42 Days

’42 Days’ consists of two related pieces of work, a matrix of 42 A4 leather tablets inscribed using various techniques, and a single leather bowl maximising the most innovative technique across the 1m diameter surface.

The work was conceived in response to a commission by the Crafts Council to produce an artefact that expresses contemporary craftsmanship in twenty-first century society. The agenda was to explore my growing awareness of the political imperative for craftsmanship during periods of global unrest.

Across 42 days prior to the opening of the exhibition, 42 tablets cut from A4-sized leather hide were individually dyed, painted, inscribed, inlayed and embellished to record the news of the Iraq War, transcribing Orange World News ‘Txt Mssgs’ and images inspired by visual news broadcast on BBC News 24. Techniques developed across the period appear, are explored, refined and substituted in a journal of processes that mirror the evolution of the news and that ultimately reinforce the identification of a personal manifesto that the collective piece demonstrates.

A leather bowl created by stretching damp hide across a hemispherical wooden block as a seamless, smooth concave surface contrasts with the flat tablets. Drawing from the vocabulary of registrations and impressions on the tablets, the bowl employs a series of burns as a motif registering the natural origin and vulnerable nature of the material, likening the fragility of leather to that of skin/life in times of war.

Dai Rees

Research Interests

Craftsmanship, Fashion, Fine Art, Media

Current Research

The research project 'Patronage, Artisan, Media and Audience, A Model for Twenty First Century Craftsmanship', is focussed around an installation of abstract, figurative, structural casings created from inlayed leather-hide.
Conceived to expose the level and range of skills, techniques and time required to design, assemble and decorate objects that exhibit crafts excellence, the central installation is a collection of suspended sculptural skins that extends our awareness of garment construction and embellishment, and heightens our sensitivity to the significance of craftsmanship.

Researching marquetry, illumination and the Intaglio process of acid etching from the sixteenth century, the work identifies links between historical and contemporary techniques. Inlayed materials transform the surface of the leather hide, complementing the developed techniques for the moulding, manipulation and construction of the pieces which combine the technical skills from different craft and manufacturing fields to create new aesthetic qualities.

The work produced during the AHRC Fellowship will form part of a national and international touring exhibition from October 2005 supported with a lecture, seminar and discussions.

• http://www.fashion-body-materialcultures...