FMP: Allotments Research

Final Major Project

Allotments Secondary Research

Now that I have created some primary reportage research I am moving onto secondary research in this post.

To get inspiration I think I shall start at the more historically successful allotment promotion. 

I could not explore this territory without looking at the most famous 'Dig for Victory' campaign.  During World War Two the campaign was so successful that they are still well known today.  After all this time its clear that these posters and media were just as sustainable as the allotments themselves.

Dig For Victory "You Tube" link

This film, intended to be shown in cinema's, advertised the benefits of self sufficient vegetable growth and gave a really romanticised view of allotments.  It was inclusive of all age groups and sexes along with presenting it as a personal responsibility.  It also creates comparisons between allotments and wartime success, stating "Food is just as important a weapon of war, as guns" then showing a boy digging up a marrow and presenting a blimp.  These visual comparisons would have been images the public at that time could relate with.  As a film, this is very out of date and would not connect with today's audience at all.  However, for its time this piece of media considered the interests of the majority and took into consideration what would appeal to them.  I have learnt from this, that I need to consider what contemporary fashions and trends (such as organic vegetables, grow your own and back to basics family activities) would appeal to the majority to promote allotments and outside creative ventures.



This shows how many children were included in the allotments and has a self sufficient tone.  They are given the responsibility and accessibility to all equipment, making them feel involved and helpful.  This is a great way to encourage children to garden.  By having many children involved also makes it seem popular.  I will need to make my allotement project show allotments with their positives.  Taking these into consideration is useful.

Eventhough this is the back of a person, it is obvious that it is a child, due to its outfit and bowed legs.

John Bratby:

The artist John Bratby's approach to the way he paints seems very suitable to the free, imperfection of the allotment itself.

"Birling Gap I with Flecked Sky", Bratby

"Thistles in a Jug", Bratby

His quick way of working is shown through the confident brush strokes and marks that can be seen on his paintings.  Comparisons are shown through his paintings and the subject of the allotment.  They stand out and make you want to reach out and touch them, just as items in a allotment are often hands on and full of varying textures.  The wonky fencing in the 1965 painting "Birling Gap I with Flecked Sky" is very similar to that of the hand made, novice construction of allotment fencing and other items the creative allotment owners have.  The grass in this painting also looks wild and blown in the same direction of the sky's clouds.  This is a very appropriate approach to consider when developing a design and experimenting with techniques.

Antoni Gaudi's "La Sagrada Familia"

When in Barcelona, Spain, in March 2012 I took a trip to Antoni Gaudi's architectural dream, cathedral "La Sagrada Familia".  This beautiful masterpiece is a wondrous combination of worship of God and worship of nature.  There I found his breath taking design a subtly grand expression of the importance of nature. The flowered ceiling and stem pillars were most fascinating.  The following photos are my own primary research:

ME!

Here the pillars in the foreground are like roots anchoring the cathedral into the ground, connecting it with nature and earth.  The background section has windows similar to bee's honeycomb hives.

The natural reference is clear here in the flower head shaped stained glass window.

The vines are beautifully decorating the balcony

The flowery molds are all over this side of the cathedral

Here, there's actually a Christmas tree proudly stood between the other more obviously sculptured turrets, which have taken the shape of the same style fir tree

Gaudi's inspiration from nature was displayed and picked apart in the Cathedral's museum section:

I may not be taking a focus on the actual plants and crops in the allotment project but I will be needing to take a quite natural and organic tone to the image which I create.  This is where I will be considering Gaudi's work, of combining two subject matters in such a natural way.  The whole way he had of looking at things is also what I need to consider when looking around the allotments again.  Either way, I wanted to share this intelligent man with you as I found his work here and in mosaics' truly inspiring.

Tord Boontje

This Dutch interior designer and architect of furniture, goes by the slogan "Use what you've got" and his work can clearly be seen to have a connection to the spirit of an allotment.  This slogan alone seems to sum up well the resourceful nature of allotment holders, who, like Tord can have the vision to create something beautiful and architecturally sound, out of scrap.  Tord's 1997 project sums this up well.  Tord used old, thrown away bottles and recycled them to create a stunning table wear collection.  From vases to cups, he used unwanted, discarded rubbish and found a new use or purpose for them, just like that of the creative people in allotments.

Tord dislikes new, glossy items but finds the more rustic, allotment-esque objects more able to "... tell a story".  His work is very honest and not pretentious.  He loves breaking the rules to make anything possible.  Similar to that of the allotment owner who is known to break the mold and put unrelated items together to create something revolutionary useful, functional and most of all, practical.

In the talk I attended, Tord stated that he doesn't like sterile objects but isn't much into nostalgia either.  When creating my images I will be wanting to create an illustration that is full of character and spirit, but not too 'tweed' or nostalgic either.

Tord's work has no boundaries, like that of allotments when crops of berries escape their confines and spill out onto railway lines or whatever area is near to the plots.  Tord is a lot like a creative allotment owner, in trying to find creative solutions for common outdoor problems.  His unique 'Shadow Chairs' is a wonderful practical design created to provide shade from the sun.  This was created in a well thought of design and stemmed from a common problem.  The allotment owner and Tord are both similar in the problem - solution department, using their imagination and knowledge to fix these issues.

Tord (like allotment owners) is a very practical thinker and all his work is considered in a usable standard.  He learns from the people and specialists who he works with, just as a allotment owner would learn from their community, always gaining knowledge and always learning from others.

This is Tord's most famous work he did for Habitat

Madeleine Floyd

Like the artwork "Doors of Dublin", the beautiful illustrations of Madeleine Floyd could be considered to be quite like a collection.  Both sets of artworks are recording a variety of images all connected under one subject matter.

As with these examples, I admire how, even though appearing randomly placed, these images capture the individual spirit of each topic and tie them together.

Madeleine is clearly also interested in the outdoors, as can be seen through her subjects.  However, all of Madeleine's illustrations are the images of an 'ideal', perfect gardening experience.  In my images I wish to capture more of the issues gardeners face and their creativity in finding solutions to these pesky problems.  Therefore, I shall focus more on my interests of allotment owners creative thinking and hand made solutions.  I will aim to communicate a light and possibly comical tone without undervaluing the genius of these items.