hi hat & snare

the steam powered maker residency has now finished with one last meeting to discuss and de-brief about the time at the mill.

it was a really positive thing to do with much open and honest discussion and it was said that as a group our openness and honesty had made the residency process a very positive one for the staff of the mill.

our time finished with a gathering around maker steve’s work about process and a small impromtu party discussion feeling descended upon the mill.

and beyond … steam tots

steam tots at the silk mill.  i met with chris to have a pre-play and get a feeling for the space with all the loose parts assembled for the first time.

the following day we met again to take the steam tots activity live for the first time.  we editted the space and readied ourselves for the children and parents to arrive.  i really liked how chris made a little colouring oasis for those how needed a way into the loose parts free play session.

around us we’d created controlled scattering of parts and we liked what we saw when we stood back in preparation.

the session was well attended with a range of ages and abilities. the children got stuck in and soon we started to see new arrangements of the parts emerge.

even one of the dads became involved and i loved what he made ….

and beyond … the 12 window clock.

i’ve mentioned before the clock idea based upon the windows of the silk mill.

i’ve needed to research how to make a window at scale.  what came out of the laser cutter is rather dare i say … cute.

now i have a physical form to play with i’ve begun to research how to place the rgb led into the form.  i under estimated the fiddly ness of this and what i need to do to make it happen.

work continues…

ahead of our de-brief meeting i’ve been  reflecting about the steam powered maker residency at the silk mill in derby.

to help me through the process i’ve begun making a maquette of an idea i had in the first few weeks of the residency.  i’m interested in how 12 windows might be  used within a context of a clock.

today i’ve been working on the arduino code of the project.  by lunchtime i’d managed to create a solution to a problem and loose it again while trying to refine it.  as i prepared lunch i reflected upon the amount of failure i experience while coding and how in the past an accumulation of code not working has left me with moods that i have had to manage while i work towards finding the solution to the problem.

today i impressed myself with the no drama way  with which i dealt with the realisation of the fact that my code did not work.

is this new ability as a result of my residency at the mill?

i’ve certainly enjoyed leaving the house to go somewhere to make.  i’ve enjoyed being around others and sharing their making experiences along with my own.

being a steam powered maker gave me time off from my art practice. time off from looking rigorously at myself.

i have started to gently reconnect to how i might express something…

working at the mill has showed me to importance of somewhere to go to work.  somewhere laid out that things to make with are to hand.  somewhere where there are spaces in which to make.  somewhere where there is space to walk away from the make.

today i’ve been working inside my comfort zone and i’m happy.

during the residency i experienced times outside of my comfort zone  and was still happy.

tomorrow i’m back at the mill for a meeting and a  workshop and i’m really looking forward to them both.