These images are a selection from the first ever collaborative Unit X Project I did. For this project we were asked by the Heritage Craft Association to work as groups to select crafts from their Radcliffe Red List of Endangered Crafts, and create work using these crafts to create new, imaginative and innovative work which shows how these crafts can be brought into the 21st century and be used in a modern context. After having then chosen our crafts from the list, we then we asked to create presentations which included some initial visual research into our chosen crafts and also include what skills we already had and what were were beginning to learn as part of our course. These were then used as part of a group session where we had to present ourselves to our fellow designers, in order to find who's crafts and skills would coincide well with our chosen crafts and our skills base. Once everyone was into groups, we then had to decide if we all wanted to work together to create one product that combined some of our crafts and our skills, or work around a chosen theme but individually create our own work that linked to this chosen theme. My group, which consisted (initially) of Taran Parkeh (a Product Design student who had moved to our course), Melissa Daniels (fellow Three Dimensional Design student), Rachel Penfold ( also a fellow Three Dimensional Design student) and Hannah Gell (me - a Three Dimesional Design Student). With this as our (initial) group, we were then asked as a group to create a group manifesto, which would include: which route we were taking, what our chosen crafts and skill bases were and what collaborative group activities we would do together (especially important if we weren't working together to create our finally piece - which we as a team decided to do). As part of our groups manifesto (as mentioned above) we decided we would have a chosen theme which we would all work with but would use to create our own individual work which would come together as a series of objects which represented our groups chosen theme - the theme we chose was: European Medieval Mythology and Legends. However, as we all couldn't decide on one group myth or legend that we all felt we wanted to work with, we decided to branch off into pairs and each take a different medieval era or type of myth or legend - Taran and Melissa choosing the Viking era to select myths/legends from and me and Rachel choosing myths/legends based around Arthurian Tales. However, as both me and Rachel wanted to work around the Arthurian Tale of the Lady of Shalott, both wanting to choose Alfred Lord Tennyson's interpretation of the tale in his poem also entitled The Lady of Shalott - we decided to do some further research into this tale that is based on the original Italian tale: Donna di Scalotta; from this we discovered a variation of the poem also written by Tennyson: Lancelot and Elaine from this group of poems:  Idylls of the King - as Rachel had been the one to first suggest the Lady of Shalott as the myth/legend she wanted work from, I decided that I would work off this other poem Tennyson poem (as the stories are very similar but told very differently - plus our chosen variations worked well for each of our crafts - LoS - she weaves as she sits in her cursed tower - Rachel's crafts included weaving - LaE - she gives a favour of a sleeve embroidered with pearls to Lancelot- my crafts included button making and passementerie). After having all now chosen our myths/legends, and our group had also gained a new member (Eliza Hunter - also a fellow Three Dimensional Designer - who luckily had an interest in our chosen theme and had chosen crafts which would work well with everyone else's - in the end she went with Melissa and Taran and chose a Viking myth to work from), we decided to initiate our first group activity from our list and visit the Manchester Art Gallery to gather our research. As part of this visit we all observed the work of Kate Haywood, works by South Asian Designers (who all created work with different medias - all of which worked well for our individual work) and finally the main collection that the gallery had on display at the time. From this trip we all then went our separate ways to start designing and testing, but would still come together for our weekly group meetings. For me after having visited these exhibitions, I began gathering my own research on artists, designers and makers that used my chosen crafts, either to create work inspired by these crafts or that used these crafts to either keep alive these traditions or to use them to make products from such as passementrie jewellery or passementerie covered clothing or uniforms. As I was wanting to create a piece of wearable jewellery/art inspired by both my poem and my crafts, I focused mainly on researching fashion and wearables/body adornment designers such as Issey Miyake, Daniel Lismore, Maryann Talia Pau and Sibling - as I initially wanted to create a piece of body adornment - a cape, dress, cover up etc. that would be inspired not only by my poem as a whole but the quote I had selected as my main inspiration: 'A red sleeve Broidered with pearls,'. With these initial designs, I created ideas which would be red, crimson, vermillion etc. fringed or tasselled and embroidered with pearlescent beads (that I had bought or hand-made) and or buttons (that I had hand-made or bought) or cover with tassels and or fringing. As well as creating these designs I also experimented with fabrics, buttons, beads and yarns to create passementerie samples, alongside these I also created both ceramic passementrie tests (inspired by my poem and also the work of Kate Haywood) and button making tests (inspired by my poem - the sleeve she gives Lancelot and also the shield he gives to her brother which she loving looks after despite at the time not knowing who he was and also influenced by the Asian Designed shields that were at the gallery). Whilst these tests were being developed and glazed with different white and pearlescent glazes to match my quote, I decided to change my design ideas in order for my final piece to be more befitting of my quote - specifically the section that mentions the favour she gives as being a sleeve. Moreover, I also decided to change my design ideas in order for my piece to fit in more with my poem overall and with the overall themes of the poem such as unrequited love, infatuation, deception, miscommunication, death, loss and grief. Baring these ideas in mind, I gathered research into depictions of different historical women's mourning garments, but also death related festivals, different types of funerals, burials and death ceremonies and as well as tombs, gravestones, epitaphs etc. - taking my designs from capes, dresses etc. to the idea of either a headdress or facial shroud which turns into a wearable sleeve/mourning band/bracelet or vice versa or possibly just a mourning sleeve/band/bracelet. Deciding to go for the latter, deciding to design mourning sleeves/hand shrouds and then choosing the final sleeve design as the design I wanted to create as my finished piece; the reason I stuck to the idea of it just being a sleeve is because I thought it showed a clearer link to my quote and my poem, as well as embodying my idea of this being sleeve which she would wear to mourn the unrequited love and feelings she had or still has for Lancelot - which I would envisage her having taken it from where she finds it when she goes to nurse Lancelot back to health (after being wounded at the tournament he goes to in disguise and wins but because of which is chased away from Arthur's castle and forced into hiding) and becomes more infatuated with him 'her scarlet sleeve, Though carved and cut, and half the pearls away, Streamed from it still; and in her heart she laughed, Because he had not loosed it from his helm, But meant once more perchance to tourney in it.' - her keeping it even after she finds out he never loved her but loves Queen Guinevere instead, and thus would still decide to keep it and wear it - that she would still have it on when she dies of a broken heart and is sailed down the river by her father in a funeral procession boat to the castle where Lancelot finds her - he would read her note but also find that she took her favour back and decided to keep it to remind her of him and of the things he has unwittingly done to her. Having these ideas and elaborate vision in my head, I began to bring my idea to life: combining together my ceramic buttons (once they were glazed and my favourite few had been selected) with my red tasselled sleeve design and then embroidering the tassels with pearlescent beads of varying sizes. Whilst creating this, and whilst everyone in our group was finishing off their work before we had to set up for our final exhibition, we decided to do one of our final group activities on our list (after the gallery visit and the book binding induction - we were planning on creating a book at the end which incorporated all of our tales, images of our final pieces and ultimately what our group was about - but alas it did not materialise). This last activity we decided to do was to visit a local wood, where we come together as group to talk, to make bonds and connect but ultimately to reenact the environment in which people would have told the stories/tales/myths/legends that we were working from - the environment and atmosphere of sitting round a camp fire with food and friends in nature discussing daily life and exchanging knowledge or stories - the idea of things being passed by word of mouth down generations and each time its told there might be a different interpretation or miscommunication but either way they still get passed around and remembered people - which is just how our chosen stories have worked their ways to us to inspire us and our works of design or art - which in turn help pass these stories on for the next generations. (Images of this trip and of our visit to the gallery are seen below). With this group visit being a chance to reconnect as a group and to fully immerse ourselves in and understand our groups context, we gave it one final push and set to work finishing our works for our first ever Unit X Festival exhibition at the Craft and Design Centre. Even though not everyone in our group's work could be chosen and displayed; only mine (see above), Melissa's and Rachel's pieces could be displayed due to the size of the exhibition space we were given, we all felt that this as our first ever collaborative group project at the School of Art that despite a few set backs and disagreements, that we all learnt something from this experience and overall felt that the majority of the time we collaborated well as a team. Personally, overall, I believe that from this project I was able to explore new processes, develop existing skills and also experience what it's like to work with people who you've never worked with before - to see how well you work together but also get to know people who you might not have thought you'd ever really speak to. Overall, it was an interesting and fun experience to be apart of.

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