Planar Exercise
This exercise required us to construct sketch models using a variety of planes, while keeping the dominant, subdominant and subordinate in mind.
Sketch Model 1
For this model I tried to think of verticality. The D, SD, and SO are of different heights. I decided to keep the D and SD as curved planes, and juxtapose it with a straight plane as the SO. The design is relatively simple, and the direction of the planes almost looks as though they are spiralling upwards. I wanted the volumes to cluster to one side of the page when we view from the top, instead of spreading them out.
Sketch analysis
Sketch model 1 is a revised version of the sketch model below. The D and SO were too big. The D has been adjusted to tower over the SD and SO, to add more interest.
Sketch Model 2
For this sketch model, I tried to incorporate complex-axis and broken planes. The overall composition feels heavy due to its emphasis on being horizontal. The S is a curve plane to juxtapose the broken planes. After analysing this composition, maybe it would have been more interesting if the one end of the D was not attached to the ground, or if it were attached at an angle.
Sketch analysis
This model is a reworked version of this earlier version. It was confusing because it had too many voids. There was lack of variation in the type of planes used too.
Smell & Memory
Olfactory art – art concerned with smell.
The part of the brain called the olfactory bulb is closely associated with memory and feeling, so smells can call up memories almost instantaneously. When we smell a new scent, it seems that we will link it to an event, person, a thing, or even a moment. Different scents mean differently to different people. The olfactory bulb has intimate access to the amygdala (part of the brain that processes information) and the hippocampus (responsible for associative learning), hence smell is capable of recalling memories and emotions.
Smell blindness / Anosmia : Some scents are undetectable to some people. For instance, “75% of people can’t detect the distinctive grassy tang of urine produced following the ingestion of asparagus.”
Scent marketing is being used to put clients/customers at ease. Usually the scents are “imperceptible to the unwitting sniffer”.
Source: https://health.howstuffworks.com/mental-health/human-nature/perception/smell3.htm
I found an artist that makes art using scent. New York artist Martynka Wawrzyniak did a hyper-personal self portrait. The scents she incorporated into her project Smell Me (2012) include a vial of her own tears and her sweaty workout shirt. Apparently she put actual biological oils extracted from her own body into ten glass vials. The audience would “enjoy” her scent through a scent chamber perfumed with synthetic versions of the oils.
Source: http://theconversation.com/olfactory-art-makes-scents-and-who-nose-where-it-might-lead-us-25643
Plastic Bottle Model
unpleasant scent — Vinegar
This scent is linked to a relatively recent memory. Just a few months ago I suffered from pretty severe nausea due to stress, to the extent that it hindered my social activities. Though I learnt to control my emotions/stress and the nausea has subsided a lot, I am still sensitive to a lot of smells. Vinegar triggers a specific memory, a particular incident. I was out with someone that I liked, everything was okay until we decided to eat poke (the sashimi like salad thing). Unfortunately the vinegar triggered my nausea and it was so bad I had to excuse myself. The emotions I felt back then were some of the worst. I was upset that I spoilt the happy mood of the day and embarrassed with myself. I guess it had to do with my overall emotional state at that point in time too, so I over-thinked everything. Now whenever I smell vinegar, I remember him, this particular day and the emotions linked to it.
Pleasant smell — Vicks vaporub
This scent is linked to the nausea too. When it was really bad almost every smell just made me want to puke — even scents that were supposedly pleasant, like maybe desserts or something. My father came up with this solution which was Vicks Vaporub. Due to the menthol, this scent was extremely comforting. While some people associate it with being sick, I immediately feel more relaxed after application, hence it is pleasant to me!
Ideation
I thought of some keywords to describe each scent, and from there churned out visually descriptive words. After that I did simple sketch to help me visualise my final product.
Final Model
I experimented with a few pieces of plastic before arriving at my final model, because the plastic did not react the way I wanted it to when it came into contact with heat. The composition / arrangement was decided after I figured out each element was going to look like. Naturally, with an elongated strip juxtaposed with a round shape, I placed the round part on the lower third of the strip to act as an anchor.
The pleasant scent is represented by this flowery looking component. I tried to go for a curvy, wavy language that envelopes, since the word that I associate with the scent is comfort. The challenge that I faced was that it was difficult to control the strips as they were heating as the heat gun covered a wide area which cause all the strips to simultaneously curl. The overall shape of this component is round because it the scent is “contained“, to match the language of the strips.
The unpleasant scent is represented by this long strip. Because vinegar has a distinct scent, I felt that it needs to have presence, especially since the other component is already pretty wild looking. Hence I settled for a long strip. In order to convey “disgust“, I used the soldering iron to poke holes. I elongated the holes to follow the axis of the strip.
