11.10.20 - Completing the clay and fabric beetles

The clay had been drying for about 24 hours so I started glueing on the legs, however my plan to use a glue gun didn’t work probably due to the porous nature of the materials, so it wouldn’t stick. I used super glue instead which worked and I frayed the ends of the string to make it easier to stick down. I think they look very characterful as each one is slightly different and their legs are all pointing random directions like they're dancing. I like the way they look all together like a little colony and it makes me wonder if each one would have its it's own personality. However the fact that they are all roughly the same monotonous colour and shape makes them seem to be part of one larger collective rather than individuals. 





Louis Borgeouis’s giant spiders are an example of making something even more uncomfortable than it already is. Arachnophonia is extremely common and I imagine these huge metallic spiders would cause a sense of horror among those with this fear. The exaggerated spindly legs remind me of the aliens in ‘War of the Worlds’ which have needle-like legs for sucking the blood from their victims which is why I find this exhibition scary compared to actual spiders. Something that I’ve taken away from this is the importance of scale as well as media in creating certain effects that impact the viewer, so I’d like to experiment with making much larger bugs and also use harsher materials such as wire to contrast with the soft and friendly ones I’ve already made, then I can compare the way they make us feel. 






To embellish my fabric beetle, I stitched on lots of sequins using shades of pink and silver as my colour palette. I chose pink because it's my favourite colour and I associate it with childhood and comfort. It also has a stereotypical femininity which complements the softness of the fabric. 

I thought the sequins alone didn’t have enough impact so I sewed on lots of different beads following the same colour scheme. Although it took a long time, I'm happy with the results because it feels like the bug has my own personal touch - there’s also the fact that as humans we naturally feel drawn to shiny things, and beetles often have reflective iridescent shells.

I stuffed it very minimally so that you can really squash it in your hand which I find quite stress-relieving, and again referring to Beanie Babies animals which are famously under-stuffed.

I stitched across the body to represent the 3 sections of the beetle and make it more three-dimensional and dynamic. 

I think some people might find the final thing quite garish with the intense pink and hyper feminine sparkly appearance but I still think it is a success just to get that reaction and really captivate the viewer even if they don’t like what they see.




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