Torn paper can be meaningful too…starring Jean Arp

(I compiled my research in the documents above, this applies to the rest of my posts as well.)

Jean Arp’s technique of tearing paper really interested me! I mean I usually tear paper out of stress and when I don’t want the paper anymore but to think tearing paper could be used as an artistic technique??? wow, I just had to try this!

I tore up my paint strokes and drop them randomly.

This made it look like there were strokes going in various directions.

I tried concentrating the strokes to create a tight effect.

Then I tried the opposite and left more spaces in between. I like how the strokes are cut off halfway and reappears again in another direction.

I also tried painting watercolor then dropping torn paper on it which absorbs the watercolor to create a pattern.

i also cut up my glue paint combination to create weird shapes.

NOT MY PROCESS BUT A GOOD REF VIDEO AND MY FAV DIRECTOR

This is being a bit extra here but I really wanted to share this video since I think it would be pretty useful for this assignment since we have to connect different photos and videos together…this video introduces one of my fav directors/animators Satoshi Kon and how he matches different scenes together. His work usually deals with illusions, dreams and reality but he manages to weave the scenes together so smoothly using well thought out cuts as shown in the video. & check out his channel, he goes through lots of useful things!! I hope this helps >_<

Journey into “Space”

Did anyone get the Alien reference in the featured image….anyways…

It’s still pretty rough especially with the zooming in part…the pacing changes at a very strange moment and it’s not zoomed into the black space entirely…(gonna correct that…) moving on….

The idea was inspired by a photograph I took last year. I was in my kitchen at night and the lights were switched off except for a light from another room beside it. The light reflected onto the washing machine was really intriguing. There was something about that photo that reminded me of an alien invasion.

Afterwards, I rotated the photo and made it black and white. I realised it resembled a space shuttle in space so I decided to further work on this idea.

I retook the photo using my digital camera instead of my phone (previously) to get a higher quality image.

I proceeded to edit the photo in Lightroom until it the familiar aspects of it were removed and it was reduced to its most basic form. I also darken the transparent cover to reduce the reflection and make it look like some dark void instead. I would the look I created was inspired by the space shuttle found during the docking scene in Interstellar and the spaceship found in 2001: A Space Odyssey. Actually, Interstellar was inspired by 2001 so yeah…okay nvm…Anyway, the circular cover of the washing machine reminded me of these ring shaped space shuttles.

HMMMM.

As for the videa attached…this is a possible intro sequence to my video. The theme for 2001: A Space Odyssey is just added in for fun haha…will probably change it to an actual recording of space for added atmosphere. So far what I plan to do is recreate the look of outer space using household objects and familiar interiors. I have been interested in outer space ever since I was a child so I thought it would be interesting to recreate it using objects and scenes familiar to me since young.

This is the shower cord. I think it could resemble a cord extended into space.

I edited the photo and darken one side as I plan to connect it to one of the scenes is all black.

This is my brother’s back taken using the shade option under the white balance so that it looks really yellowish and strange. I feel like this could resemble the surface of some Mars-like planet.His backbone creates this nice slope effect.

I was camping in the 4D studio last week and found the ceiling with the aluminium and red bars very interesting. They had a very industrial look and I was suddenly reminded of the inside of space ships.

This is the bottom metal railing of the staircase at ADM that connects the 1st floor to the basement floor. I think it looks like something floating in space when captured under such settings.

NEXT UP!!! I’m gonna watch the full length version of Blade Runner (Yayyyy) cause Prof Vladimir suggested it and I’ve only had time to watch certain scenes of it on Youtube…so now I finally have a reason to watch it (moved up from my long to-watch list)

So the following scenes could be Blade Runner-esque with lots of cyberpunk elements or go abstract and do a 2001 with black screens…hmmm

Yves Klein made an impact on me

I then tried framing my composition. I like how the gradient works horizontally. It seems to give the effect of fading out and has a rather ambiguous feel to it.

I like by placing it vertically it seems to feel like smoke or fumes rising upwards. However the gradient effect is not as strong as the previous composition.

I also tried placing it diagonally but still felt it was not as strong as placing it horizontally.

I also experimented with a smaller roller and tried to overlap my strokes more. I ended getting this interesting faded set of straight lines. I also used less ink for this print has its less opaque. I like how there are lines yet at the same time due to the faded effect, the lines are not very clear. I feel this represents the feeling of ambiguous quite nicely.

I tried framing it vertically and found the slightly shift from dark to light lines quite nice.

The horizontal composition felt more flat as the lines became less obvious since they were largely obscured due to the frame.

I also tried to disrupt the orderliness of the straight lines by doing some brush stokes on the remaining paint left on the mono print. However, the effect did not work out very well so I did not use this in the end.

I found a scrapping knife in the 2D room and decided to experiment with it. Noting that majority of my monoprints were largely dark, I decided to try for less dark and more negative space. I filled the lino cut with ink and placed the paper directly over it. I proceeded to use the tip of the scraping knife to scratch across the surface of the paper. Upon lifting the paper, there were these dark black lines.

While scratching, I accidentally stop a few times due to the friction between the surface and the tip. This caused short stops after one line. I found this rather interesting as it stands out from the rest of the strong bold lines. It seemed to be less confident and I thought of how well it represented awkward.

I tried to do a more systematic way of scratching by doing a checked design.

However, upon framing the print, the checks were too large to fit in and did not feel very systematic either as the lines were not completely straight. I would later experiment more with this print.

I tried slanting it as well which was more interesting but still felt quite lacking somehow.

I also tried to concentrate my lines together in one big mess. However, I found the result to be quite plain compared to the first one I did using this method.

While the white lines looked nice agains the dark background, I felt composition wise, this print did not present a strong sense of composition to me so did not use it. I would later experiment more with it though.

I also found a large scraping knife and dipped it directly in ink. I proceeded to quickly “paint” using the knife while twisting it, using both the flat end and sharp to get some variation in my lines.

I thought the result looked quite spontaneous.

I used the scrapping knife to “paint” in fast quick strokes and this created the impression of fast moving lines.

When framing my composition, I looked closer at the negative space and found a part with a patch of small dots. I found this very interesting as it looked quite humorous compared to how edgy the rest of the print looked. This made me feel like the print could represent nonsensical.

I applied the same method of using the scraping knife again. This time I did less large dark patches and did more patches, making the whole print look much darker compared to the previous. I did more scratch marks using the tip, making the whole print look more violent and messy which I felt could represent aggressive.

This time I tried to scraped paint off the lino cut in one direction. I liked how this concentrated the paint to one side of the stroke but the contrast was still quite lacking compared to the previous prints.

I played with the framing. Framing it vertically did not seem to work.

However, upon framing horizontally, I found this particular part that was quite interesting. The contrast between the one thick bold stroke against the strokes with more negative space was interesting.

I also tried using the scraping knife to scratch paint directly on the surface of the paper in a criss cross manner but found the result to be rather bland.

For this piece, I used a sponge found in the 2D room and dapped one side of it in paint and twisted it about the paper. I like how due to the pores of the sponge, there were little splashes at the end of each stroke, making them resemble waves. This gave the strokes a sense of movement due to the wave-like impression.

However, upon framing the print, I realised the strokes were too big to fit in the frame and looked less than impressive when cropped.

I also tried using the large rectangle area of the sponge to do one huge circular stroke across the paper. This was also inspired by Peng Ma’s use of circles to represent life. I like how the circular motion if clearly seen in the strokes.

However, I found it harder to frame such a big stroke.

I did managed to find some particular part of the large stroke that was interesting but it was not clear enough and I felt it was not a strong image so I did not use it.

I also tried crushing paper and using it to paint strokes on the paper. The uneven surface due to the crushed paper created strokes with interesting texture. This was also possible as I used paint that was mixed with glue.

I also tried it was a smaller crushed paper and chinese ink. This created more expressive strokes.

Exploring Automatic Drawing & Andre Masson

One of the first techniques I explored was automatic drawing. I researched on how artists went about this technique and Andre Mason stood out to me as he was one of the pioneers of automatic drawing. As it was not possible for me to force myself into “a reduced state of consciousness” under time constraints, I listened to different kinds of music to get myself in different moods and tried my own automatic drawings. Before doing so, I also referred to examples of automatic drawing from Masson to get a sense of the different lines I could try when doing my drawings. Above is a drawing I did when I listened to music with an ethereal feel.

Similarly, I did this drawing while listening to rather upbeat and magical music.

I did this while listening to something heavier and with sharper beats,

I did this while listening to something fast and sharp.

I did this while listening to something that made me focused. I felt like this could be used for systematic.

As I experimented with different media, I applied the technique of automatic drawing to create abstract patterns. Above, I mixed paint and glue to get a glossy effect that would make the paint slightly translucent and have a “bubble” effect. With the idea of spontaneous in mind, I quickly painted balls in a playful manner to show the feeling of them rapidly shooting out.
I also used water colour and applied the automatic drawing technique to create an image straight out of my mind. I created this flowy and strange looking ink blot pattern. I thought it looked quite sinister with the way the ink creeps out like tentacles from the sides. The blurry effect created by using a wet on wet technique makes it look very vague at the same time, adding to the sinister effect.

Peng Ma Abstract Ink Painting

As mentioned in my previous post, one of the artists I was inspired by is Peng Ma, a Chinese artist. I was at the ADM Library one week ago and I chanced upon this book. I found the paintings inside to be very relevant to our assignment and I was amazed at how he managed to incorporate abstract elements into traditional Chinese Ink Painting.

I like the energy found in his brushwork and how he has an interesting mix of wet and dry techniques. The variation in ink tone creates a lot of depth and a nice contrast in his work which I hope to achieve in my lines as well.

I also found it interesting how he used circles as a way to symbolise vitality and life. With these elements in mind, I attempted my own Peng Ma inspired works.

I tried doing a circular pattern repeatedly and made them really concentrated while varying the sizes to see what I could create. I did this by removing ink from the lino using varying sizes of paintbrushes. I like how using the big paintbrush, the contrast is really high and it creates a rhythmic effect while the effect created by the smaller paintbrush looks messier and feels more aggressive/ anxious.

Since I liked the effect of the larger paintbrush, I experimented with an even larger paintbrush and I think I managed to get a look thats closer to some of Peng Ma’s works. I like how the brushstrokes look more obvious here and almost glossy.

Using quick energetic brush strokes, I also tried to recreate the impression of violent waves.I did this by using a sponge which gave a dapping effect at the end that looked like water splashes.

I also tried switching to tracing paper which is closer to the paper used in traditional Chinese Ink drawings. The paper absorbed the ink in a different way from normal printing paper, allowing the brush strokes to be seen more clearly. I also mixed glue and acrylic paint for this piece and was satisfied with the effect as it allowed the paint to be more translucent in some parts and created tiny bubbles in some of the strokes, giving the paint strokes some texture. In the piece above, I tried for quick fast strokes in random directions while overlapping them, creating some sense of depth and energetic feel.

Additionally, I also tried using a larger brush and less brush strokes, creating large expressive strokes. I really liked this effect a lot as it really showed the energy in the well defined brush strokes. The combination of glue and acrylic also helped the paint to concentrate at particular ends of each stroke, giving a sense of depth to each brush stroke.

I also tried using both mediums together to recreate the combination of wet-on-wet technique and dry-on-wet. I like how the texture of watercolour looks much flatter compared to acrylic-glue paint, creating a nice contrasts between the black strokes.
I also tried experimenting by varying the amount of glue in the paint. For the above piece, I mixed in more glue such that the paint became more translucent and tended to clump more at the ends creating a 3D effect for each brush stroke. I tried this on water colour paper instead and this gave the strokes even more texture. It created a fading out effect at the end of each brush stroke.

Welcome “Home”

I chose a dark alley along the corridor as my photo were printed over-exposed so I had to find a way to ensure that I could still capture the same dark mood present in the original photos.

I decided to place the photo with the frames in the middle as I felt that the theme of family was strongest in there so it should stand alone on its own in the centre of the composition. The other photos served as elements that added to the narrative hence they are placed at top and bottom. The large space in between serves to emphasise the large sense of space within the photos.

Welcome “Home”

In my photo series, I invite viewers to view into my home through my eyes. While I like my home a lot, I recently get a strangely unfamiliar feeling when I am inside. This happened ever since my dad became absent from my family so its just my mother, my brother and I left in our house. While I do like the three of us together and it feels really warm being together, I still feel like something is not right, like a certain order has been disrupted. I realised I find it hard to let go of this feeling due to certain signs in my house and the way I look at objects in my house. There lies a certain strangeness in the most normal of objects in my house as this incident has forced me to look even more inwards and become more sensitive to objects in my house. These objects seem to have a presence of its own at times. Welcome “Home”~

I took this by tilting the camera diagonally. I like how even though the photo feels really warm, it still feels a bit strange, as though something is not right. As I selected my photos for this photo essay series, I tried to capture those that presented this particular aesthetic. In doing so, many of my photos were deliberately under exposed to achieve that dark, gloomy and melancholic look. Unfortunately, this was not reflected in the printed photos as they were printed much brighter sadly. In this particular photo, I start the narrative with the theme of family and self within the house as represented by the picture frames. The object chosen here is not unusual as it is normal to find photos of yourself and your family in your house. However, by tilting it diagonally, it foreshadows that some things are not as they seem.

Cut off connection. I deliberately cropped out objects midway in my photos as I thought it was more interesting that way and gave the feeling of something missing, making the viewers feel something was off.

I noticed that there was areas with different lighting in my house. They were in two places but right beside each other and this particular angle captured that aspect. One is slightly cooler while the other is much warmer. I felt this represented the idea of two sides to a home very well.

This was captured in my parent(s)’s room. I felt particularly attached these inanimate objects that carried some form of personal value that I saw on a regular basis. I like how the presence of the strong pink textured towel disrupts the stillness created by the flat plain walls and cupboards. The shadow of the arm chair suggest the presence of someone but does not reveal anyone. These elements when combined together give the feeling of someone there but not really there. Aside from the visual aspects, the idea of only one towel in my parent(s) room adds to the narrative of an absent father that I seek to communicate.

Similarly, the idea of just one pair of bedroom slippers adds on to the narrative

There are only photos of my mother in the room.

I experimented with a few shots when trying to capture the dining table and chair. I took this from an extreme angle to emphasise the distance between the viewer and the chair. This gives the feeling of distance despite it being the dining area where people usually gather together. Thus, this adds to the idea of something familiar yet slightly off.

I spend a lot of time alone at home. During these moments, I start to become very aware and sensitive to my surroundings. Inanimate objects seem to turn alive and have a presence of its own like this towel here.

Similarly, as I become my sensitive to my surroundings, I start to notice how hollow some places feel. This toilet bowl here while not the most pleasant thing to present, stands out to me as a deep dark hole. I face the toilet bowl almost everyday so I constantly feel the existence of a hole in the house…a certain emptiness.

Lastly, I ended off with this photo of a curtain being slightly lifted off just to reveal a slight amount of light. This represents how I hope for this strange feeling I have about my house to disappear and that this is all just temporary so the “curtain” will rise someday. Thus, leading me back into the light. As corny as it sounds, this is how I really feel.

Will upload photos of my experiments with ink when I can scan them in this weekend back at home.