Swarm the World

I have recently participated in an international art project “Swarm The World”

This art project was started by Tasha Lewis an artist living in America. She sent out a plea over the internet for people to participate in a world-wide art project. I volunteered.

The project involved hosting a collection of 350 butterflies made using her own technique and with small magnets attached. The idea was to “swarm” these butterflies in various locations across the world and photograph them. The images would then be uploaded to various websites and collated together. The butterflies would be sent from participant to participant so that they could travel around the world.

I had the butterflies for a few weeks in February and March 2016.

I wanted to focus on the diversity of locations that are available here on the west coast of Cumbria and the edge of the Lake District.

I received the butterflies in February. They arrived in a box along with an ideas booklet, a journal to record this section of their journey, and an emergency repair kit.

) The butterfly parcel!

It was interesting to read what they had been up to with the other collaborators!

My first outing with the butterflies was to Ennerdale Water (my closest lake) I knew there would be some interesting locations as not only would I be working with the beautiful landscape of the Lake District but Ennerdale is a reservoir and as such often has industrial equipment relating to the collection and treatment of the water.

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I took the butterflies to the old abandoned Kangol Factory in Cleator. I installed the swarm at a few different locations including on the safety railings and on the old access gate. This location offered a dilapidated industrial backdrop for the swam.

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I visited a local church where I was restricted in locations due to the lack of ferrous material available however I created a couple of installations. One on the door fixtures and one on the iron fence.

On the way home I spotted an iron fence with a view up Ennerdale valley where I created a quick installation. I played around a little with the exposure on the camera to obtain a variety of images.

My next adventure took me down onto the old railway line between Whitehaven and Arlecdon. This is just at the end of my road and is part of the C2C (coast to coast) cycle route. It used to be a railway line used by the mining industry to transport the minerals down to the harbour.

It has since been tarmaced over and is now a popular walking and cycling route.

Many of the seats and other accessories are made from parts of the railway including the track and sleepers. These, along with the road tunnel offered ideal locations for the butterflies.

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Whilst installing and photographing the butterflies under the bridge I had a lovely conversation with a passing couple who were very interested in the project.

I spent some time at Florence Mine. Here I used the wide variety of locations and backdrops to create some wonderful photographs. The blue of the butterflies contrasted well with the red of the iron deposit.

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I wanted to make sure that I included the wheel of the pit head in the pictures

Finding the digger covered in “Florence Red” lent itself to some unusual pictures.

My next location was at Seascale School where I spoke to the children about the project and they then created their own installations around the school and grounds.

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The children continued their work with butterflies, creating their own and swarming the school!

I visited Muncaster Castle A stunning location offering numerous locations and sites to both show off the butterflies and the stunning scenery there. Many photos were taken and there was much enthusiasm from the castle about the project.

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I went to my local town of Whitehaven where I took the butterflies down onto the harbour and along the Georgian streets

Whitehaven Harbour marks the beginning of the C2C cycle track (coast-to-coast) This is a well travelled journey across the North of England.

I took the butterflies down to the beach at St. Bees, A popular beach for locals and tourists to visit. There was all sorts of locations I could use. I was able to take some images showing the view along the West Cumbrian coast. The sun was low in the sky over the sea making for some interesting pictures in the bright light however it made it difficult to pick up St. Bees head (A promontory that juts out from the coast). I did get a photo at the start of the coast-to-coast walk!

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I then travelled around to find some iconic rural locations. I put the butterflies on sheep fences and gates with the sheep and lambs in the fields behind. I even managed to get some pictures with our “beloved” Sellafield (Nuclear re-processing plant) in the distant background!

I used my parent’s farmhouse as the backdrop to a location as it is a typical archetectural design of building for the area.

I am currently studying at college and so created a couple of mini installations there!

We also photographed the swarm at the Egremont Foodbank

My final location for the swarm (before I packaged them up and sent them on their way) was outside my house (an old miner’s terrace) I covered my car and parked it outside the house! (If you look carefully you can see my little cat helper!!)

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The butterflies were then packaged up and sent on their way (Newcastle next, from one coast to the other!)

I thoroughly enjoyed having the butterflies to visit and I hope they go on to have many more adventures!

All images can be found on Flickr here

 

Upcycling Old Jumpers

Many of us have, at some point, ended up with a jumper that is no longer useful. Either it will have worn out or been ruined through washing etc.

There are numerous ideas and projects that can be done to repurpose, upcycle or adapt the jumper into something unique, useful, new and even stylish!

Old jumpers are also easily accessible via donations from friends and family or by raiding the rails at the local charity shop (unless I am looking for something specific I rarely spend more than £1 on a jumper!)

I find that the jumpers acquired often dictate the project as different fibres lend themselves to different ways of working with them.

For example if I want to work with felted fabric I will need to select 100% wool fabrics and boil wash them in order to create the suitable material (of course this washing procedure may be what prompts the need to re-purpose the jumper in the first place!) Felting woollen jumpers can be a bit hit-and-miss as some woollen jumpers have been specifically treated to prevent them being unintentionally shrunken in the wash. However many will shrink.

The beauty of working with felted jumpers is that they require little or no  hemming etc. as the fibres will not unravel due to the felting procedure. The fabric can often be used in the same projects that regular felt would be used and as such many decorative projects can result from these. The material may still retain some of its flexibility, however, and can be made into extra warm clothing: outerwear, hats and shoes etc.

Cotton knit jumpers tend to be the most likely to unravel when cut due to the smoothness of the fibres. As such it is important that the cutting stage is done as closely to the sewing stage as possible. Cotton knit is great for repurposing into clothing as it has a good structure and is less likely to misshape. It is also good at retaining body heat in the colder months as well as keeping cool in the summer.

Acrylic knits are, by far, the easiest fabric types to get hold of. They are often the jumpers relegated to the special offer rails in the charity shops. They should not be discredited however as they are likely to be the best source of colour and pattern into any project. Any seams and hems will need to be carefully sealed in the creation process to prevent unraveling of the fabric.

When cutting and sewing old jumpers there are a number of ways to seal the seams and hems.

The most common way involves using an overlocker or serger which will sew and bind the edges of the fabric at the same time. These are becoming more econimic to buy and can cost little more than a sewing machine. Another way to seal in any raw edges is to sew all the seams as “french seams” as explained in the following diagram:

Another seam type which would seal in the raw edges is a felled seam, however this may be trickier to do as the knit fabrics are harder to press flat:

Raw edges can also be sewn in by hand which although takes time may actually be easier!

When upcycling and repurposing old jumpers it is important to experiment and have fun and remember every item you make is unique!