Pin point typography

Debbie Smyth

Context

The inspiration for my pin point typography came from Debbie Smyth. She creates installations using thread and pins and makes pictures out these materials. This piece is from the collection Pins & Thread and was made in 2008. This piece was shown at various museums and showcases like New Designers and The Hub and Cardiff design Festival. Smyth challenges the boundaries between fine art drawings and textiles.

Meaning

To help me with the understanding of her work I have used her own website by reading through her quotes and information and looking at other pieces of her work.

Smyth said that “On first glance, it can look like a mass of threads but as you get closer sharp lines come into focus, creating a spectacular image.” This may be to do with the thread being left to dangle instead of being cut off. The sharp lines of thread held together by the pins are a contrast to the thread that is left to dangle; it is as if the artist is showing its natural state before the thread was used to how it is shown when it is placed on the pins.

I think that she captures a sense of energy using this way because of how difficult it must be to get this piece right and accurate, it must take a lot of time and the fact its complete shows her full potential of energy and creativity.  

Aesthetic

The pins have been carefully located and images have been plotted before any thread is added, the thread is then wrapped around the pins so it is able to sit there and drape down when the artist has finished with the piece of thread. I think that she has created the picture of pylons because they have the perfect straight lines and can easily be recreated with thread and pins, it technically has a pattern. Only black thread has been used, I think that colours have not been used because it is hard to sometimes understand where the thread ends and begins and using colour would probably make the piece confusing. I also think that colour has not been used because it would take away the idea of the complexity and beauty of the piece. As the piece has been created on six panels, 9 metres wide by 2.5 metres tall, this is a very large piece. The style of her installations lends itself to her work being placed in all different types of environments because of the use mainly of the black thread. It is a simple yet effective way of making an office or home to look more interesting as the colours are not there to distract the person from the rest of the environment.        

Personal Response

I chose to look at her piece because it didn't show typography but a way a using her technique to create my own typography. I thought her piece looked very interesting and delicate; I really liked it when I first saw it. As an A2 textile student myself I can really relate to this piece of work, especially as it is a hands-on approach. It really remind me of the shibori project that I done in my AS year as we were using thread and pins to give the piece an effect after the dye had been added. It inspired me to experiment with the use of thread and to see how complex it is to create. 

This is my own version of Smyth’s pin point typography. Just like her I first plotted out the pins and then wrapped the wool around the pins. I have used just the letter A because I just wanted a simple letter that I could easily create and make bold. On the edges I wrapped the wool around it twice and in the centre of the shape I used diagonal lines but only wrapped this pattern around the pins once. I think I created a very fun looking font as it doesn't have serifs and the edges of the font have been rounded off.

If I compare Smyth’s with my version of pin point typography the first thing to mention would be the materials I used. I used a foam board to put the pins in but instead of using thread I used wool, with wool I am able to create a thicker outline and don’t have to continuously wrap the wool around the pins however with using wool I am not able to create the bits which dangle down like smyth’s and so do not have the same effect. I used the piece by smyth to inspire me on the inside of the letter, the pylons in the picture had a pattern of zigzag lines and so used this in my piece. I was hard to keep the wool in place so tightly and in most places created curvy lines. Just like smyth I used black coloured wool and on the edges of the shape wrapped it around more than once.