MA – Beard Papa Process

Hello world

For the second part of our moodbox, we made a group moodbox consisting of various parts of our groupmate’s individual mood boxes. We were really intrigued by the idea of flowing water and verticality and incorporated it into our group moodbox.

We first created the ‘shape’ of the frame with wood and tied fishing line at the top frame as we anticipated many elements to dangle in the space. Our music was very serene and mysterious and hanging elements in the space would complement this.

We then used a heat blower to ‘soften’ the wire mesh and rolled it into a snake-like coil that spirals and in the middle, dangled with fishing lines. We also sliced up blue acrylic into shards and let them ‘rain’ around our main dominant snaking sculpture. We then used the soldering iron to pierce holds for the wooden chopsticks to pierce through (wow piercing is just Pandora’s box all over again).

It is here we learnt that firstly, gloves are important and secondly, there is an existence of soft wire meshes, but I guess you can consider this one of those painful lessons of ADM.

Presenting… our Beard Papa mood box

Our group moodbox features various elements of the model.

But read more about our moodbox on our PDF!

MA – Nature and Man-Made Modular Structures

METABOLISM ARCHITECTURE

Metabolism (新陳代謝 shinchintaisha) was a post-war Japanese architectural movement that fused ideas about architectural megastructures with those of organic biological growth.

Metabolism is defined as “the chemical processes that occur within a living organism in order to maintain life”. This architecture was inspired by the dynamic changing landscape and demands of the people, that if the people were changing and adapting, so should architecture and buildings. Thus the buildings incorporated an organic element, with a “metabolism”. They built a structure that could incorporate prefabricated, interchangeable cell-like parts easily attached and removed when they grow old and unusable.

A well known example of a building that utilized metabolism architecture is Nakagin Capsule Tower in Tokyo.

Kurokawa developed this building to be able to install the capsule units into a concrete core with only 4 high-tension bolts, as well as making the units detachable and replaceable. Each individual capsule is designed to accommodate the individual as either an apartment or studio space, and by connecting units can also accommodate a family. Complete with appliances and furniture, from audio system to telephone, the capsule interior is pre-assembled in a factory off-site. The interior is then hoisted by crane and fastened to the concrete core shaft. The Nakagin Capsule Tower realizes the ideas of metabolism, exchangeability, recycleablity as the prototype of sustainable architecture.

Some notable features that define this movement includes:

1. They are big-scale structures capable of growing organically in different direction, such as vertically and horizontally.

2. The design of the buildings do not follow the modernists’ views of ‘Form follows Function’, but allow the spaces and forms to be adapted to changeable function in the future, dependent on the needs and demands of the people in the environment.

3. Adaptable plug-in mega-structures, which express the progress in building technology, allowing cost-effecient change in structure without demolishing the entire building.

MODULAR STRUCTURE IN NATURE

Zoomed in Fish Scales

Zoomed in Butterfly Wings

Honeycombs

Compound Fly’s Eyes

Perhaps modular structure exists in nature so that if a skin or surface is damaged, it is easily replaced through shedding. Alternatively, if the surface grows in size over time, such as if a fish were to grow bigger it is easily ‘layered’ on.

MAN-MADE MODULAR STRUCTURE

Space Truss utilized lightweight, interlocking struts in a geometric pattern. Some other considerations of creating supports with plenty of voids could be a lattice structure. A benefit of using this is that it allows weight to be supported over a large space without utilizing too much material.

the “inside out sock” concept to allow pipes and ducts in a building to be visible from the outside, giving light to what is commonly hidden in buildings.

 

MA – Sounds and Mood Box

Hello world!

For class we made music! I don’t know if it’s just me but when you pair poor hand-eye coordination and poor sense of rhythm, you get … essentially me. BUT we explore with 4 instruments – xylophones, zig zag blocks, wooden sticks and a shaker shaped like a banana!

RELEASE THE INNER CHILD. 

SOUND ONE

 

1. Xylophone – The xylophone is played consistently throughout the piece and I showed this through ascending bars as there is a sort of happy vibes in the sound. I allowed plenty of space around the bars to evoke a sense of space as the xylophones sounds are much longer than the other elements.

2. Wood Blocks – I scattered hard pieces of wooden chopsticks as the wood blocks  seem to have a short, hard beat constantly throughout the piece. I imagined it as hard clunky notes scattered across the box.

3. Shaker – I felt the shakers evoked a sense of ‘falling water’ sort of sound, so I showed the two times the shaker was … shaken (?) in short spirals that hover in the air

4. Zig Zag Block – The zigzag block hovers outside the box as it feels as though the zig zag block was a final sound that appears towards the end of the clip. I felt as though it is a note that almost escaped the space and the length of the note is also much shorter than the others.

Sound Two

Zig Zag Block – The rough sounds of the zigzag block is consistent throughout the piece, thus it runs across diagonally across the box, creating a sense of dominance.

Shaker – Like above, the shaker evoked a sense of falling beads or water. Thus I used a gentle curved plane that goes downwards.

Wooden Blocks – I felt the wooden blocks were an element that seem to be a hard, short sound that comes out in the distance as a sort of echo. Thus I placed it almost piercing out of the box, as though they are like a guy in a distant clapping his hands.

Xylophone and Void – The xylophone was a final note before a long silence. I showed this by sort of ‘piercing’ the void with a piece of acrylic to show how the note seem to echo in a void space.

Reflection

Overall, I realized I am NOT a sound person and most of my interpretation of sound are along the lines of how I feel, what images I see and a matter of perspective of where in space is the sound coming from. Perhaps there are many ways to ‘see’ sound in space – where they are, what ‘texture’ they evoke (whether hard or soft, fluid or static, near or far, long notes or short notes). When we were composing the beat and tempo, I learnt that there has been a lot of consideration when exploring sounds, too!

There is so much to discover about sound. WHEE.

All I can think about was this video, playing instruments

Okay bye.

MA – Modular Structures Research

In design – there are two ways to construct an item: a homogenous construction and modular construction.

Modular is defined as ‘employing or involving a module or modules as the basis of design or construction‘. Modular structure distributes the elements into various modules, or skids, independently that can be plugged together into one complete structure.

Modular structure is like building things out of lego. Each piece of lego is customized to be able to fit together like a puzzle piece into one complete structure. It is important to note that the modules can be added, removed or re-arranged.

A benefit of modular structure is the freedom in customization and how easily it can be changed to cut costs in replacement or repairs.

Some examples of modular structure and design includes…

Ikea is well known for it’s cost efficient and customizable furniture. I remember about two or three years ago I went to IKEA with my family and picked out kitchen counter tops. They gave us a variety of choices – from the material of the counter top, the wood type in the frame and even the material of the handle of the drawer. Modular design allowed change and customization and this freedom is what makes each piece of furniture unique to an individual.

It is also observed (but less frequently so) in architecture, where the choice to make it modular is more of a practical and economic alternative to homogenous structure. Though most architecture around us is an in-between. of the two. This however potentially creates a monotonous pattern that might result in a loss of design identity.

But design aside, let’s try looking at it in a installation perspective!

Untitled by Mademoiselle Maurice

I remember seeing this a few years ago at Singapore Arts Museum, never thought it’d be something I think about looking at modular design. This art piece consists of origami cubes, cranes, boats and fishes hung in a spiral.

This is done by Mademoiselle Maurice, and she is known for various other works involving similar idea of vibrant origami pieces folded into a shape, as well!

Black Forest by Han Sai Por

This is another modular work I recall seeing in Singapore Arts Museum, this time during the Singapore Binenale 2016 titled Black Forest by Han Sai Por. I remembered how every little trunk and branch was burnt or coated in black or charcoal, and how they seem to be put together almost like a city or a forest. This piece was a message about ecological problems in today’s world. 

In my research, I came across this design that utilizes modular structure to create a partition for an office space. Allowing varying transparency and reducing reverb. I was fascinated by how modular design could be adapted into various scenarios and also how the modules allowed for a unique purpose to be multiplied for greater effect! read more here!

WELL THAT WAS ENLIGHTENING!

Now to compose my magical box of magical music.

Okay Bye

Mnemosyne’s Scent – Mnemosyne’s Scent Jewelry

Good Scents: Smoke and Hankerchief
Bad Scent: Dead succulent soil and Durians.

When we combined our scents we realized that although we both had different stories, our scents shared similar visuals/concepts. We first brainstormed some concepts and possible designs.

Possible headpieces by Syadza

With the designs chosen, we considered possible materials – some suggested materials were holographic paper, acrylic, felt, straw, plastic, acrylic and tracing paper.

We settled on felt and blue transparent sheet as it showcases smoke easily and was easily bent into shapes. The rough texture and the pins showcased the turmoil and pain in the two bad scents Blue acrylic is comparably much smoother and also the calming blue is reminiscent of home.

We also had to consider light and shadows and how they react to the materials so we chose a translucent material juxtaposted against an opaque one. We realized that our good scents has reminded us of home and the bad scents are more hurtful.

We chose to keep the story and material of our two elements consistent.

This necklace is inspired by the act of intertwining of the two scents, I was intrigued by the way the materials juxtaposed each other and intertwining them created a sense of movement and interaction between the two scents.

It is a simple piece that evokes the idea of fluidity, calmness and interaction between the two scents.

The headpiece  echoes the story of the necklace, it is the center piece of the sculpture and we were intrigued by the way the lights reflected off the blue translucent paper.

Featuring G6’s most fabulous model. 

Collectively the piece tells the story of the two scents surrounding and almost engulfing us in the scent. The texture of the materials acts as a mnemonic device to remind us of the feelings evoked from the roughness of the felt to the sharp painful surface of tacks to the smooth texture of the blue acrylic. The color itself also reminds us of the smells – the black symbolizing the dark, deathly, dreadful memory of durian and dead soil and the blue symbolizing the calmness, peaceful nature of home.

We added the element of implied lines to make the piece feel ‘whole’ and also considered the element of XYZ axis to give the plane a sort of ‘depth’ to it.

Reflection

Overall working with planes was an interesting experience. It was nice to consider not just the length and breadth of the plane but also how the movement, curve and the twisting of the planes add dimention to a humble plane. It was also interesting to work on something as intricate as a piece of jewelry! FUN.

 

Mnemosyne’s Scent – Pet Bottle Sculpture

The two scents I picked were cigarette smoke and durian. One might think, Fendi must like durians, well …

you’d be wrong.

My first order of business was mind-mapping out how each smell had a memory attached to it, and I decided smoke was a pleasant unique to me (though I really am a little 50-50 about positivity in this) and durian was also another unique smell to me (cause apparently everyone loves it). I decided to explore the moment, what imagery comes to mind and what emotions and thoughts I have. Once I have it mapped out, I explored about how to show it visually, but before I do that – I had to understand how plastic reacts to various techniques.

 

I snipped thorns from green colored bottles – sprite and green tea and used a heat gun to distort them into curled spiked ends. It was interesting experiementing with the heat gun and various thickness of plastics to see how they react to heat. The thinner plastics would curl up quickly like mimosa leaves whilst the thicker plastics would become malleable whilst warm.

After understanding and getting the hang of how plastics react to heat, I put it onto a concept.

The bad smell is the smell of durians. The smell of durians repulses me. I abhor it, to many questions of ‘why’ and ‘how could you’s in the background. My body just somehow rejects it – there was once my dad peer/parental pressured me into eating it with a bunch of people – because how can you say you don’t like it if you’ve never tried it. My body somehow… decided to reject it.

I achieved this by collaging the various strips from the green bottles and collaging them into a spikey, dangerous, repulsive shape. On first glance, it looks like a durian, however on closer inspection the curled spikey element represents the stinging and painful smell of durians that radiate from the fruit itself. Green, firstly, is the color of durian, and secondly, it also evokes a sense of grossness and repulsiveness. Also interesting fact, I really don’t like looking at durians because I think it not only smells but looks gross – so it’s reminiscent of medusa, whom no warrior wants to look at. Yeap. 

I like the smell of cigarettes as a non-smoker myself, it’s very strange, but this came to me when my smoker friends came back from smoking and their smell of cigarette smokes reminded me of my dad.

My dad smokes a decent amount. Every time I hugged him, I’d smell it. When he drives to pick me up, he occasionally smokes in the car while waiting (with the windows open of course) and when I come in I’d smell it. Sometimes when I’m having breakfast, he’d smoke after eating. Somehow I’ve associated cigarette to one of the many smells that reminded me of home.

 

I looked at a friend’s candle for a while to consider how i’d show the idea and appearance of smoke. I used a wire to allow the smoke to hover to create element of levitation and lingering. It also spirals as a metaphor for embracement. Also in using clear plastic, it symbolizes that even though the smell is invisible, the feeling of embrace is there. This is achieved by snipping a clear bottle in a spiral and then using a heat gun to distort the shape into a curvy, wavy, snake-like shape and letting it rest on a metal cable.

All in all, it tells a story about my dad and how smells remind me of him. The overpowering green symbolizes the strong hatred of durians – because in that situation even though my dad smelt vaguely of cigarettes, the smell of durian was overwhelmingly repulsive it drowns out the smell of cigarettes. Yet in a situation of total disgust and regret – there is always a feeling of home from his presence that blossoms out of the situation.

 

 

 

 

Reflection

It was definitely different working much more intimately with plastic and pet bottles. The most exciting element of it was the idea that you will not know how the plastic will react to heat exactly, but you can control the technique. Sometimes there are happy accidents and sometimes there are unfortunate ones. I’m quite satisfied with my concept and all, but this was definitely a struggle to achieve.

That night I took my sculpture out and experimented it against light. This is some of the shadows it casted, I think from the top view it casts super interesting shadows!

This is for you, daddy-o.

Okay bye.

Mnemosyne Scent – Planar Sculptures

Hello World!

A day ago, I told my sister I was working with paper and the world of planes…

So, no pressure.

Once again, I’m introduced into the world of planes.

What are planes, you might ask? Well – imagine a line as a dot that went for a walk, but this time, a plane is a line that went for a walk. There are many ways for a line to go for a walk. Let’s look at some 2D planes!

Putting many planes together makes a fancy, schmancy sculpture too.

But sometimes a we can see planes as three-dimensional!

And when we makes them a sculpture, it looks something like this!

But wait, what if we looked at three-dimensional planes and mix it up with a little Pandora’s Box and Gaia’s Ikebana and consider dominant, sub-dominant and sub-ordinates too? Well, time to get to work cutting up some paper.

If you noticed, yes, I cut paper until it was night time. I may got carrried away with paper cutting.

 

This is Simon the Snake. He likes spaghetti.

For this sculpture, I tried to incorporate the idea of suspension and not just confining the planes to the base. I also played with the idea of piercing the subdominant through a third of the dominant. Varying the directions of the elements creates a sense of movement and the spiral of the subordinate emphasize the fluidity in movement.

corrected:

 

This is Hubert the Hydra, he’s a more penne sorta guy.

For this sculpture, I tried to utilize broken planes, and honestly was not really fond of the way it looks origami-ed in. Perhaps more exploration/research with broken planes are due. However, I ‘extended‘ the dominant in this figure and really like how it twirls around the subdominant in a sort of wave/wind-like manner! Perhaps utilizing long, long planes would build some dynamism in the sculpture!

Reflection

Somehow I really like how clean twisted/curved bends on the paper. Creating broken planes somehow makes the sculpture look crumpled which I personally  do not like the look of. However planes was, to me, a different element as firstly there are two dimensions to consider, length and width of the paper, however creating movement and folding the paper changes the overall length of the plane which makes it look shorter in a way and creates depth by curling in or outwards.

There is an element of discipline involved in ensuring not to get too carried away with the swilring and twirling that the other elements cannot be seen, but I seem to always struggle with finding a place to slot my subordinate.

I’m still unsure about complex/grouped planes, but I hope to get that clarified soon!

But here are some questions.

1. When we consider length of the plane if it’s twisted, curved or broken do we look at the overall length once its bent or do we look at the actual length of the original plane?

2. What is grouped planes? Is Complex planes complex because it travels in two axis?

3. How do we determine the principle axis of a plane?

4. For this assignment, are we limited to rectilinear shapes or can we explore triangles as well?

5. Are we allowed to vary the usage of curved and broken planes in one D/SD/SO or are we limited to only curving or only breaking per plane?

okay bye.

Gaia Ikebana – Coconut Cocktail

Konichiwa World

This Ikebana was quite exciting for me to bring out the inner Japanese in me to make something. Though execution-wise it was much Singaporean, it was still interesting to let me explore that side of my culture that was in deep slumber for a while.

The Concept

I got the word summer and started to brainstorm what Summer meant to me – I thought about the sights, the sounds, the feelings, the taste of the summer food, the images that came to my mind in summer and broke them down to visual and sensational means.

I wonder what google is trying to hint.

I realized that there is a strong emphasis on beaches and fun, and I chose to focus on those elements in my final composite.

I also looked up some example of ikebana and doodled the structure as well.  I was intrigued by the way the vases are utilized to emphasize the form of the branch and plant – for example if the branches are vertically tall, the vase is in a cylinder shape, if the branch crawls outwards, the vase is a flat dish, if there are plenty of spirals, the vase is spherical. They also brought emphasis to the form of the branch by spiraling and sometimes build dependent relationships by leaning one branch on another. I realized there are many, many ways to emphasize the form, hence there is great detail put into the appreciation of the branch from the start.

In the summer last year, I visited Tokyo. My mum, much like many goodyfeed articles, told me about this must-see festival which will blow your mind. It was the Tanabata festival.  I remember eating kakigori, takoyaki, and a ginormous okonomiyaki. Which probably explains my current weight post-NS. I took some photos in the festival, too, and who knew it would pop up on my OSS as research.

I realized that in summer there is a strong presence of a variation of youthful colors and they’re usually bright and vibrant. I took this into consideration to incorporate a multitude of colors in my final model.

With that, I began to conceptualize  various ways to include these elements. It was a huge challenge incorporating so many elements of food, carnival, fun and beach vibes. Not to mention the part where parts of the plant had to have curvilinear elements and angled structure. This was when I discovered there is great difficulty in tilting the vase without it falling apart or toppling over unglamorously, much like my life right now. 

THE CONSTRUCTION

aka. THE PAINFUL PART

You might think I’d improve how well I work with my hands after the rectilinear assignment, NOPE, little do people know my hands are meant to destroy and wreck.

Three beautiful sticks stand before me, but I only have one ikebana to work on, says Fendi Banks, and he experimented with spiralling branches. However many heat gun incidents later at attempting to bend the branches, Fendi learnt not to use a heat gun on a dry branch.

I then scoured high and low from the land of pulau NTU to the land of pulau Pasir Ris for the right Mr. coconut that was perfectly spherical or perfectly cylindrical and settled for one in the heart of Pulau Jurong East that was moderately spherical.

The process started out with my friends and I smashing the coconut open without destroying too much of it (thanks Joel and Zhen Qi), and then me chugging down a whole coconut full of coconut water without a straw. And here you are wondering why is Fendi shaped like a coconut. After therapeutically digging out all the insides of Mister coconut, I started to put my branch into him.

I wanted the branch to hover in the middle as it somehow brings an element of realism that a branch seem to emerge and grow from the base of a coconut like a new form of life. So Hannah, a classmate of mine, suggested using glue gun to stick the branch in the middle and then use heat gun to melt the glue then stick the base in to let it hover. And low and behold it works.

The rest of it was relatively straight forward slotting the berries in a semi-expertly hidden satay stick glued to a branch, and nibbling the biscuit till it was a perfect shape to wedge into the coconut. Oh yeah, and the biscuit is durian flavored, oh how I do not miss that taste.

Final Product

Hey, you’re probably thirsty right now aren’t you from reading all those OSSes? You’re probably tired of the summer heat, right? Tired of those lame ol’ boring coconuts? Why not try our new and improved Kokonattsukakuteru !!!

I’m just overflowing with creativity today, right Bob the dinosaur?

Elements:
Dominant: 
Branch/Coconut
Subdominant: Biscuit/Straw
Sub-ordinate: Berries

Cone: Berries
Sphere: Coconut
Cylinder: Biscuit/Straw

Me: Moderately satisfied

When I think of beaches (or Singapore’s eternal summer), I think of how I wish I could cool down over a nice cooling coconut. Of course, the coolest (no pun intended) thing about my ikebana is that you can slurp up a good ol’ coconut juice from the straw. I incorporated the idea of beach play with a yellow biscuit representing firstly, the summer sun which is bright and yellow, and secondly, the frisbee that hits you because those damn meddling kids playing on the beach don’t know personal space. 

The branch that sprouts out of the coconut represents youth as the branch seems to ‘grow’ out of the coconut and the buds (which are the berries) are ready to bloom into a vibrant new life. It also includes summer colors of red and yellow.

I included the concept of how the vases in ikebana compliments the shape of the branch such that since the branch spirals, the vase is spherical. I also included how the elements ’emerge’ out of the vase outwards with the vase forming a sort of center to the ikebana.

The coconut was also shaved to tilt precariously (which is one of my most accomplished feat that the ikebana does NOT require a base plane) and the frisbee biscuit provides a sense of counter balance to the branch. The berries are also placed to angle outwards to provide a visual interest to the branch form.

In conclusion, there are strong elements of beach, play and youth vibrancy in the sculpture made up of elements and items associated to summer.

Reflection. 

This was a fun project, if it wasn’t so painful to source for the perfect branch/coconut/biscuit – but I thoroughly enjoyed playing with food and doing something minimalistic, organic and very Japanese. I learnt how tilting things creates a sense of dynamism and somehow makes things feel alive. I also learnt how elements can compliment each other and probably my most favorite aspect of the sculpture was how the branch spiraled and the coconut was spherical – somehow both just complimented each other’s form. It was quite exciting to improve from my previous sculpture of rigidness to something more alive and dynamic.

Points of Improvement

For the sculpture, I think the Dominant and Sub dominant tends to get confused from different perspective, perhaps I should have made the subdominant smaller and perhaps I could have utilized more of the biscuits and stacked them up, so that way they would be a flurry of colors and perhaps that could have added vibrancy.

Points of Compliment

I liked how the branch spiraled and the ‘vase’ was spherical. I also liked how it was interactive that you could sip on coconut water from the straw, too! I liked how the bright yellow evoked a sense of summer and the berries seem to add intrigue along the branch.

Okay, sayonara.

Gaia’s Ikebana – A look into Ikebana Research

Being Japanese, I have always looked at the odd looking flower that hung in my living room. I never knew this was a legitimate art form until this assignment. So I decided to live up to my Japanese heritage and look into the world of ikebana and what it stood for.

Ikebana, which directly translates as “arranging flowers”, is the Japanese art of flower arrangement practiced for more than 600 years. It developed from the ritual of offering flowers to the spirits of the dead to an art form praticed by all levels of Japanese society – including a struggling student who barely manages to sand a cone from foam.

Traditionally, one would decorate the alcoves of rooms where they receive guests. However it is not uncommon to see them in living rooms, entrance halls and lobbies of hotels. Ikebana emphasises the various aspects of the plant – the leaves, the stem and the branches. It is an appreciation of the form, the lines, the color and the shape of the plant. This is usually done in a minimalistic way to provide emphasis on the form. It inspires closeness to nature and in turn, provides relaxation and soothes the mind, soul and body.

There are various styles of ikebana, but I chose to focus on the two common types which are rikka (or Heika), which features tall flowers, and the Moribana, which features a dish-like container.

Heika 

Heika is the most formal style of Ikebana, it expresses beauty and natural landscape. It features a tall vase, and highlights vertical lines. The vases are usually tall, jug shaped and have a narrow openings.

It consists of three main elements (which kind of reminds me of the D, SD and SO concept) the primary, the secondary and the ornamental stems. For the slanting style (which most applies for this assignment), the length of the primary branch is one and the half times the height of the vase. The secondary and the ornamental stems are half that of the primary branch.

There is also specificity to the angle of the branches, which is shall save the explanation and show the image instead.

Image from http://web-japan.org/kidsweb/virtual/ikebana/ikebana02.html

Moribana

Moribana, in contrast uses a vertically longer, however shallower, container. A kenzan sits at the bottom, holding the plants in place. A feature of Moribana is the broad expanse of organic shapes and a mound of gorgeous flowers. Like the Heika, there are various styles to the Moribana.

The upright style, which is the most common, emphasises the idea of stability and gravity. In this style, the primary stem is as long as the diameter and depth of the base combined. The secondary stem is two-thirds the length of the primary and the ornamental is about half of the primary.

Like the Heika style, there is also specificity in the angle of the branches.

Image from http://web-japan.org/kidsweb/virtual/ikebana/ikebana03.html

Conclusion

The art of Ikebana emphasizes the idea of a dominant, sub-dominant and a subordinate. It accentuates form and movement through a simple minimalistic movement of the plant that somehow gives a plant a form of life. Through understanding the dominant, sub dominant and sub ordinates, we are able to understand the purpose of the primary, secondary and ornamental branches. Varying the angle provides a sense of dynamism and movement to the plant and the base compliments this by it’s shape – from tall to wide.

Now to consider, how do I put this with the element of something edible…

 

Sources:

https://www.halekulani.com/blog/legacy-ikebana-halekulani

http://www.ikebanahq.org/history.php

http://ikebanabyjunko.co.uk/Rikka.htm

http://web-japan.org/kidsweb/virtual/ikebana/ikebana02.html

http://web-japan.org/kidsweb/virtual/ikebana/ikebana03.html

Gaia’s Ikebana – Curvilinear Sculptures

Hello World

For this project instead of using rectilinear shapes, I was thrown into the world of round shapes and tilted angles. Wow. Truth be told this isn’t an easy task for me thinking in ways that are … not perpendicular. Although I had fun breaking the rigid structure of perpendicularity from the previous assignment and explored more with direction and balance.

So challenge accepted. 

FIGURE 1

This is Chester the Jester.  When he’s always down to clown in town, yeah I’m a little less witty than I normally am.

The concept behind this sculpture was a sense of imbalance juxtaposed against a counter-balance. The dominant direction the sculpture seems to be a diagonal to the right creating dynamism in the composition. The cone (subdominant) is balanced precariously against the sphere (subordinate) and the dominant (cylinder) is wedged independently against the cone (subdominant).

Compared to rectilinear sculptures, using rounded three dimentional objects added an element of visual interest in 360 degrees as compared to rectilinear’s front, back, left and right. I found this a challenge was the sphere (subordinate) seem to disappear from the top few angles, however I was more intrigued by the element of balance created from the 360 eye level view of the sculpture.

Points of improvement:

  • Perhaps pierce the dominant and make it bigger so it becomes more apparent.
  • balance the tip instead of leaning it against the sphere to give a more convincing balance.

Here are some alternative drawings I’ve brainstormed with those ideas in mind.

FIGURE 2 

This is Charlie the Unicorn, he’s actually a rhinoceros.

The thing I like about this sculpture is that three elements are visible from most direction. The dominant (cylinder) is tilted at an independently and the cone sits on the sphere to create the horn of the sculpture. The sculpture was inspired by a very common stallion pose.

Friedom by Mike Fields

I was intrigued by the power, dynamism and grandeur of such sulptures and conveyed this through my sculpture.

Points of improvement

  • Perhaps i can tilt the cone more independently against the sphere to build interest in the form of the sculpture

Here are some alternative drawings I’ve brainstormed with those ideas in mind.

Although, I do have some questions
1. what is overall, inherent and comparative proportion of composition?
2. how do you define the direction of a sphere?

Okay, bye