September 19, 2017

There was one post published on September 19, 2017.

; FORREST GUMP: Fantasy Concretised

Final Product presented on 16 October 2017

Before going head-on in approaching the project, I did some research!

Also, view my work process here!

overall concept

 

“Fantasy”

The overall concept for Project 2: Forrest Gump is Fantasy. As part of the overall concept, I wanted for my designs to evoke afterthoughts to its viewers, further reflections or realisations.
Fantasy, using the imagination to bring forth something that might seem illogical at first glance, yet slowly concretise itself.

“When Life gets you down you know what you’ve gotta do? just keep swimming”–finding nemo 2009

Final Product (As printed on a tote bag)

totebag; exposed & silkscreened in class

“When Life Gets Hard You Know What You Got To Do? Just Keep Swimming” — Finding Nemo 2009

Main Idea

The idea behind this piece is to bring out the irony in the way we face challenges in life.

The astronaut is moving away from the ground (the planet) and the apparent dangers around him – shark that is emerging out of the water in space, the running cacti that are holding onto knives.
Since the quote can be understood figuratively as well, I decided to move away from the verb in the quote — swimming, I switched it up a little by using something seemingly the opposite of swimming. Walking/ running seemed too uninteresting, hence I decided to switched up the context of the design and use the astronaut to bring the context out of earth, something we can fully understand. Yet, the apparent dangers that he is facing is relatable as well, literally.
Surrealism
Bringing in sea creatures, the shark, and the cacti out of context and combining them in the same context I thought is a way to play with the idea of surrealism as well. Also, playfully adding the shark and cacti that has human qualities also tapped on the overall concept of Fantasy.
Deeper meaning..
However, a plot twist to the design is that there is a crack on his mask that is stripping away his oxygen supply. The blurry lower half of his body depicts the shortening of his life due to the shortage of oxygen supply that he was not aware of. It aims to challenge the quote itself as to whether we should “just keep swimming” in face of obstacles, or should we first analyse the problem, then come up with an action plan.

“Even the darkest night will end and the sun will rise” — Les Misérables

“Even the Darkest Night will End and the Sun will Rise” — Les Misérables 2012

Main Idea

This design is based off a true story about a World War II Japanese soldier, Hiroo Onoda, who was ordered to not just fight, but also to stay alive. He was assigned to fight in a forested area in Western Philippines. He escaped capture and stayed in the forest for 29 years even after the war ended. He survived through stealing food from the farmers or look for random food in the jungle. (View his full story here)

I had initially taken the quote very literally and after a consult, Joy told me about Onoda’s story. I thought this quote could resonate with how he was feeling while being trapped in the jungle and tie in well with his story as well.

Surrealism

Thereafter, I decided to tap on the phrase “You Are What You Eat” for this composition. By using food to depict the forest brings out the idea of Fantasy. Just like Onoda’s hunt for food everyday, unpredictable, I decided to use random food I can think of to add to the composition, as well as the size and shape of it.

Ice cream cones are used to depict the dense vegetation in the forest and the fusilli noodle depicts the forest bed, since fusilli pasta are always served flat on the plate.

Notice the Japanese flag at the background is used to relate the composition literally back to the quote itself. The off-centre placement of the flag is to capture the movement of the moon setting or the sun rising. I overlayed a cookie in the circle  of the flag to further blur out the interpretation of the background. Is it a Japanese flag, a sun rising, a moon setting? Or all of the above?

“TO INFINITY AND BEYOND” — tOY STORY 2011

“To Infinity and Beyond” — Toys Story 2011

Main Idea

This piece challenges the idea of doing good or what is convenient.

The White Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland is incorporated into this composition to borrow his character to further help the audience understand this piece better, or resonate with them better.

The stairs that seems to be limitless brings out the idea of infinity in the quote. How I wanted to further work on the word “infinity” is to use the idea of Heaven and Hell, two extreme opposites.

This piece strive question its audience, do good or do what’s convenient?

Surrealism

The idea of heaven and hell cannot be represented, except by tapping on the common stereotypes that hell can be associated with extreme heat, and heaven with the sky. Hence, I tap on that as an apparent way of portraying both complete opposite elements in one composition.

In Alice in Wonderland, the White Rabbit is someone who is constantly afraid of offending people and he is often put in a dilemmatic position as to whether he should help Alice out in Wonderland and risk offending the Queen or leave the poor girl alone in a foreign place. Tapping on this character of his, I thought he will be a perfect subject matter for this composition as we talk about doing good or doing what is convenient. He could choose to help, and take a step closer to heaven, or be indifferent and take a step closer to hell.

“imagination is the war against reality”– Alice in wonderland

 

“Imagination is the War Against Reality” — Alice in Wonderland

Main Idea

As I approach this quote, I first brainstormed what the “war” of reality is? Global Warming and Climate Change then came into my mind (perhaps it is because I was a geography student? HAHA)

Playing with the past and the present, I portrayed comrades, used to fight war in ancient time, saving the reality today.

Surrealism

The comrades from ancient times coming to “save” today’s day might be more accurate than you think it is.

Deeper meaning…

They are riding on horses and not automobiles that we use today, eliminating the release of harmful gases to the atmosphere. Moreover, their military weapon does not consist of chemical weapons, guns or rifles, depicting a very manual mode of fighting the war of today.

Critique

final words

Overall, I approached this project afraid because I was very unfamiliar with the concept of surrealism and having to study and produce relevant works was a challenge for me. Even so, I really liked the idea of using movie quotes and then giving them our own taste to it! Also, although it was also my first time silkscreening, I thoroughly enjoyed it and despite the long and tedious process, it was one filled with anticipation as we go one step closer to printing our designs onto the tote bags.

Here is a full PDF of my final works!