What exactly is Deconstruction - Reconstruction?

Welcome to Deconstruction-Reconstruction! We are a group of art students hailing from various areas of study including fashion, fibers, and metals at Virginia Commonwealth University. We are researching recycling fibers as a response to the large amount of muslin scraps wasted each day in the fashion design department. Throughout our project, we will be collecting muslin scraps from the design studios in recycling bins, keeping track of how much is wasted, in hopes of creating a continuing fabric recycling program. During our research, we will be meeting with designers working with eco-friendly or recycled materials. We will also use the scraps in combination with found and recycled metals to create one of a kind garments and accessories in order to reuse the wasted scraps. These pieces will be featured in a final show in May 2008.

Friday, June 6, 2008

Show Extension!


If you haven't had a chance to check out the Deconstruction-Reconstruction show at the VCU Student Commons Gallery, you still have a chance! We have extended the show until June 24th, so you still have 2 weeks to view it.

Thursday, May 29, 2008

The Show is Up!


Here is the awesome vinyl lettering on the wall of the gallery for the show! We installed yesterday, and it looks great. Come check it out!!!

Monday, May 26, 2008

Decon Recon Show Delay

If anyone has checked our blog or seen our signs and postcards for the show, they will know our gallery show was supposed to be up today; this is not the case. We did not realize until yesterday morning that the VCU Student Commons is closed for Memorial Day Weekend!! Therefore, we would not have even been able to get in to install yesterday. We will now be installing Wednesday morning, so if you would like to see the show this week, it should be up Thursday, and you should totally check out the Opening Reception on Friday, May 30th from 5-7pm. There will be food and live music!! Bring your friends and come see what we have been working on this semester. In case you didn't realize - it is totally free!!

Friday, May 16, 2008

Photoshoot!


Here is a taste of the photos that will be on display at the show. We had a photoshoot with photographer Audra Wrisley last weekend, May 10th, and it was awesome! There were so many great shots to choose from. You can check out Audra's stuff at http://www.audrawrisley.com (it's on our links as well)

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Finito!



I finished binding the Deconstruction-Reconstruction Guest Book! It really was pretty simple to do. I followed the directions from the BUST article I posted, but then I pasted the "cover" into a hard cover I made and covered with guess what?! MUSLIN!! I embroidered Deconstruction-Reconstruction on the cover and added some decorative stitching where I pieced the muslin together.
This would be a great sketch book or gift for someone. Utilizing the grocery bags, muslin, and matt board (scraps I had laying around for the hard cover - you could use any cardboard - recycle) this book cost me nothing to make. Oh, and I did use dental floss to bind it (the BUST article suggests that)

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Book Binding!




I am currently working on making a guest book for our upcoming show. I am using deconstructed paper grocery bags torn to make the pages. The finished dimensions should be 7"x8". I am going to make a hard cover that will be covered with muslin embroidered with "Deconstruction-Reconstruction" on the front.
Click the bottom pic to check out the article from BUST magazine from the Winter 2003 issue that makes binding a book pretty easy to understand (I made a book this way after getting the issue in 2003 when I was a senior in high school - so it's not that hard! I used it to record my "rhymes" and made one for my best friend as well)
The other images are of my materials (grocery bags) and the signatures I will use to make the pages. Each of my signatures is made of 3 sheets "cradled one inside the other."
I will post the finished product as soon as I finish stitching!!

Happy Book Binding!

Thursday, May 1, 2008

Masses of Muslin


As we are nearing the end of the bulk of our research project, and as the semester comes to a close, I have been trying to get an accurate estimate of how much muslin we have collected. It got a little crazy during the semester, and we started collecting the muslin every two weeks as opposed to every week. I have just now gotten to actually weighing the scraps, and I am trying to put two and two together as far as when the scraps are from and all that. Anyway, from what I have calculated thus far, I think we should have around 100 POUNDS OF MUSLIN. I am also working on calculating an estimate for yardage for comparison. 1 yard of fabric is not that heavy though, so I am a little scared to see how many yards this works out to be.