Ego- searching for my identity in a postmodern world.

So my concept for this project is to implement rules onto postmodern graphic designs, namely those of April Greiman who I believe truly embodies the postmodern view of relativity and rejection of a single design style in her work. In our current postmodern society, people are starting to lose a sense of their identity due to many factors which I have elaborated on in my previous post, and I especially relate to that. Metamodernism is a reaction to the ambiguity of postmodernism, and seeks to bring back modern rules/positions in search of an ideal which may or may not exist. Thus I will begin the 12 squares with postmodern designs influenced by April Greiman, and after gradually applying rules/guidelines to these designs an image of my self/identity will emerge. The squares will also be arranged in a linear fashion instead of the recommended 3×4 as it better conveys the flow/change in designs.

extro

EXTROVERT:

This square conveys my extrovert/noisy side, as seen from the messy composition consisting of numerous colours with random textures. The colour gradient in the background is also altered to increase the contrast (such as having purple next to yellow etc). Random images are scattered throughout the square and the text symbolises my ‘noisier’ thoughts, which race around in my head. Other examples of colour contrast used here include green text with red pixelation around on the left and the pink rectangle with green surroundings, and the general haphazard colour scheme is an insight to my extrovert side.

intro

INTROVERT:

This shows my introvert side, conveyed through simple compositions and a basic colour scheme of blue/yellow and pink which not only are April Greiman’s most commonly used colours but also are highly complimentary. The use of this basic triad colour scheme also evokes a peaceful feeling as they seem to go so well together. The text is also smaller and communicates how I feel when wanting to be alone. Blue is the main colour here to represent the peacefulness I feel when alone.

extrointro

Extrovert + Introvert = ME

The main emotion conveyed here is chaos, which results when the opposite sides mentioned above come together. Many random colours/textures collide here to show the incompatilibity of my quiet and noisy side, which is further enhanced through the use of an orange background to convey a wild chaos/confusion. The many elements are also carefully layered on top of my face, revealing only the forehead, which symbolises the lack of identity I feel due to my incompatible personalities. This square also highlights the postmodern denial of a single truth and rules (such as that opposite traits shouldn’t exist together) and begins the search for an identity.

thinkmuch

THINKS TOO MUCH:

To represent the wide variety of things that I think about on a daily basis I have placed many different coloured graphics in a messy way around the centre, similar to that of a colour wheel. Here I have also begun to implement rules in the design, namely making the typography neater and sticking to one font. The colours light blue and purple are chosen for the text as that range expresses thinking, and has sufficient contrast to allow the text to stand out amidst the confusing background. If you look closely you can see a small image of my face hidden beneath the text box, thus showing that as I implement rules/defining myself a ‘picture’ of me begins to emerge.

negative

NEGATIVE THINKING:

From my research on colour I learnt that dark colours recede and warm ones seem to advance, hence my choice of dark purple for the background and bright yellow for the text for increased contrast. This contrast immediately draws attention to the main text, which spells out my main negative qualities, and it reflects my extreme pessimism at times where I only focus on the ugly/bad aspects. The graphics in the background also seem to be drowned out, along with the grey text at the top which lists some of my positive traits. The grey text is in stark contrast both in size and colour to the main ‘negative’ text to enhance the pessimist narrative, and at the top right hand corner a bigger picture of my face emerges, where flaws such as acne are highlighted.

peace2

Thinking too much – Negative thinking = A BETTER ME (PEACE OF MIND)

Light blue is the dominant colour here to express the resultant peacefulness I would feel if I were to weed out negative thinking from my inquisitive mind, and the middle trapezium also seems to ‘block out’ the noisy background. The background borrows not only the same colour (orange) but also elements from the first ‘ME’ composition to highlight the progression/growth of my character. The colour contrast in the main text is a little different here than in print as I designed it using the CMYK scheme, but nevertheless the use of light blue and slightly dull yellow is used to convey peace/contentment.

time2

TIME MANAGEMENT:

A split complementary colour scheme of red/orange/blue-green is used here to convey how urgent this particular skill is needed (thus the dominant use of orange in a similar fashion to that of warning signs etc) and also the delicate act of managing a busy schedule well (matching red/orange with a contrasting blue-green without being garish). The circle in the middle and the graphics around it is inspired by a poster from Josef Muller-Brockmann, and it is used here represent the act of ‘chasing time’ as it resembles the many lanes in a running track. The compositions also begin getting neater from here onwards, which is the second rule I implement on the designs, thus my reference to modernist/swiss style graphic designers.

knowledge

KNOWLEDGE:

One of my goals in life is to be extremely well-read and knowledgeable in a wide variety of fields other than design/art, and I believe my time here in ADM will allow me to accomplish that from the large amount of time spent researching. Thus here the colourful circle represents knowledge from different areas around the world, and is positioned right at my head to further emphasise a constantly stimulated mind. The dull grey background is used to allow the colourful circle to stand out.

mark

Time Management + Knowledge = ME IN 5 YEARS (READY TO MAKE MY MARK ON SOCIETY)

In 5 years I will begin my career in the creative field, and complete with the various skills picked up from university I hope to make my mark not only in that field but also in society with my designs/ideas. The background image of a vast blue sky represents the scale of my ambition, and the scatters of purple around highlights the boldness of such a grand idea.

different

BEING UNIQUE:

I’ve always valued being unique and standing out from the rest, and is something I constantly strive for. Thus I chose a minimalist vector style using an analogous colour scheme to stand out from the previous designs which were characterised by multiple layers of graphics and colours. The colour yellow also perfectly represents being exciting and fresh, and the use of the letter ‘i’ in the design is also a raw expression of individuality/standing alone.

accepted

FITTING IN:

Even though I strive to constantly push boundaries and be different from everyone else, life would be miserable without certain universal norms such as friends or a warm meal with family. Being different can be exciting at times but as social creatures humans naturally require some form of acceptance from others, and it is this juxtaposition of incompatible desires that I attempt to show here. The use of dark purple is in stark contrast to the bright yellow used previously, and the analogous dark blue also ensures that nothing in the composition really stands out. Dark purple is a colour that seems to recede, and the image of myself slowly losing saturation and fading into the background highlights the desire to ‘blend in’.

impossible

Being Unique + Fitting In = AN IDEAL ME (IMPOSSIBLE)

What I want to show with this square is the impossibility of not only an ‘ideal’ person (which I have elaborated on in the previous post) but also in my 2 previous desires coexisting. This is not only highlighted by the impossible square here, but also in the use of primary triadic colour scheme red/blue/yellow. Yellow (unique) mixed with purple (fitting in) results in an ugly brown colour, and the use of complimentary red/blue/yellow here conveys the impossibility of such desires going well together. The simple vector graphics also expresses my view of an ‘ideal me’ as an overly-simplistic conception. Being the final square and the end of my search for identity, I not only have a clearer picture of myself but I also realise that my strength lies in breaking rules. Thus the use of pixellation/warped text highlights that and also a sort of return to Greiman’s disdain of rules. This is also characteristic of graphic design/societal trends in general where people continuously seek progress through a renaissance of past styles.

I love you G1. Joy you are awesome.

Traaaaannnnnn……..

…….

……

……

SITION!

 

Ego research/journal 4

Oops sorry Joy I didn’t know if my last update on Friday counted as the update due today but anyway here are some pictures.

My concept: to gradually apply a meta-modern approach to April Greiman’s designs. April Greiman truly embodies postmodernism’s disdain for rules in her works, which I feel results in a loss of identity, thus I will gradually be ‘applying ‘ modernist design rules to Greiman’s design. So as the pictures progress the compositions will be neater but still retain certain key features of Greiman’s style. The last 3 squares will also incorporate some contemporary photoshop features that weren’t present back in the 60’s such as vectors to pay homage to Greiman’s embrace of new technology for designing.

Here are some pictures of my progress

Screen Shot 2015-11-15 at 7.01.39 pm Screen Shot 2015-11-15 at 8.05.15 pm Screen Shot 2015-11-15 at 10.01.49 pm Screen Shot 2015-11-15 at 10.11.24 pm Screen Shot 2015-11-15 at 10.50.00 pm Screen Shot 2015-11-16 at 12.00.09 am Screen Shot 2015-11-16 at 12.53.33 amScreen Shot 2015-11-15 at 12.16.14 amScreen Shot 2015-11-16 at 3.26.17 pmScreen Shot 2015-11-16 at 6.51.53 pmScreen Shot 2015-11-16 at 7.20.40 pmScreen Shot 2015-11-16 at 8.07.02 pm

Screen Shot 2015-11-17 at 6.49.17 pm Screen Shot 2015-11-18 at 3.11.37 am Screen Shot 2015-11-18 at 4.03.30 am

I hope

April Greiman sees my final work somewhere online and isn’t disgusted

Ego research/journal 3

Where do I begin.

So my initial idea/theme for this project was to show a postmodern loss of identity/sense of self, which was how I felt while looking at my classmate’s research and ‘personality drawings’ a few weeks back. I’ve always felt that I had certain defining features which were uniquely mine, but I soon realised that traits such as philosophical/emotional/contradictory could also be applied to many of my friends. Research on reference artists also revealed that a lot of ideas I had which I felt were ‘groundbreaking’/new had in fact already been executed. Individuality/being unique has always been an important aspect of my life and was now left a little sad that I wasn’t as different as I thought.

Fast forward to buying books at basheer (previous post) and I now have an actual phenomenon to base my concept on. Here are some reasons why postmodernists are arguing that people do not have a ‘self’ anymore:

  1. there is no single defining source of truth anymore (like religion for example) and thus the narrative of multiple ‘truths’ and individual preference became popular
  2. globalisation exposes us to all sorts of people and hence a multitude of expectations/values/ways of living
  3. technology essentially gives anyone a platform to express their thoughts and to preach whatever they want (such as their interpretation on living a fulfilling life)
  4. loss of global norms based on gender/race/class etc
  5. thus people are not limited anymore to traditional stereotypes and can play a wide variety of roles
  6. ever-changing world of continuous progress, everything is constantly in flux
  7. increased mobility results in loss of identity formed from birthplace/community
  8. consumerism provides an avenue for people to create an identity

So now that I had a concept, all I needed was a style, hence my reference to Wolfgang Weingart and April Greiman in my previous post. Both Weingart and Greiman truly embodied the notion of breaking rules such as the grid and enthusiastically explored different ways of designing, which cemented their positions as pioneers of postmodern design.

images-3 70603-004-EEA8C4E6 Wolfgang Weingart3[1] Weingart_03_640 40923_415 tumblr_m8ay794mnN1rd7x8to1_1280 01

So for the visuals I wanted to show a progression of designs with simple elements but with saturated colours a.k.a modern style

Screen Shot 2015-11-13 at 10.18.12 pm Screen Shot 2015-11-13 at 10.18.14 pm

to ultimately more complex compositions (Weingart/Greiman style) with unsaturated colours. This is to show that the more I explore/find out more about myself the less unique I feel.

I also had the idea to use really simple compositions for ‘the ideal me’ square as I felt the notion of an ideal person is an uncomfortably idealistic/simple approach to life. From my research I came up with more specific reasons to elaborate on this:

  1. ideal=perfection, but it is impossible to say a person is perfect due to the many complicated facets of life
  2. perfect means excelling at everything (material success and happy relationships etc) and there are an infinite amount of areas to excel in as a person but our lives are constrained by limited amounts of time and energy
  3. life is too complex to be summed up in a single construction
  4. people and their ideas are in a continual state of flux and thus your conception of ideal now may be different from that in a few years time
  5. it is impossible to proclaim a certain characteristic/trait is wholly positive/good in every possible situation (trolley problem)
  6. there is no limit to ‘goodness’ or a physical endpoint/constraint to positive traits/aspects thus the goal of ‘ideal me’ is akin to a continuously moving and unreachable target

Okay that was largely me philosophising but it still counts as research right???

Some reference pictures to convey the simplistic notion of ‘an ideal me’

day-dream-by-oliveloaf-design tumblr_lpzyjmI7sD1qeuyelo1_500 tumblr_moc18yfItp1steeufo1_500 tumblr_mvs201ekjt1r46py4o1_1280 tumblr_n37ntfY25j1ryp0t6o1_500 tumblr_nit9kte9Hd1u986ieo1_1280

Some sample graphics I created for ‘an ideal me’

Screen Shot 2015-11-18 at 4.40.20 pm

As you can see the colours used are not only basic but also complimentary, and along with the simple vectors I aim to show the points mentioned above.

So fast forward to current day where after consultations and way too much time spent researching on topics that academics can only slightly agree on, I have decided to chose April Greiman as my main reference artist. The 12 squares will take Greiman’s signature postmodern style, and apply a metamodern twist to it.

Some drafts.

Screen Shot 2015-11-12 at 7.45.30 pm Screen Shot 2015-11-12 at 9.05.18 pm Screen Shot 2015-11-12 at 9.24.53 pm Screen Shot 2015-11-13 at 12.18.49 am

I hope you dance

Ego research/journal 2

1307074013989

lol

#2dInspiration #ComplementaryColours #WhatFontIsThat #MyFloorProbablyHasMoreVitaminCThanThis

So yeah this has been the hardest project thus far as there wasn’t a basic unit/point to start with like in the first 2 projects. But I also believe that this will be the project that I learn the most from as I’ve been sketching/researching/conceptualising way more.

IMAG1031 IMAG1032 IMAG1033 IMAG1034 IMAG1035 IMAG1036 IMAG1037 IMAG1038

IMAG1039
As you can see I took this piece of advice really seriously

Now I will proceed on to elaborate on some of my ideas in my visual journal. Early on I was interested in designing various effects on pictures of my face to represent the various sides to myself, and is heavily inspired by some of the following album covers. The heavy use of blue in the first 3 albums are also a little weird to me as those albums are anything but calm.

1_twigs 021544fb best-hip-hop-album-covers-4-1386002950-view-0 images-3

Royal-Blood-1500 sbtrkt---wonder-where-we-land

I am also heavily inspired by these 2 collage artists Bene Rohlmann and CUR3ES and how they are able to create such magical landscapes._Bene_Rohlmann_Sightseers_Landscapes_002 01b8d65713f8c369ce66ea40f5351a28 3a403c00af52345d319eef11d8a36d50_i

6518580503_6bd1064997_b 7194773384_c1d89e0e77_b 7199523404_79d3984013_b

 

Now on to my concept. Long story short last Saturday I went to bras basah to buy some styrofoam balls for Jason, went to browse Basheer’s bookstore and left with the 2 books below.

IMAG1040

On the train ride home I realised that I probably won’t have time to read them in the following weeks and will probably end up contributing to my pile of unread books back at home. Puzzled, I went to google ‘why do people buy books they don’t read’. And that was when I came across the concept of postmodernism. It basically said that in a consumerist society, people purchase items to communicate certain messages to others and to build/strengthen and identity. This is because in current postmodern times the ‘self’ is eroded due to many factors (which I will elaborate during my presentation), and thus the increased urge to ‘build’ an identity through various means like buying books full of Kim Kardashian’s selfies for example.

kim-k-barnes-nobles
you thought I was kidding huh

Not going to reveal too much but basically I’ll be using the 12 squares to show the loss of self/individuality. If all turns out well you’ll leave ADM a little depressed after realising that you’re not that special anymore ;(

Reference artists:

Wolfgang Weingart

01 40923_415  Wolfgang Weingart3[1]

April Greiman

70603-004-EEA8C4E6 images-3 tumblr_m8ay794mnN1rd7x8to1_1280

Fons Hickmann

436 996 2987

Will be doing lots of research on graphic designers from previous periods.

IMAG1041
ZT was judging me in the library but I don’t blame him cos even I can’t believe I borrowed a heavier amount of books for 2d than for my art history essay.
Screen Shot 2015-11-08 at 11.14.23 pm
experimenting with colour and composition
Screen Shot 2015-11-08 at 11.14.41 pm
some possible final squares, but highly unlikely as more research into reference artists needs to be done

Hope you look forward to my presentation.

Or not.

 

 

 

Ego research/journal 1

People of colour have rights too!! #BlackLivesMatter

Oh wait. Not that type of colour?

So for this week’s lesson we were told to write down some of our positive attributes and hopes in 5 years time, and have our classmates contribute.

IMAG1004 IMAG1005

I thought the activity was a good opportunity to see yourself from the class’s perspective but I probably won’t be relying too much on it for project 3. Activities like this depend a lot on a person’s current mood and recent interactions with classmates, and I’ve always found it hard to do a quick yet accurate summary of my life.

To be honest I suck at colour theory/matching and it is one of the more urgent issues I want to address in ADM so I’ll have to watch a lot more tutorials. In the meanwhile here’s a cool online game you can play to help your colour matching http://color.method.ac

2 posters I find very useful for colour idiots like me (links only as the images are way too big for OSS)

http://www.google.com.sg/imgres?imgurl=http://www.designmantic.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Color-Theory-Infographic.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.creativebloq.com/infographic/10-commandments-colour-theory-61515083&h=1800&w=2992&tbnid=kFw38t5nh1j_kM:&docid=m97LSxfDjYLL1M&ei=Q2csVrb-F8vHuASU662gCg&tbm=isch&client=safari&ved=0CDYQMygHMAdqFQoTCParsNXw3MgCFcsjjgodlHULpA

http://www.google.com.sg/imgres?imgurl=http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6J5AUVpSwTE/TMTkGC4oVpI/AAAAAAAAAKE/jbzUplqctHQ/s1600/COLORTHEORYPOSTER.gif&imgrefurl=https://www.blendspace.com/lessons/xwdGOm5k8oyIjQ/color-theory&h=1600&w=1054&tbnid=swaadFiZ1SClyM:&docid=Mt073n-IN_9AdM&ei=Q2csVrb-F8vHuASU662gCg&tbm=isch&client=safari&ved=0CD8QMygQMBBqFQoTCParsNXw3MgCFcsjjgodlHULpA

So from my research on colour I learned that warm colours (like red) advance and cool colours (like blue) recede, and I see a lot of potential ideas stemming from this.

I am also very inspired by how this artist Magnus Voll Mathiassen uses different contrasting colours to create his pieces.

ae7ecf4965e8526a3732b0a37e0f242b Dokka_1024x1024

Some studies on colour

A photograph with strong contrasting colours by The Devious Moose

a4f69be736bdd46104f40ecbdcf5b849

Analogous colour scheme

509150004d64bb75289274e4e9a9bd49
Matt Roeser
67633c0464556bf80ef6a3aa02662e19
Amanda Jasnowski

350d2a0f96d27c3a9ac324fe0d08c360

Triadic colour scheme

5d563b94d15da4ad200a21f4f0d79038

Reference artists:

Alex Brewer. I am very intrigued at Alex Brewer’s use of various colours in his compositions and am trying to study them to see what emotions/feelings they evoke.

02-Hense-700x471 04-Hense-700x471 06-Hense-700x471 08-Hense-700x471 10-Hense-700x471 12-Hense-700x471

 

Project 2: Rhymes!

Rhyme: pat-a-cake pat-a-cake, bake me a cake as fast as you can

Concept: to attempt to show how easily words can have different meanings, inspired by surrealist artists where I attempt to show how the lyrics in the rhyme ‘pat-a-cake’ can be used to symbolise cocaine, which was done in the hip hop song ‘grindin’ by the group Clipse.

I thought of this idea about a year back, where I wanted to design visuals based on hip-hop lyrics that society would never associate with such a frowned upon genre. It was also an attempt at a different interpretation of the lyrics where the artist used double entendres to convey stories about drugs etc.

Screen Shot 2015-10-14 at 10.10.48 pm
Excuse my poor design skills and mastery of colour but yeah I decided to portray the lyrics shown below in the super-cartoonish Habbo hotel style. Note the date posted.
Screen Shot 2015-10-14 at 10.12.09 pm
The lyrics I chose for this project are shown on the left, both pictures are lyrics from the same song

Final design

IMAG0819
Initial layout, didn’t quite convey story
IMAG0824
With feedback from Joy I felt that placing the last square below and slightly tilted was better in showing the desperation/lack of rationality of a cocaine user

In the first square I wanted to directly express the mood of a children’s nursery rhyme, thus the use of lollipops and candy floss etc. The dingbats are also arranged symmetrically as this nursery rhyme also involves coordinating claps with a partner, which usually is in sync for the first clap. The main shape of the composition also resembles the silhouette of two hands clapping, which is shown in my visual journal.

IMAG0815
1st square: pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake

Next, the composition is a little less symmetrical as players of the nursery rhyme usually mistime their claps immediately after the first. The composition still contain similar childish elements like cakes and lollipops, and the smoke dingbat in between the pair of hands represents 2 things: 1) the fire used to ‘bake’ multiple cakes and 2) a cloud of powder which alludes to cocaine in the upcoming squares

 

 

IMAG0816
2nd square: bake me a cake as fast as you can

This square expressed the same line as the first square, and is used in the hip-hop song to convey drug-dealers cooking cocaine to sell. In street lingo the word ‘cake’ means cocaine, and ‘bake’ represents the process where cocaine is ‘cooked’ down from its pure form and mixed with baking soda to be sold. After much research I realised that people who have tried cocaine agree on 3 things about the experience: 1) It makes you feel good about yourself or just general euphoria, 2) everyone experiences something different and 3) it is highly addictive. So here I decided to create a dada-inspired piece as people often react to pieces of dada art as they do to someone on cocaine: “what the hell?” The composition here shows the person standing confidently atop of either a pile of cocaine or a large mountain, thus expressing how good a cocaine user feels. The dingbats around the head and the stoned facial expression shows that no matter what a cocaine user feels, it is entirely in his/her head.

IMAG0817
1st square: pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake

The last square aims to show the dark abyss that cocaine users often find themselves in, where the drug is so addictive that they will often resort to any means of acquiring more of it. The entirely dark composition is also a stark contrast to the first 2 squares, thus wholly transforming the rhyme’s original meaning.

IMAG0825
2nd square: bake me a cake as fast as you can

Original dingbats

ding

Visual journal/sketches

IMAG0899 IMAG0810 IMAG0806 IMAG0807 IMAG0808 IMAG0809

Transforming (more like distorting) classmate’s dingbats

Screen Shot 2015-10-12 at 8.42.53 pm
4 dingbats beng distorted here: the hand, Widad’s girl with hula hoop, the cake, and the baby’s face (partially hidden)

Screen Shot 2015-10-11 at 12.59.00 am Screen Shot 2015-10-11 at 1.08.09 am Screen Shot 2015-10-11 at 12.51.46 am Screen Shot 2015-10-11 at 12.48.59 am Screen Shot 2015-10-11 at 1.29.54 am Screen Shot 2015-10-11 at 1.04.48 am

Other screenshots of WIP

Screen Shot 2015-10-12 at 10.04.37 pm
Process for every square: scroll through list of dingbats, pick out a few suitable ones and experiment
Screen Shot 2015-10-11 at 12.43.55 am
original idea for first square, looked pretty ugly to me

Screen Shot 2015-10-12 at 6.36.39 pm Screen Shot 2015-10-11 at 12.43.25 am Screen Shot 2015-10-11 at 12.44.30 am

Rejected compositions

cocaine stack combine stack upScreen Shot 2015-10-18 at 11.37.50 pm

Inspiration

White powder on black reflective surface, closeup
White powder on black reflective surface, closeup
maileg_kids_poster_abd_tivoli.jpg-e1366446399134
Trying to find out how to create childish compositions

w460 tumblr_n4ponxngPs1rp4upto1_500 technology-addict Rise_Emoji_600_art_technology_social_media_Trend_Hunter_article_kids_of_dada_grande maxresdefault-3 lotus_peap Crackspoon Cooking_Crack a879014ef496eaf924b344c4096a2d1f.1000x750x1 A_-SAN-MIGUEL-Cocaine 5395132 3090545_orig 05db7eef94463f4cc90036511086290e 4b901bc956b335e4c75645ce7da48bc4.1000x554x1 4aebf6456dd4ed1059a869fedb1da55e.1000x831x1

To research on visualisations of a cocaine high I stumbled upon the artist Bryan Lewis Saunders, who took 30 different drugs and drew 30 different portraits.

Screen Shot 2015-10-18 at 11.48.45 pm Screen Shot 2015-10-18 at 11.48.56 pm

 

Project 2 Rhymes. Update on time. The dingbats look real fine, now they just gotta be aligned.

Yeeeaaaaahhhhhhhh see how I made the title rhyme? In case I flunk ADM I can always be a rapper.

Okay so previously I decided I wanted to use a hip hop song and create vastly different visuals, and now after learning that we had to use English nursery rhymes instead I began to research on possible rhymes.

IMAG0806

I then realised that one of the rhymes ‘patty cake’ had the same lyrics in a hip hop song I knew, which used the nursery rhyme as a metaphor for cooking/selling cocaine.

So I ended up choosing the rhyme ‘patty cake’ and will be creating visuals that express both the original rhyme and the hip hop song.

Here are some pictures from my visual journal containing explorations of possible imagery for cocaine and the rhyme and general progress report.

IMAG0807 IMAG0808 IMAG0809 IMAG0810Screen Shot 2015-10-07 at 10.34.01 pmScreen Shot 2015-10-11 at 1.04.48 amScreen Shot 2015-10-11 at 1.08.09 amScreen Shot 2015-10-11 at 1.29.54 amScreen Shot 2015-10-11 at 12.43.25 amScreen Shot 2015-10-11 at 12.48.59 amScreen Shot 2015-10-11 at 12.51.46 amScreen Shot 2015-10-11 at 12.59.00 amScreen Shot 2015-10-12 at 6.36.39 pmScreen Shot 2015-10-12 at 10.38.38 pm

As suggested by Joy, my work will have hints of surrealism, as I feel the very nature of that genre is similar to what I want to express in this assignment.

Don’t want to reveal too much before the actual critique so stay tuned!

 

A line is a dot that went for a walk and you, the reader, are going for a really long walk through my thought process while working on assignment 1 which is unfortunately longer than this unnecessarily long title.

(in a bid to keep an already lengthy post short the images are kept small, but please do click on them to get a more detailed look. or not)

I was really excited when briefed on project 1 as I thought it was a pretty open one with lots of room for free expression. (little did I know jeng jeng jeng…..)

And so I began working on it, where I scribbled random ideas picked up from research in class.

IMAG0704

Those are some of my initial ideas/creative ‘sparks’ I got in class and quickly took them down. I also got exposed to 2 new artists that I really appreciate (whom you should all be familiar with by now ahem): Julie Mehretu and Cai GuoQiang. I really loved how Julie created her pieces using a wide array of lines, forms, random scribbles and colours and I can definitely see myself drawing lots of inspiration from her in my future work. The video shown in class of Mr Cai was really riveting, especially the part where he attached a pen to the end of a broomstick to draw on large pieces of paper. I thought that was really smart of him, and his use of such an uncanny material like gunpowder to create art had a big impact on my final piece.

If you look really closely at the picture of my notes above you might see that I denote important (or more like overly ambitious and highly unfeasible) ideas with a badly drawn star.

IMAG0705

In case you didn’t get it (excuse the horrendous English btw)

IMAG0705b

Yeah you’re probably wondering the same thing I did as I wrote that down: “Wah! Sure not?! Where got time bro!”

‘Reuben, you’re right. Our eyes are bigger than our stomachs.’- George Clooney, Ocean’s Eleven.

cannot

So on I went to do some research and began sketching the individual lines. (I was still under the impression at that time that we could just interpret the 18 emotions however we liked, without having a big concept)

Screen Shot 2015-10-04 at 4.56.11 pm
Right click game strong!

Not going to show any individual pictures because you probably also have them in your computer. Now on to the sketches.

 

IMAG0732 IMAG0733 IMAG0734 IMAG0735 IMAG0736 IMAG0737  IMAG0740 IMAG0741 IMAG0742 IMAG0743 IMAG0739

And then I crashed head first into the wall right at creative-block street.

Which was when I realised that I didn’t exactly know the definitions of the 18 emotions, and went to look all of them up in the dictionary.

IMAG0706

In hindsight, that didn’t help much, except now I actually knew what ‘sloven’ meant and how much it described me.

On 29th August during lesson I went down to the library, browsed through some books on lines, some of which are shown below. They really helped in generating ideas for certain emotions.

IMAG0625 IMAG0627 IMAG0628 IMAG0629 IMAG0633 IMAG0634 IMAG0619 IMAG0620 Screen Shot 2015-10-04 at 4.52.45 pm

So there he was, ambitious Andrew with a head full of sensual lines, head slightly tilted upwards as he thought about the extremely productive time spent at the library flipping through pictures of someone else’s sensual lines. The painfully slow pace at which the handicapped lift carried him up was a little more bearable today, and managed to survive the entire trip from basement to second floor without swearing. Not even a little “tsk!”. Strolling into class for consultation, Andrew stifled a grin. 

“So what’s your concept?”

image

nick-young-confused-face-300x256

say-what-now--meme-3397

Andrew wasn’t grinning when he got off the chair.

So long story short I didn’t know an overarching concept was required to link all the lines together. I took the handicapped lift down, cursed a few times, bought a latte from the cafe, reminded myself for the 67th time not to buy that shit again as it is way overpriced, drank it in 3 gulps, and headed back to the library to churn out a concept.

IMAG0720 IMAG0721 IMAG0722IMAG0723IMAG0731 IMAG0724 IMAG0725 IMAG0726

So as you can see above, I labelled and grouped the emotions into good (G) and bad (B), and had 3 concepts. The first was growing up and the emotions that defined each stage (spontaneous as a kid etc), secondly I thought about grouping the lines based on what time of the day I usually felt those emotions, and finally I settled on the concept of ‘My Creative Process’

The concept was to group the emotions into a cycle that reflected my typical creative process, which would be expressed mainly through drawing. I thought about using different mediums/tools to further express the various stages, like drawing the earlier emotions on a foolscap paper as that is where I tend to jot down my ideas. Pencils/pens/markers could also be used to express development of initial sketches to final drawings.

IMAG0718

Over the weekend I grappled with my idea above as certain emotions/lines were best expressed with certain mediums, thus I had to find a more cohesive concept to show this development of ideas into final pieces. And that was when it hit me. I had forgotten about the big picture.

*cue simpsons intro song*

For some reason I’ve always thought this intro music perfectly captured the ‘a-ha!’ moments people get when blessed with a good idea but anyway back to the story I began to conceptualise.

IMAG0716 IMAG0729 IMAG0730

Some ideas were of a light bulb, the ADM logo, the ADM building, and even ADM’s old logo for VisCom which was

adm-network-feature-2
How’s that for digging up that past Michael Walsh! (it’s the third from the left btw)

Eventually I settled on the ADM building.

IMAG0711
Don I am really sorry for the horrible shading. And the use of a HB pencil.

IMAG0715IMAG0710   IMAG0713 IMAG0714 IMAG0712

 

Next I researched on the creative process

2807 VIP 1.1 THE CREATIVE PROCESS CCG_Website_Blog_Post_Creative-Process-FINAL-011-1024x662 Creative Process Art.003 Creative-process-mercedes-Leon-2- vector_258_01_1160x772-f

And jotted down any phrases that I found could be expanded on

IMAG0763

And from this long list of possible ideas I began experimenting.

IMAG0745
Actual layout
IMAG0746
I actually felt a little like Cai Guoqiang while drawing these carefully measured lines, minus the broom stick and Caucasian audience watching me behind.
IMAG0748
First attempt at using my arm to create ‘exhausted’ emotion
IMAG0747
Experimenting and initial attempts, which were mostly too dark and flat
IMAG0755
Initially for ‘sloven’ I wanted to use ink to convey/replicate the cross-armed sleeping position of students in lecture halls by placing ink on the underside of my arms, but something must’ve been wrong with my coffee that morning which resulted in me obliviously wearing a white long-sleeved tee to a print-making class so I could only try it out with my fingers. Didn’t turn out so well. I really like my long-sleeved white tee.
IMAG0754
Using stacks of post-it notes to create the silhouette of books for my initial ‘distracted’ concept.
IMAG0752
In clockwise direction, experimenting with ink on strings, crushing paper with ink for ‘aggressive’ and using my finger to create prints for ‘distracted’.
IMAG0751
From clockwise, using the coffee cup from ADM cafe to create prints, twigs with ink, and on the right ink with soap.
IMAG0756
Green tea with ink created some pretty cool prints with a slight tinge of green.

IMAG0757 IMAG0758 IMAG0759

IMAG0753
Unused/discarded prints
Photo on 6-9-15 at 11.18 pm #3
Late nights at the studio. Turn up with GLAD!
Photo on 6-9-15 at 11.18 pm
Don’t worry I cleaned the mess up
Photo on 6-9-15 at 11.17 pm #2
Late nights at the studio

So you made it to the end.

In case you’re wondering why I chunked all my research/visual journal into one long post, I felt that everything contributed in some way or another to the final outcome. Be it simple research on artists, sketches in visual journal or my untidy idea generation notes, they were all part of my creative process that ultimately led to the finished piece. Considering that my idea for the 18 lines was to guide you through ‘the ADM creative process’, I thought it would be apt and interesting (I hope so) to show you ‘my creative process’, and boy is it long.

Pardon my language, slightly satirical style of writing and arguably inappropriate use of memes but this is a heavily censored and diluted version of what goes on in my head when I’m ‘in the zone’.

Thoughts after: I may have sacrificed the individual aesthetics of each line in order to create the ‘big picture’ of the ADM building and the techniques used were a little repetitive. I completely agree, and after going down this abstract route for assignment 1 I could perhaps focus more on how my piece looks to the general viewer for the next assignment. I really enjoyed this assignment and can proudly say that this is the first piece of art I created, and am really proud of it.

Challenges faced: Definitely the biggest challenge was trying to come up with ways of expressing the particular emotion with objects found in ADM. Some emotions that I had difficulty with were ‘bizarre’, ’embarrassed’ and ‘lyrical’. I thought of their solutions while taking a walk, which I learned from my research about the creative process, and it really helped clear my mind for ideas to flow.

Even though my visual journal contains way too many words for an arts student and isn’t as appealing as that of my fellow class mates (some of which are really pretty and I would totally pay money for) it is an honest window into my head and thought process. Might be a little too systematic for you but like a slave, it works for me. Okay bad joke.

I hope you look forward to another really long post for assignment 2.

I do.

Too.

Forever