THE CACTI CHAIR

Things to consider:

Do I want people to be able to sit on it? - The samples so far are pointed, stuffed and beaded, not practical for someone to sit on but still interactive.

An initial idea was for someone to feel trapped in the forest, as if sitting in the chair was like sinking deep into the forest. The other outcomes are all interactive and therefore I think the chair needs to be.

- The seat and the back of the chair could be made from fluffy textured yarn or ruffles to create a prickly texture but can be sat on without being damaged or uncomfortable.

- Could I knit a sculptural pattern that can still be sat on? Something flatter but still raised creating surface texture. Lifting stitches to create a ribbed effect?

- Think about chunky yarn or consider hand knitting with roving?

- Loose knit to show the natural aesthetic of the chair?

Does it need to be glow in the dark? - In my samples so far I have used UV neon yarn which glows in the dark with uv lighting. I really liked this and wanted to continue to develop the idea. Creating a sensory experience has become the focus of my project, I want to use lighting as well as texture to achieve this. I have also wanted to make a stop motion film of my 4 outcomes so if in the exhibition I cant demonstrate the fact it glows in the dark, I could do that through the film. It is important to me but I am not solely designing it to glow in the dark as its main purpose.

What kind of chair do I want to use? - I want it to have quite a dramatic effect and as the final outcome is a soft chair I would like to create a contrast to that. The ideal would be a large thrown-like arm chair. Something made from dark wood, as having some of it show through would be something I would like to experiment with so it needs to be dark in colour to maintain the aesthetic of the story.