Overview
To me, the zenith project is the largest project of the year. This is a project in which we get complete creative freedom to explore any idea related to art. In junior year, we had a project similar called the explorations units. In this unit we were also able to explore any idea that we wanted however we didn’t have as much time and freedom compared to the zenith. So when senior year came around and it was time for the zenith, I was super excited to say the least!
The Idea
Depicted above are my original ideas for my zenith project. I am very passionate about crocheting and photography so I wanted to be able to combine them together into a big project I was passionate about. To add my own twist to it, I wanted to try crocheting with alternative materials to make clothes. To include photography I wanted to take pictures of models since I don’t have that much experience with it.
Evolution:
Crocheting with wire
The first part of the project was starting to crochet the first outfit. I started off by buying 200 feet of 12 gauge aluminum wire. Then I started practicing the best ways to crochet with wire and how large I wanted the loops to be. When making the top I faced my first challenge. I wasn’t able to make the top exactly how my original sketch was so I had to modify it to leave out to twist in the finished design. After making both the top and the skirt I made a decision to add red fabric to add more coverage and contrast to the wire. I also added red ribbon that holds the pieces together
Crocheting with Plastic Bags
The second outfit I decided to make out of recycled plastic bags and plastic bags. I found this medium a lot easier to crochet than the wire. The first thing I had to do was flatten out the plastic bags and cut then into circular strips. I then had to connect them all together to make a sort of plastic yarn ball. This is when I had my first challenge with the plastic. When I was connecting all of them together, the kept ripping. I had to scrap a lot of the ripped plastic strips and start cutting large strips. I then started crochet. I also ad to change my original design to something more simplistic.
Photography
To finish off this project, I wanted to take photos of these outfits I made on models. I knew I wanted to utilize the photo room in the new building but I knew that it would be a bit of a challenge editing a green screen sine i’ve never done that before. I had a bit of a challenge finding people to model for me but thankfully two of my Design classmates stepped up and helped me. Heres a behind the scene picture of the photoshoot:
Final Product
Relfection
Overall I am super happy with how this project turned out. One learning experience I’m going to use in the future is keeping an open and positive mind when I feel stuck or challenged by something. No matter what challenges arose, I took a deep breath and brainstormed solutions to fix my problems. I feel that I accomplished all three project objectives. I felt that I ignited my passion, elevated my skills, and in my opinion I think this is the greatest project that I have created at freestyle. If I were to do this project again, I would focus more on the photography aspect of it. Since I spent most of my time crocheting and making the outfits, I didn’t have as much time to plan out the photos and edit. One last meaningful thought I would like to share for future students doing this project; manage your time! It is super important especially for this project to manage your time wisely since there is so much time to finish it, it is super easy to push everything to the end. So please be cautious of your time and plan. Thank you!