Project Ego: Final

Here are the final outcomes of all 12 panels for the final 2d project!

Overall, I am not too pleased with the outcome. As the class is more focused to further eleaborate the visual language of an image, I was caught stranded between the notions of abstraction and clear, visual imagery.

Still, I felt that the class had taught me a lot about visual communcication techniques and especially how color can be used to provoke meaning.

Project Ego: Ideation & Research

For the final project, I had decided to use a few artists favorites of mine as an aesthetic reference.

Namely the works of Peter De Potter, Isa Genzken and John Baldessari were my focal points to build my work around.

Here are a few images that I found inspiring and became the focal point of the overall aesthetic in my final project.

I wanted to use abstract shapes, colors, and free form design to create elements of fun, excitement. Furthermore, I was interested at how we could create various layers of meanings through recontextualizing appropriated images. Hence, a collage became a very useful technique.

Forrest Gump – Tote Bag

I had chosen this particular quote and the final outcome as the design I would choose to print on the tote bag.

Process

For the makeup class during recess week, I had printed out my transparencies and made test prints.

The outcome can be seen below,


I was quite pleased with the test outcome. Although it was only later did I realise there empty rectangular patches on the top corners.

To solve this, I taped the outer silkscreen layer with tape. This would prevent the ink from being printed out onto the final tote bag.

Final totebag outcome

Overall, I am quite pleased with the outcome. After seeing many of my classmatees failing to silkscreen properly, I am pleased that the test print provided me good platform for me to practice.

 

 

My Girl’s Got Mad Flava

With reference to the title above, it is the quote I had picked from the movie Kids by Larry Clark (1995)

My girl’s got mad flava, heavy flow

To contextualize the quote – Casper, one of the main characters in the film mentioned this after dipping a tampon into his cup of red juice, before proceeding to suck it out.

For reference, here is a link to the quote

It is quite apparent that this act and quote refers to his sexual desires and his views towards women. As a young, sexually active male he desires the female vagina and merely sees it as an outlet for his desires and lust.

On a more disgusting note, I realised that ‘heavy flow’ refers to the painful and ‘heavy’ feelings a woman feels during menstruation/period. Casper’s act of dipping a tampon into a cup of juice alludes towards a more disgusting angle of his sexual acts. Nonetheless, I believe he did not imply this directly and instead it is only acted upon the viewer to form this connection.

I wanted to use the image of a woman to elucidate the concept of ‘girl’s’ but also denote a more sexual idea. I had used a vintage illustration of a sexy woman back in the 50’s – curvy, slim and with a sizeful bosoms.

To further illustrate the notions of desire, alluded from the quote, I wanted to simmer it down towards the concept of eating and how we find a variety of flavours in food. We find food to be a source of pleasure so I used it as a replacement for the sexual ‘desire’.

I juxtaposed and created a silhouette of the sexy woman as a simulacrum of various food imagery.

However, I am not happy with the final results. After a brief consultation, I realised that there was a lack of blatant historical imagery. Furthermore, I had used images of modern food which in turn watered down the historical element of the illustration.

Nonetheless, I think the underlying concept has greater potential and I feel that I will be using this for the printed component of the project.

 

My Line Is Emo – Final

My final 6 pieces are the emotions of Affection, Ecstasy, Surprise, Irritation, Anxiety and Terror.

Affection

Materials used: dried rose and paintbrush

I wanted to dedicate this piece for a lover of mine who is no longer here with us. It is frightening to realise that memories are the only things left by someone.

Ecstasy

Materials: Scrunched paper and ink.

Growing up in a very rough school and surrounded with delinquents, I too once tried to dabble with hard drugs. This strip reminded me of what you would obtain once you’ve purchased heroin from a dealer. It comes in an aluminium foil and is later heated up, Usually the heroin dust is never fully liquidized so I wanted to convey this imperfection as a form of ecstasy; an illegal one.

I also wanted to have this piece serve as a reminder of a dark past that still remains haunts me.

Surprise

Materials: Left over found paper, cut and pasted.

I wanted to convey a sense of emotional truth. The feeling of surprise was the most difficult to convey. I found it extremely difficutlt to deduce this sense of surprise. Hence, I randomly picked up a few scraps of paper and proceeded to arrnage them.

I later found that there was a kind of element of surprise through this act of random motions – to randomly select these scraps of inked paper with no further thought given. As such, surprise became as it is.

Irritation

Materials: container cover and ink.

I wanted to convey the idea of irritation as how skaters would. More often than not I would realise that they grind the tarmac/concrete harder when they are angry or in a negative state of mind. Even though they do not vocalise their angst, skateboarding is their language.

I was inspired by my friends and as a result I wanted to portray their emotions of irritation (I am never angry, rather merely irritated 99% of the time).

The result: a series of sequential movements, a kind of grinding action of the container lid against the paper; the result of friction on paper.

Anxiety

 

 

Material: Block paint, chinese ink on paper.

Out of the 6 strips required to be submitted, I wanted anxiety to be the most experimental piece. I was interested at how we use language, words and alphabets. In short, a non-english speaker would notice our words as merely a set of symbols.

I wanted to juxtapose this feeling of anxiety – to be unable to understand the concept itself, a sense of disorientation but convey relief, unconventionally. The words are layered upon each other, to disorientate the reader – akin to how we experience anxiety and yet there is an element of truth. That is, the anxiety itself is only how we understand it. I wanted to portray this ability to convey a message, as a form of expression on how we can play around with the word ‘anxiety’.

Terror

Material: Lino cut, block paint and motions of scrubbng.

The first thing that came through my mind when the word terror appeared was a Man, who’s imposing presence is one that still haunts me till this day.

I wanted to convey his imposing presence as a form of visual terror, how it blackens out your vision – almost creating a tunnel-like view.

The lino cut is deliberately placed in the middle to create a semblance to terror, but the adjacent images are one that acts as mere filler. I wanted to create a strong sense of focus.

250717 – Mark Making

These are a few of my favourite outcomes during the first session. I flirted with the various possible tools that goes beyond the simple idea of being in control.

Being interested with the various facets of each possible tool, I was thus intrigued by the  ability of implanting a certain surface onto a piece of paper. Using ink as a form of medium to move the surface onto another plane, the mark making form is therefore, not created onto the paper itself.

To truly conceptualize the idea of mere chance, each tool chosen was with no sense of clear thought but rather through feelings or emotions.

I was intrigued by the rough texture of the abrasion side on a sponge. Upon closer detail, the abrasion side had a very unique surface. Almost 3-dimensional, I wanted to translate this sense of depth and perception onto a two-dimensional plane.

To draw inspiration from everyday life, I stumbled upon a pack of heavy, bathroom napkins. As mark making itself is seemingly apparent throughout every facet of our lives, I wanted to quite literally, place the sense of mundanity onto a piece of paper.

The surface of the napkin, bearing imperfections and creases intrigued me. These imperfection and creases were not of my creation. It is in fact, almost a character of a piece of napkin.

I am quite pleased with the outcome. Instead of using a carved piece of lino, I replaced it with a rectangular piece of napkin. Again, referencing to my interest in surfaces, I wanted to push the flatness of the napkin into a ‘mark’ with a perceived depth.

This piece of inspired non-deliberateness of the deliberate in creating a skid mark. As an avid fan of the skating culture, each tyre would etch an imprint if driven hard enough onto a surface via friction.

I wanted to emulate the idea of ‘friction’ through the use of ink on paper. Despite looking rather mundane, each skid itself has its own unique quality. A sense of perceived depth exists in this surface. How dark the skid is, is dependent on how hard you press the tire onto the surface.

Again, to emualate depth on a two dimensional surface, I had used a container cover with groves to mimic a piece of tyre. Drenched in block paint, I rubbed it onto the paper, with varying degrees of friction. Here, the process is not entirely automatic. Nonetheless, I wanted to give the sense of casualness that a particular skid mark possess.

I am not entirely convinced but I believe this segment has greater room for improvement.

 

Lastly, I was intrigued in the creases on a piece of a plastic bag. This apparent marks that existed on a two dimensional was rather unique. These tiny creases are not three-dimensional per se but rather, almost two-dimensional. They are either flat or ‘bumpy’ depending on the circumstance.

I wanted to place this sense of questioning, of uncertainty onto a paper. Here, I was not particularly intrigued by how it created a perceived sense of depth, instead, I wanted to place the notions of questioning directly onto a two-dimensional object.

Am I happy with the regards to the outcome? I am not too certain, maybe it is left for further questioning. Whether or not I should be happy or disappointed regarding the outcome does not seem to matter anymore. Instead, I believe the act of questioning itself should be of greater priority.

Visual Markings

Mark making through the eyes of Agnes Martin follows through and insistence on the representation of lines and shapes as a visual communictor of emotions.

To shed every possible pre-conceived notion of the final idea and simmer into the sheer essence of the idea and what makes of it stems through an almost abstract manner; of carefully curated shapes, lines, forms and color.

 

Agnes Martin, tumblr