Mnemosyne’s Scent
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This post will be a separate post from my group submission ‘subjective memory’, which will include works that include individual submission such as the mind map, 3D model, plastic model, etc.
OSS Thread Progression :
- Composition Of 3D Model & Consultation
- Selection Of Scent
- Mindmap
- Research (Mnemonic Devices, Sculptures/Works Related To This Activity)
- Composition of Individual Plastic Model & Consultation
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Composition of 3D Models & Consultation – 1st Round
Elevation and Plan View
Red : Dominant
Green : Sub Dominant
Blue : Sub Ordinate
Right side – Elevation View : Left side – Plan View
1st Consultation
- Suggested loop, “it’s the same!”. so I have to avoid it
- My second composition has no breathing space, therefore difficult to tell which one is D, Sd, and SO. Need to balance moment of activity and breathing space, basically, unclutter and make the composition minimal and still aesthetically dynamic and pleasing, such that my audience can still see the D, SD and SO
- Avoid autonomous composition, every element should interact with each, they shouldn’t stand alone.
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Composition of 3D Models & Consultation – 2nd Round
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Elevation and Plan View 2
Red : Dominant
Green : Sub Dominant
Blue : Sub Ordinate
Right side – Elevation View : Left side – Plan View
2nd Consultation
- The composition is much better now, and the only thing I can improve is to taper off the ends to create an illusion of perspectives.
- Some other is the minor details such as the width can be explored to make the composition more interesting
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Scent Selection
Round 1: Selection Of Scent
For lesson 1, we are tasked to bring a pleasant and unpleasant smell that represent a significant part of our lives. For me, I bought a washed pants and a spray mount.
Washed pants: Reminds me a significant moment in life where I smell my wash pants for whatever reason (which I can’t remember why already), I had this rush of a sense of gratitude, and felt that my life is generally so much better than many people. even though there are down moments in life. I can remember clearly that during why I gain such an epiphany because I was having this sense of narrow tunnel vision, seeing only the negative side of life where I am always lacking something.
Spray mount: Give me bad memories where firstly I just generally hate that smell, and secondly, it reminds me of the never-ending workload I am having in ADM
Round 2: Selection Of Scent
After smelling my other classmate scent, I decided to change my choice of scent because there are is a scent that brings about a more significant and stronger memory than my current selection.
In the end, I choose Coffee that Hui En regards as unpleasant smell for my pleasant smell. On the other hand, there wasn’t any particular choice of smell that evokes any negative memory I had in life.
However on that same day itself, I came across the smell of fried chicken wing at a western cuisine store at my house nearby Kopitiam, a surge of bad memory of my past binge eating disorder I had in life came into light within my own consciousness, and that eventually became my unpleasant smell.
Side Note: This is a really interesting exercise as now I realised how scent can be such a strong trigger of bringing memories back, when I pay close attention to my own thoughts, as compared to previously it had always been a subconscious thought that I never paid attention to.
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Finalise Choice Of Scent Selection
Coffee
Reminds me of all the struggles where I had to keep myself awake at night to complete my submission. It was a battle with myself, and many times I go into an unhealthy space of self-blame for a lack of discipline, or not waking up when the alarm rings, etc. I am also always on the verge of depression, but I always remind myself of my bigger purpose of why I studied design in the first place. At the end of every midnight session or being awake for 48 hours, I can see the result of my own productivity, where I manage to cover a huge chunk of my project effectively, which I couldn’t have done so if I choose to sleep in. Those are the moments that touched my heart and gave me this sense of fulfilment, that I have grown much more as a designer, and learn so much in the midst of all the struggle. What makes it even more memorable is the negative and positive feedback I gain through the critique session, that allows me to see how much I have grown and how much more I need to improve. With that, it truly makes the entire journey in life ever so interesting.
Fried Chicken Wing
Reminds me of how I suffered from binge eating disorder, as well as my emotional pain to keep junk food out of my life. Each time when I resisted the temptation to eat junk food, my mind would go into a state of conflict where I try to fight off all the cravings I had. The resistance I had for food was tremendous and, tying in with my low self-esteem, I develop binge eating disorder. Those moments of internal battles in my mind, I can feel the contradicting forces of the desires and resistance I have for unhealthy food. Many moments my desire to eating unhealthily overwhelm me, which will result in me going on a crazy binge. At last, guilt, anxiety and regret filled me. This cycle kept on repeating till last month, as a result, I gain much weight and my body size increased, that most people could have probably noticed by now.
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Mindmap – Converting Intangibles To Tangibles
Coffee – Key Points Written:
Reminds me of the high of burning midnight oil and drinking coffee to keep myself awake and being productive where I could experience life more every day. Some keywords takeaway (high, euphoric, smooth), I also see myself being an extremely driven person, so maybe the triangle could be sharp and straight pointing upwards?
Some keywords takeaway (high, euphoric, smooth).I also see myself being an extremely driven person, so maybe the triangle could be sharp and straight pointing upwards?
I also see myself being an extremely driven person, so maybe the triangle could be sharp and straight pointing upwards?
What about hard work and struggles? How do I show it to the audience? Hmm, maybe I could do a spiral and converges with the sharp triangle, and the texture could be rough? Such that it shows the spiral is like me trying to concentrate and gradually wrap tightly into the composition because this indicates how I concentrate even better as time pass. The rough part indicate the struggles I face when trying to concentrate?
What made me so focus? Why do I keep on going even though it is so painful? What is the joy behind it? Maybe it is the light or hope that keeps me going. How do I show that through my composition?
Fried Chicken Wing – Key Points Written:
Remind me of the chaotic moment in my own mind, like there are so many contradictive thoughts that spiral around telling me what to do and what I should not do.
Maybe the sculpture could be compressed, suck inwards, spiral down?
It can also be tense, rough, random, unpredictable, conflicted?
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Final Outcome
I wanted to create the sculpture in a minimal manner, but bring out the main essence of my pain and pleasure?
Can I also create the difference using materials and colour? Maybe black and white.
To show the hope or light that keeps me working hard, I decided to use the concept of shadow, without using an actual light, such that it portrays my idea in the composition without the use of light
Consultation
The black part of the spiral could be more and show it to be more menacing.
The triangle upward and the spiral wrap of plastic can be burned together.
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Some Last Thoughts
On a less serious note: I will be updating better picture for my photoshoot, as I just bought a new prime lens and can’t wait to use it! Next, I think I can try a different approach towards working my creative brief from now onwards. This time around I tried to focus on creating something different for my brief, which leads to the subjective memory concept. But could be played even more for the next brief. I also manage to cut down my workload and create a more effective design by creating more minimal yet effective concept. I used to work hard but didn’t work smart, that’s why I suffered from overload and extreme stress, but things have changed for the better for this project, which is good!
Back to the serious stuff: I need to pay more attention to the smallest details such as what my lecturer has mentioned about the menacing part of my concept, where I have to pay close attention to the accuracy of what I plan to present in my concept. This is exceptionally important in product design as well because every details count, which eventually will make or break a product.
-THE END-
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