As we move on from the previous project to Project Mnemosyne, we investigated planes and smell.
These are the various form of planes we learnt, divided into 3D and 2D planes.
We were also tasked to pick two distinct scents, one that you favour while the other one you disliked. I picked the scent of incoming rain as the scent that I liked. In describing the scent that appears before rain happens, I googled for a scientific explanation. This strangely pleasant smell occurs when the plants release a chemical as they expect rain to fall, combined with the bacteria and ozone from the ground, creates the unique smell that symbolises “pre-rain”. The reason that I like this smell is because it is calming, as it is a precursor for the event of rain and the idea of rain comforts me. I would describe the smell of rain as dynamic as it is symbolic of nature building up energy as rainclouds. It is cleansing as the environment smells better after a heavy rain, so it smells soothing and “clean”.
The smell that repulses me would be the smell of “fart” early in the morning on the MRT train. It is a confusingly pungent smell of eggs, fart and fertiliser that is from an unknown source, especially around the MRT tracks along Kranji station. The smell has a strong body that enters your nostril suddenly, but stays around for quite a while. It is rotten and powerful, much like a human fart. It might be the smell of methane. It is heavy and loiters around, making you squirm your throat. It is repulsive also because it reminds me of the journey I took every morning while going to school, a combination of bad experience and horrible smell. With the continual experience everyday, the smell became an instant reminder of the horrible experience.
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In exploring planes, I saw inspiration in many architecture and artworks. In Model 1, I referenced to the Crane Dance from Resorts World Sentosa. I wanted to capture the features and hint of the crane, but not the physical replication of a crane. I wanted to explore on the curvature that inspires the elegance and idea of flight, spiralling up into the sky. Hence, the dominant strip is the main body that has the “spiral of water” (subdominant strip) holding it up, having a precarious balance. The subordinate strip is an accessory to provide a whiplash effect, enhancing the elegance to the model. A problem I envision with this model would be the over-personification of the idea of a crane as the theme of planes should be limited to abstract designs.
The next model was inspired by Anthony Poon’s “Sense Surround”. Poon explored on geometric abstraction, known for his flat and relief painting. Poon also explored on sculptures and his influences from 2D can be seen in his 3D works as well. In Sense Surround, he took notice of balance as a whole in art and tried to achieve a unity in his work on every single plane. It looked almost as if the planes are placed intentionally on an invisible grid line, forming the unified work shown below. The planes are meandering through one another, however, never forming an imbalance as they are of the same density throughout. This idea of the red sculpture interacting with one another becomes a universal language as there would not be any meaning that is lost in translation- It is purely pictorial. In my Model 2, I used the dominant strip as the base, referencing to Poon’s work. I used piercing in both subdominant and subordinate, enhancing the personification of the planes, interacting with one another. I tried to lay the planes with the negative void fused together, giving a visual balance throughout.
