Artist Research - Freddie Robins

In my research I wanted to find some examples of works that use building shapes like I plan to do for my final piece, and 'Knitted Homes of Crime' by Freddie Robins is a really interesting one. Each knitted form is based on a house either owned by a female killer or the scene of their crimes, and this website gives more information about each one:

https://www.freddierobins.com/blog/knitted-homes-of-crime

I think the use of materials is really clever, because knitting is associated with women - the stay at home wife - and is a comforting image of domesticity that corresponds with the actual house form that we are looking at. If we didn't know it was the home of a murderer it would be a very different viewing experience, something apparently friendly becomes sinister and disturbing once we learn the truth. It makes me feel like I should take a lot of consideration into how materials affect the message of a piece and how context is also a huge factor in changing the way we perceive it. I have been making my buildings with ceramics and I think it is a much colder medium to behold both physically and visually, the sides are smooth, solid and flat, unlike the softness of the plush houses by Robins that could be easily squashed and deformed in the hands. So I think the message that my buildings will convey is of harshness and permanence, reflecting the industrious nature of the Lace Market's history that my work is based on. My next challenge is to think about more ways to incorporate nature into the piece as my initial idea of making plant forms growing out of the buildings has been dismissed as they might become too much like unspectacular plant pots from a garden centre, so I think looking at artists who deal with the natural world might help.



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