was looking for so i decided to wing it. i started by stitching some pleats into nearly the whole 5 metres of fabric, i did this to add texture and shape to the tent so that it wouldn’t just hang flat. I then stitched the fabric together to make it a complete loop of fabric, i used a spare part of the fabric to add a roof to the tent, through my own errors of not using a pattern or measurements as i had none to go off, i ended up with a pointed tip to the tent rather than it being flat like intended, this later aided me.
Stitching The Pleats
Close up of the pleats
The ‘tent’ laid out on the floor
Once i had the shape of the tent i used some twine that i tied through the top of the point of the tent and tied to a wooden beam hung up high on the wall. i then stitched a small hula hoop into the upper part of the tent to give the tent more shape and to help it open out i also added a larger hula hoop to the bottom of the fabric to give the tent a more solid shape so that the fabric would be stiff and not close in on the viewer.
Stitching the hula hoop at the top of the tent
Stitching a large hula hoop to the bottom
After i had finished with the stitching of the tent i created a giant cushion so that you wouldn’t be able to see the regular floor and so that there was a bit more comfort to the tent. I made this by stitching 4 regular cushion inserts together and creating a large cushion cover from left over fabric. i then worked on the entrance to the tent, i originally only cut a slit down the front of the fabric but it was too hard to climb inside of the tent so i cut flaps on the bottom of the tent so that there was a wider entrance making it easier to crawl inside.
The original entrance
The final entrance to the tent
To finish the tent part of my piece i hung up some black fabric to disguise the outer edge of the tent so that you couldn’t see all the stitches of the tent. i feel this was a necessary step as it helps create a sense of wonder to the viewer making them want to see what is behind the curtain.
The curtain covering the tent
since the tent was compete i made a start on the walkway leading up to it. i started off by laying down the same black fabric as the curtain as to cover the regular floor. i placed a bunch of creepy and disturbed toys from previous works i have made on other courses. at the start of the walkway was 3 different sized crosses to represent death. My initial idea for the walkway wasn’t going to be achievable as i wouldn’t have been able to get the supplies needed in time and would have cost a lot of money to get it to the amount of objects i wanted. I feel that i still achieved what i wanted from the piece with my budget and time considered.
The final walkway leading to the tent
For the sound of my piece i wanted to get sounds of the mothers heart beat from inside of the womb. i got this sound from a toy i had for my son when he was first born, this object is used to calm and sooth a baby as it is a familiar sound to them and helps them to sleep. The sound it makes sounds really distorted and unrecognisable to a normal heartbeat, but is apparently a familiar sound everyone would have known before and just after birth.
The baby toy with the heartbeat function
Viewer Input
I asked people in the class to go into the womb and tell me how it made them feel. i gave them time with and without the sound playing so that could tell me what was more effective. Below is what people had to say;
I was Very camped but was comfy
reddish glow
Creepy with sounds
Comfier without sound
Awkward to get in due to height
Good that the body curls up like a foetus
Slightly off putting
Surreal
Height of the top made it seem slightly less womb-like
Comfy
Very comforting space
Feeling of security with and without sound
Space was slightly cramped
However still peaceful
Comforting with and without sounds
Sounds added background noise
The colours inside were quite soft and warm
The space is small but doesn’t feel claustrophobic
Comfortable without the sounds
The sounds made me aware of the environment i was in
Felt comfortable but after a while felt claustrophobic
Felt it was better with sounds
Very cosy
Relaxing
Homey
Over all most people felt it was a comforting space and that was my whole intentions with making the piece so i feel that i have achieved my goal in this project
Tent Accessibility
As the tent is meant to be small and comforting on the inside yet it had to be big enough for most people to be able to fit. I got 3 different sized volunteers to crawl into the tent, i got someone who was very short and petite, someone who was a more average size, and someone who was a lot taller. i got each of them to go along the walk way and climb into the tent, with this test i was able to find out that with each different person they were all able to fit, and from the outside of the tent you were unable to see that someone was inside no matter their size.
One of the volunteers climbing out of the tent
Maeve Dawson Art 