The Clay and Augmented Reality project started in June 2023, with activities scheduled in the proposal. I wanted to focus on my art practice development towards combining two different media, clay and augmented reality, creatively and professionally.
Museum ‘My Mother and I’
The workshop’s outcomes are presented on the Sketchfab platform for 3D modelling, allowing users to download all models for free. It is updated daily until I place all participants’ artefacts.
https://sketchfab.com/svetlana.atlavina/collections/museum-my-mother-and-i-0064c531e2514b8f8f863804798bbb74
The first part of the project was connected to practical research on different clay and augmented reality techniques that will allow workshop participants to recollect memories of childhood, particularly the creative time of growth, forgotten habits, and playfulness. I was experimenting with clay techniques that helped me to focus on tactile experiences combined with touching blindfolded different objects from childhood, such as fabrics, toys, leaves, grass, hair, sea shells, and others. Through this period, while working on a clay real size womb, I found through the research that the ambient sound during the prenatal phase provides the atmosphere that helps to be reminiscent of childhood time. The clay techniques I experimented with were coil build forms creating wombs and vessels. The mixture of different clays that I found on the reclaimed shelf helped me focus on activities that would help me derive memories of the traditions, customs, and ethnicities of my family. This was a breakthrough clay technique for workshops, which later affected many participants in remembering their family origins, celebrations, and holiday times. The experiments in Augmented Reality using Hololens and the mobile phone Arvid application focused on creating tracks of my sight view and body peripheral span, which inspired the usage of different forms of clay coils for spatial sculptures. In addition, the experiments with one of the oldest techniques for pulling clay sculptures manually out of the block of clay provided me with insights into pressure/force points and a variety of strokes to research clay qualities and organic forms shaped by my fingertips.
The second part focused on designing plans for six creative 3.5-hour workshops for the public, with activities combining tactile and virtual experiences. The framework of each workshop included four tables, each loaded with 4-5 different exercises for inspirational, tactile, sound, and physical experiences. I also researched more than 20 visual and literature artists who worked on maternal care and feelings associated with growing up memories and empathy. The combination of experiences in clay and augmented reality positioned participants into the mode of memory recollection, where augmented reality provided a weightless environment for experiments with various creative strokes. Then, that experience was transferred into clay works to reminiscence the weightless nature of memories. After each workshop, the feedback from participants revealed that the playful time given to experiment with clay and virtual AR enriched the understanding of free association sculpture building.
The third stage of the project is connected to collating outcomes, scanning, curating, and designing a suitable digital platform for visual interaction in AR. The research and development of a suitable form of presenting visual outcomes will combine embedded in ceramic physical memories, their 3D models (scaled in/out) placed in space and connected by AR media strokes. The feedback from participants will feed the following research in the application of the derived workshop techniques.
I would like to thank all the DYCP ACE staff who work hard to provide opportunities for artists.
The initial proposal accepted by the ACE DYCP grant was fulfilled with all scheduled activities, and a few more were opened during work with the AR technology partners Playla.bz.
With a generous grant, I managed to rent a space at the professional clay studio ‘Rochester Square’, and carry out my research on clay and AR techniques. The visit to the Yorkshire Sculpture Park enriched my practice with research on art by Barbara Hepworth, Henry Moore, and gave me time to reconnect, think about organic forms of natural resources, human forms and how new technology is changing the perception of art and art processes. The visit to the Sigmund Freud Museum and the sketching session of artefacts provided me with inspirational materials for clay activities.
Through mentoring sessions and meetings with professionals scheduled in the proposal, I found new consultants, Dr.J. Boyer, Dr Z. Hicks, James Marks, and Marius Matissen, who provided me with extended knowledge in art history, psychology, and Augmented Reality.
In September, with a refferal from Playla.bz, I attended the Collusion Cambridge Workshop in Norwich and the International Conference on Technology, Innovation and Education in Cambridge. I was invited by referal from Playla.bz to Maker Monday Talk with Tim Wilson in Birmingham to carry out a public workshop based on my CAR project research.
I carried out eight public workshops for art creatives and students at Rochester Square and two universities.
