GLITCH It??!!?!?!!

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Today’s class was about trying out glitches by adding filters onto our group mate photos, as the layers of filters alter the original image until almost recognisable. This was my original photo!! Below are the images after three rounds of alterations by my group mates!!

This project explores glitch art and produces pieces that will probably be impossible if done by myself because I would never imagine to edit it to be this manner. This shows our collaborative effort as we put our own twists into the images that we received.

February 6, 2018February 6, 2018

Hello World!

Hello World! is a work by artist Christopher Baker where he compiles over 5000 videos of different individuals speaking to an imagined audience from their private spaces onto a single screen as an installation to talk about participative media and the human desire to be heard. He is inspired by the interconnectivity present in our world today, where we might be alone in our own spaces but yet we can be together on this online platform. The viewers can either listen in to each speaker or just be immersed in the cacophony.

The artist wants to discuss about how technology created the existence of social media platforms which functions as a medium for people to share their views with the world, while expressing concerns as to if this ‘third space’ is really providing a suitable platform for them to actually be heard. He wants to focus on the concept of a third space and how it gives people the idea of their presence being noticed. The individuals in the videos continue sharing their opinions with the idea that there are people paying attention to them. However, this makes the third space of the social networking platform seem very one-sided in a sense that although individuals are given the opportunity to share their opinions, their opinions are not essentially heard by everyone else. This brings to a discussion as to if these platforms are social if they do not effectively provide a response to all the opinions voiced out.

Installation in the gallery
Source: http://christopherbaker.net/projects/helloworld/

The entire work in the gallery, one can imagine how chaotic it must be to hear each individual with their own opinions
Source: http://www.strozzina.org/identitavirtuali/e_baker.php

February 2, 2018March 15, 2018

Micro-Project #3: Telematic Embrace

Telematic embrace, what an appropriate name isn’t it! Although we have been discussing about the concept of a third space for awhile now, I find it very intriguing how the third space can offer a sense of intimacy that we used to think can only be experienced first hand in the real world.

The class going on adobe connect
Source: Taken from my phone

In this micro-project, what we did was to go onto adobe connect as a class and interact while following the instructions given each time. We did things such as trying to poke each other while synchronising our movements and angles, trying to form something with our arms with the whole class, and we also made use of objects to show regularity amongst everyone.

A shot of us on adobe connect
Source: Taken from my phone

A shot of the screen when we were trying to align our fingers together in pairs
Source: Taken from my phone

The class showing something pink that we have
Source: Taken from my phone

The class doing a cross across the screen
Source: Taken from my phone

Through this project, I realised the importance of communication and how we can actually interact and negotiate via this third space during the process of social broadcasting. We had to discuss and reach a consensus amongst everyone, before we were able to coordinate in our movements, to actually create something from it. I particularly like the one where we did the cross across the screen. Other than the fact that it looks really interesting in terms of composition, it also displays this fun side of working together in the third space. The first activity where we tried to connect our fingers together in pairs also aroused my interest in a sense that as we do that, not only were we connected in our movements (our fingers), but also connected spiritually although we were technically physically apart. Because of this project, it also got me thinking if the emotional bandwidth from the third space will eventually be strong enough to replace the feeling of intimacy from real human interactions since we will all be so absorbed and comfortable with our identities in the third space.

January 27, 2018January 28, 2018

Grand Theft Avatar?

The moment I received this assignment, I went ahead to watch the video Grand Theft Avatar by Second Front. To be honest, I was completely lost in the video because I could not understand what was going on in the video. Upon researching and re-watching the video a couple of times, I think I am able to gain a better understanding and appreciation towards the work. The video Grand Theft Avatar was a work created by this group called Second Front, which uses the software of a game called Second Life to create life in this virtual world. In the video, the characters mimicked members from the ‘From Cinema to Machinima’ panel, robbed the ‘Lynden Treasury’ then freed the money and left on hydrogen bombs.

Second Front freeing the lynden currency
Source: Grand Theft Avatar video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RoHctMuI_HU

Second Front wanted to explore the virtual reality of the third space and this work was an experimentation by Scott Kildall to produce a work using the Second Life software as an emerging cinematic form. I feel like in a sense it is quite interesting as the work showed the possibility of a creation of a space where different people from all around the world are able to interact online. At the same time, it also opens up a world where everything is literally possible, such as the scene where the characters sat on hydrogen bombs.

Virtual identity of Scott Kildall on a hydrogen bomb
Source: Grand Theft Avatar video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RoHctMuI_HU

The third space is a multifarious web of connections for all who inhabit and explore and share its dimensions.

-Randall Packer, The Third Space

This proves that there are no restrictions to this third space and everything nonsensical can be explored, unlike having rules in the real world to hold us down, providing the experience of a tangible virtual world.

January 25, 2018January 25, 2018

Open Source Culture Summary

Let’s talk about open source! Source: http://geezam.com/linux-open-source-technologies-benefits-jamaica/

The concept of open source is a relatively new concept which was a remarkable change away from the traditional methods of creative world production. The introduction of open source gave way to much more brand new possibilities that were not explored given the traditional medium and way of sharing. Open source allows and promotes the interaction from people all around the world to alter or to make up a piece of artwork to give the work another level of depth and creativity. From the IEEE POTENTIALS’s article by Randall Packer, he mentioned that due to the introduction of open source, artists are also able to better themselves and their works through a more elaborate research in collaboration with other artists. In relation to production, works are not necessary about making money through it but more of a social process to actually encourage social interaction with others to view and evaluate to improve the work. It becomes like a platform which appears to be a blank canvas and everyone will be able to work on it collectively, producing something so unique like a shared masterpiece.

Several people can come together to generate ideas for a work Source: https://www.linkedin.com/learning/teamwork-foundations

However, from the essay on Open Source as Culture/Culture as Open Source by Siva Vaidhyanathan, he mentioned about some issues caused by the concept of open source, one of them being the copyright issue. Copyright was meant to help to stimulate creativity by limiting the rights but now with the rise of open source, it seems like it would be harder to enforce copyrights for just a single individual for a piece of work.

Risk of stealing of ideas Source: http://www.howdesign.com/design-business/business-issues/intellectual-property-copyright-issues/

January 24, 2018March 15, 2018

Micro-Project #2: Tele-Stroll

Posted by Jasmine Foo on Tuesday, 23 January 2018

For our Tele-Stroll, Me and Nadiah thought that we could film our livestream at two different locations that is very relevant to us in our daily lives now, in hall for me and at home for her respectively. We thought that we could use this to show the differences in our lifestyles since I stay in hall while she does not. We also thought maybe we could use this to compare how one may constantly reminisce their childhood even as we age.

In our video, we discussed to synchronise our moves, however replacing it with different objects to suit the context. I would be representing the outer appearance of a person, the more matured side who has to deal with work and is constantly stressed out. On the other hand (or other side of the screen), Nadiah represents the inner child in us, of how we secretly still have that immature side of us that we miss as we grow older and carry more and more responsibilities. We tried to synchronise from the start, closing of a laptop on my side of the screen as she closes a children’s book. We then continued the half body method to carry out other actions such as packing our things, wearing our shoes and walking out. We also tried to synchronise our eye direction when the camera pans to our face, however we later discovered that it would be quite hard to do especially since the cameras might face some technical issues and lag behind. We tried to do the synchronisation by communicating beforehand about actions we will do to prompt a change since it was relatively hard to calculate the exact timing of our different locations.

Although there were some technical issues here and there which made the synchronisation kind of off, I appreciate and was able to see the beauty in this realm of a third space where me and my partner were able to connect spiritually without actually talking if we actually communicated beforehand. It amazes me how two or more people can actually be literally at extreme corners of the world and yet still be able to connect via their phone due to the introduction of technology. Isn’t it amazing?

November 20, 2017November 20, 2017

Ego In Different Settings

To read more about the research i did prior to this project, click here https://oss.adm.ntu.edu.sg/jfoo018/ego-research/

When I first got the project brief for this third project, to be honest I was really really worried. Although I did enjoy myself doing the digital compositions for project 2, I was not sure if I was ready to create more digital works for project 3 because I know I am still not familiar with Photoshop or Illustrator software. Thankfully project 3 allowed the use of traditional mediums like PHEW SO THANKFUL HAHA. Despite that, I was still quite confused about what I wanted to do for my four rows because I always felt like I am not a very creative person, and I was very unsure about what exactly am I supposed to produce visually for my four rows. At times like these I really appreciate the consultations with Joy so much HAHA. She was able to help me organize my thoughts and guide me towards producing my final piece of work.

I remember when I first started out, I thought about creating a character to symbolize myself in all four rows. I felt like representing myself with a human would be too straightforward, so I was thinking of using an animal to represent myself instead. I chanced upon a picture of a tiger and I remember thinking like that was so cool haha and I suddenly thought that it might just be suitable to use a tiger since I was born in the year of Tiger. I decided then to just go ahead with using a tiger to represent me in all four rows, recording down the growth from a baby tiger to an adult tiger.

I then tried to brainstorm of the different situations I was placed in, and I eventually came up with four different settings namely:
-when I am working
-when I am with my friends
-when I am with my family
-when I am alone

The settings would flow in a way with increasing intimacy to my deepest of emotions. I thought that the settings I decided on seemed very generic but it could also be a good opportunity to explore the emotions I felt that would separate me from the norm, putting my own experiences and heartfelt feelings in every row. I also spent a really long time to come up with the imagery I wanted to go along for each of the rows.

To start, my first row was
ME+WORKING ENVIRONMENT=STRESSFUL
I also decided to use the colour red for this row to bring out the tension.
ME:
I wanted to represent it with a baby tiger in a pram, with a dangling mobile cot toy above it. The baby tiger imagery was there to show how small I feel when I am in a working environment because of all the pressure I face at work and also to show growth in my next few rows. I later then replaced the items dangling on the toy with eyeballs to further heighten the tension and to show a relation with my next two boxes in the same row.

WORKING ENVIRONMENT:
Initially I wanted to just portray it with a bunch of computers to represent the working environment but I thought that it would be too direct and there would be a lack of meaning in this box so I decided to pull in my experience from my last job at a restaurant. I was working as a cashier and there was once when the cashier system broke down, and since the customers were not able to fully understand the situation, they eventually put the blame on me because I was the only one standing behind the cash register. I still remember that immense stress that fell on me as the customers all stared at me, waiting for their orders to be taken. Bringing this into context for this box, I represented it with a cash register, replacing the customer display with an eyeball to bring out the tension. I also purposely painted a non-realistic eyeball as a human eyeball would be quite irrelevant and awkward compared to the rest of my compositions, while the cartoon-ish eyeball would provide a more generic blend in for the work.

STRESSFUL:
I was thinking about what would be involved if I felt stressful and I thought of the brain. I wanted to depict the brain breaking apart but I figured it would be quite hard to tell that it is a brain as it would seem like messy chunks of random things due to the brain’s natural wavy texture. This might seem a bit dark but I later came up with the idea of having a brain march towards a machine cutter as if seeking suicide to represent the immense stress I felt. This surprisingly turned out well and since the machine cutter looked like an eyeball as mentioned by Joy in my first consult, I decided to let the imagery of eyeballs repeat in each box for this row to show relevance. This also explains why the items in the toy for my first box were replaced with eyeballs.

Here’s how my first composition for the first row when I first started!

Eventually, I changed from using poster colour to watercolour to give it a clearer look, and tried to make the contrast in the work more obvious. I also replaced the items in the cot toy as eyeballs, so here’s my final first row!

Secondly, it was
ME+FRIENDS=JOYFUL
For this row, I went ahead with the colour yellow to bring out the liveliness when I am with my friends.
ME:
Since I wanted to record the growth of a tiger, the tiger being represented here can be seen as an older version of a tiger compared to the baby tiger in the first row. However, I used only the eyes in this composition. Initially it was a painting of a pair of tiger’s eyes wearing a pair of round geeky spectacles to represent the teenage years of the tiger like a studious tiger. However, my next two boxes in the row had something related to transportation modes, and it prompted Joy to suggest that I could probably come up with something related to a transportation mode in my first box as well. In the end, it hit me that a bicycle has two wheels as well and I thought I could use this in my work.

FRIENDS:
I thought for a really long time about how I could portray friends in this context and I came up with the idea of a carousel, where there would be animals surrounding the zodiac of tiger on the carousel itself. So I went ahead to paint a carousel, with animals such as the rat, ox, rabbit, dragon and snake. However after consulting Joy, she felt like the animals seemed to be floating around on the carousel and thought I could improve on it, working along the direction of transportation modes as well. I then decided to change it to a setting of amusement park train rides, reducing the number of animals from five to three, sitting in carts following the front of the train instead.

JOYFUL:
I wanted to express the feeling of happiness when I am with my friends for this box. So I was thinking what can tigers NOT do? Tigers can climb on trees and swim, so what would they hope they could do that would make them really happy? This led me to think about…. (LAME JOKE APPROACHING)…Tiger Airways!! So i rode on this idea and did an illustration of a plane, replacing the wings of the plane with real tiger paws.

My first try for this row!

After improvising, altering my first two boxes to something related to transportation modes. The common theme of transportation modes can also be seen as a representation of independence in my teenage years.

Third, it was
ME+FAMILY=COMFORTABLE
I used the colour blue to express the feeling of security when I am with family.
ME:
I wanted to show a tiger that looked like it is very snugly and pleasant so I thought of painting a tiger wrapped in a blanket with a face that looks like it feels comfortable being in that situation. Since I wanted to continue the concept of having a overarching theme in each of my rows, I thought I wanted to focus on the concept of security in this row. Hence, I added a belt around the blanket to bring out that point.

FAMILY:
I wanted to keep the illustration simple and easy to understand so I was thinking about the habitat that tigers live in and I wanted to incorporate that with the shape of a house that we are familiar with. In the end I came up with the idea of painting leaves into the shape of a house, and in order to add in the element of security, I left a space in the middle in the shape of a padlock. I later then further emphasized the padlock by adding in details such as the keyhole. The padlock was also meant to look like a door for the house in that sense.

COMFORTABLE:
I wanted to express the comfort in a way such that because the tiger is now under the protection of its family, it does not have to go and look for its prey by itself anymore. So I thought of a tooth extraction, with an illustration showing a tiger’s mouth wide open, having a canine tooth extraction with a pair of extraction forceps. The element of security is also represented here as braces on the other teeth. However after consultation, Joy thought that the act of extraction seemed more painful than comfortable, hence I added the tiger’s paw to make it seem as if it is a voluntary extraction.

The final outcome for this row!

Moving on, last but not least!
ME+ALONE=ALL SORTS OF RANDOM THOUGHTS
I used purple to signify the spiritual awareness I am experiencing for this row.
ME:
I had to show a full grown tiger for the process of growth but I thought that there was no point in me just painting a full face of a tiger, there would be no meaning in this work at all. I wanted this row to express a feeling of how when I am alone, I can truly be myself at ease, and experience all kinds of emotions be it positive or negative. Hence, I decided on the imagery of a tiger mask to show the revelation of my inner self. The eyes of the tiger on the mask are hollowed out to give the idea of a mask and to also make it relatable to anyone.

ALONE:
I took the longest to think about the imagery for this row because I just could not come up with any visuals to accompany the concept that I had in mind. I thought of many different ways, I even tried to follow the concept of my first row by repetition of one item (like the eyeballs) in all three boxes but I just could not come up with the illustrations and I realized I should not use that to guide me for fear that I might get led away from the original narrative I was trying to portray. After thinking for really long, I eventually came up with the idea of a compass as I wanted to explain how being alone is always a good time for some soul-searching to find out if I am heading towards the right path. I decided to incorporate the image of a magnifying glass because it also goes in handy with the theme of self-exploration. I decided to add a faint wash of the image on the bottle cap of tiger beer in the background of the magnifying glass as well, to add in the tiger imagery and also to show relation to my next box in the row.

ALL SORTS OF RANDOM THOUGHTS
I wanted to express how, when we are alone, we think about everything, be it positive or negative. Hence I decided to represent it with a pop of a beer bottle, specifically TIGER BEER (the amount of puns HAHA) However, rather than painting the logo of the Tiger beer on the bottle, I decided to add tiger paws once again, which looked like they were emerging or breaking out from the bottle to show the feeling of ‘release’. I wanted this row to express the idea of letting out all emotions and just identifying who I am as a person.

Here you go for my last row!

HERE’S HOW EVERYTHING LOOKS LIKE ALL TOGETHER!

Initially I wanted to give it a wash of split complementary colours, just so that the background would not look as plain, and to also hopefully bring out the contrast in the main focus. However, after consults, Joy and my classmates thought that it was fine to just leave it as it is with the white background as it would not steal the attention away from the main emphasize in the work so it might actually work better in creating a focal point. Thus I eventually left it as it is and I am glad I did not add the background colours as it might really confuse the audience about the main focus in the work.

Overall, I would say that I have learnt a lot from this project. There was a lot of self discoveries and linking back to my thoughts, emotions and experiences as I embark on this project. I also learnt a lot about colour theories and harmonies that I never knew about, especially since I worked with monochromes harmony, I got to understand the use of certain colours in terms of evoking a certain emotion. I never really knew the impact of colours until project 3 came along to be honest. Now I am able to understand that a lot of thought actually goes into choosing the colours for different things especially in branding and advertisements.

It was also a challenge to think out of the box and be creative with my expression of certain generic terms. I had to constantly tell myself to think of other methods and ways of representing the same idea I wanted to bring across. It was really tough and I remember taking a really long time to generate the illustration I wanted for the last row. However now looking at it as a whole, I think I am quite happy with how it turned out concept wise, it was able to bring across the narrative I had behind each row.

Lastly! To sum up my experiences after doing all the three projects, I think it made me realize the importance of experimentation. It also tells me how sometimes exploring with different elements could help to formulate the final piece. I can not stress this enough but ever since Project 2, I find myself being more able to think out of the box and I really appreciate this skill and wish to work on it even more. This has trained me to think differently from the norm, coming up with more creative and interesting works. Overall, although 2D was a lot of work, it also gave me a lot of opportunities to grow and I am so thankful to Joy for guiding me in all three projects till completion! I am done with 2D!!!

November 19, 2017November 20, 2017

Ego In Different Settings (Research)

For this project, I had to look into colour psychology especially since I planned to use monochromes harmony for my composition. I also went to search for some artist references that I could adopt for my works.

For colour psychology, I mainly focused on the colours red, yellow, blue and purple as these were the colours I wanted to use for each of the rows. I wanted the four rows to follow the colours from red to purple, bringing out a narrative while showing relevance to each of the rows. I researched on both the positive and negative emotions of each colour and focused on one of the attributes that I wanted to portray in my row.

RED- ME+WORKING ENVIRONMENT=STRESSFUL

Firstly for red, the positive and negative emotions are as follows.
Positive: Courage, Warmth, Excitement
Negative: Aggression, Strain
For my first row, I wanted to focus on the NEGATIVE emotion of strain, of the intensity that the colour brings out. I wanted the colour to express the feeling of being tensed up and stressful, like how I felt when I was working. I wanted it to evoke a feeling of discomfort and worry to bring out the narrative behind the first row.

YELLOW- ME+FRIENDS=JOYFUL

Next for the colour yellow, the positive and negative emotions are as follows.
Positive: High energy, Emotional Strength, Confidence, Hope, Fun
Negative: Depression, Anxiety, Fear
For the second row, I focused on the POSITIVE emotion of fun, to bring out the excitement I feel when I am with my friends. I also made use of the attribute of emotional strength to bring forth the fear I had to overcome to be independent in my teenage years.

BLUE-ME+FAMILY=COMFORTABLE

For blue, the positive and negative emotions are as follows:
Positive: Trust, Serenity, Calm
Negative: Coldness, Lack of emotion
Nothings beats the feeling of being with your family, so I wanted to portray the POSITIVE emotion of trust, to express how safe and secure I feel when I am with my family. It also brings out a feeling of calmness so when others look at my work, they understand the relaxed state I am trying to bring across.

PURPLE-ME+ALONE=ALL SORTS OF RANDOM THOUGHTS

Lastly, the positive and negative emotions for purple are as follows:
Positive: Spiritual awareness, Truth, Consciousness
Negative: Suppression, Inferiority
The colour promotes harmony of the mind and emotions, contributing to mental balance and stability. It is known that purple has a relation with spiritual awareness and I wanted to build on this attribute to bring out the concept of self discovery for my last row. This last row involves a lot of soul-searching components which can be greatly emphasized using the colour purple.

ARTIST REFERENCES:
-leighellexson on instagram

Image result for leigh ellexson

uses one hue (monochromes harmony) for some of her works, using contrast to create an artwork with depth. tried to adopt her method of watercolouring to create value based works.

-jyeli on instagram
-vanvan_nomnom on instagram

adopted the method of layering on the watercolours to show greater contrast within the works itself

October 23, 2017November 20, 2017

Forrest Gump

To read more about the research i did prior to this project, click here https://oss.adm.ntu.edu.sg/jfoo018/forrest-gump-research/

When I first heard about this project, I was honestly so worried, just because I had no idea how to use Photoshop haha. I only used it once for my o level visual art task but that was years ago and I remember struggling with it back then too, so it was kind of like a nightmare. Nonetheless, I was thankful that i had the help of my classmates in using the software, and Joy to guide me in the direction for my work.

Then again, it was a challenge for me to find movie quotes, because I wanted to get English movie quotes so that it would make more sense and be easier, but i came to realize that I rarely watch English movies other than Disney movies. However, I thought it was okay to just go with the Disney theme since it was more familiar to me.

While i was checking online for the movie quotes, I came to a realization about how some Disney movie quotes can be deep and thought-provoking as well. This gave me a thought about how i make use of the quotes to do a self reflection about myself, about my life. Since we have to do the works as an interpretation of the quote from our viewpoint, I thought that the personal touch I was adding would be even more appropriate in this case.

I started out by writing down all the movie quotes I like, then eliminating them one by one, leaving four that I liked best. I eventually ended up with these four quotes:

1. “Today’s special moments are tomorrow’s memories.” Genie, The return of Jafar

2. “Venture outside your comfort zone. The rewards are worth it.” Rapunzel, Tangled

3. “Just keep swimming.” Dory, Finding Nemo

4. “Beauty is found within.” -Narrator, Beauty and the Beast

Initially I started out by working on the ideas I had visually for these four quotes and I was the most interested in the fourth quote because I really liked the deeper understanding behind the quote. However, I found it to be really difficult because I understood the quote simply as how it is and the visual that I had in my mind to accompany the quote was restricted to my perception of it. This was the problem for all of my quotes, I had difficulty thinking out of the box for them because I was so caught up with the actual definition from the movie itself. However, eventually I was able to learn to convey the quotes in a different context and I will explain my thought process clearer below individually for each of the quotes.

1. “Today’s special moments are tomorrow’s memories”

For the first quote, it was the quote that I had the least idea for so I started by generating words I would associate with the quote itself. I came up with words such as ‘carousel’, ‘camera’ and ‘brain’ to relate to the ‘special moments’ and ‘memories’ part. I eventually found an image online showing a repetition of boxes and I thought it would be interesting to make use of the repetition to convey this idea of bringing forward the moments to memories. On top of that, I decided I wanted to have a common theme for all my compositions and I decided to add in the element of self-reflection in all the works. As mentioned, I wanted to give my works a personal touch and also to serve as a reminder for myself so I decided to add in the imagery of a Jasmine flower to represent myself in different ways in the composition, in obvious and subtle ways.

This was the first composition I came up with for the first quote

However after the consultation, I felt like I needed to add more elements into the composition and to touch up on the incorporation of the hands into the brains.

Eventually, I looked up artist references and found this work from the surrealist artist Rob Gonsalves, where he makes use of different elements to create this optical illusion in his painting. I decided to incorporate that concept into my works, having the imagery of people crouching together to give the imagery of a real brain. However, I realize that it was really hard to portray it visually because of the details, it may just turn out looking like a mess. Hence, I changed the idea and instead of humans crouching as the brains, I added humans running and climbing to get to the brain to ‘form’ the brain, although the imagery of people crouching is no longer there. I also edited the boxes so that the image would not have random cuts at the edges since I decided this would also be the first design to be produced, and the design that would be going onto my tote bag.

This was the final design that I ended up with

The final design comprises of people running and climbing up the blocks to reach the brains, signifying how you meet different people everyday and they are the ones who will create your moments for that day and that moment eventually fades off in your brain to become a memory that remains as represented by the hand holding the polaroid, since memories can be recorded as photographs and kept forever. The first block also has a hand holding a Jasmine flower to show the representation of myself and the image is done with a fading effect to show how we may forget the moments that occur but it converts to memories in the end.

2. “Venture outside your comfort zone. The rewards are worth it.”

For this second quote, I had a lot of issues trying to come up with a composition. Initially when I thought of the quote, I imagined this composition of hands pulling open a cave to reveal a creepy forest setting to signify how I should learn to venture outside despite the obstacles I may face. However, when i try to picture this and really work out the composition on Photoshop, I realize that the result looked weird and was not like how I Imagined it to be at all. This was what I came up with after a few attempts.

I wanted to make use of the Rob Gonsalves technique of incorporating the pebbles on the ground to the opening of the cave

The composition for this was meant to look like the hands prying open the Jasmine flower, revealing a cave which signifies that I should learn to explore beyond my capabilities. However, since it was meant to be in black and white, the flipping open of the flower petals did not show and the composition just looks funny as a whole. Although I got comments to stay with the concept but try and twig it so that it looks better, I decided to scrap the idea and think of a new concept because although this composition seemed to work when I try to picture it in my brain, but when I try to recreate it on Photoshop, the results just do not match. Hence, I decided to work with a different approach.

This was the final design I came up with

I changed the whole idea to replacing the main focus as a heart with running legs. The heart can be seen tied to a rope that has been cut off, signifying that I should learn to break away and explore new things, cutting off whats pulling me back, overcoming the struggle within myself. The composition was done with a background of a winding road to guide the eyes to follow from the heart to the medals. The cut rope with scissors on the road also helps to give an imaginary line to point to the destination. I wanted to express the ‘rewards’ in the quote as a literal thing, and since the composition had a sports concept going on, I thought it would be appropriate to include the reward in a way like medals. I swapped the medal face with the Singapore one dollar coin and also replaced the flower from the coin with the Jasmine flower in a subtle way but still obvious enough to notice a difference.

3. “Just keep swimming”

This was such a simple quote yet kind of hard to generate ideas especially since it came from such an iconic movie and character. This quote along with the imagery from the movie stuck on with me for quite awhile before I decided I had to think of another way to represent this quote. Initially, I wanted to include jellyfish as stepping stones to bring out the idea of moving forward but I was unable to come up with a concrete concept. However, after the consultation, I got the inspiration to incorporate the concept of parachutes into this work.

This was the final design for this quote

I eventually came up with this design of the game character Mario hopping on parachutes in the sky. I changed the entire setting from sea to land as represented by the grass to show a contrast and it was also a good representation of how the quote applies to the sea creatures in the movie, and to me as a human on land. The wires are added to show the struggles and obstacles as Mario progresses on the parachutes. Following the Rob Gonsalves reference, I made the clouds in this design to look like they could almost merge with the appearance of the parachutes in the sky. Upon a closer look, you will realize that the parachutes are made from Jasmine flowers, warp in a way to look like parachutes. The items hanging from the parachutes are what I need to keep me going in life, bed to represent sleep, burger to represent food, and coffee to represent the caffeine I need to keep me awake and going. Mario was selected as I felt like he is a character who keeps on going in the game, he is constantly moving forward, which is what I wanted to bring out from the quote. As the principle of design, the dark contrast of Mario is also balanced out in the composition with the pipe to represent a final destination that I will eventually head to.

4. “Beauty is found within”

As mentioned previously, I had a tough time coming up with this composition, it was actually the last composition I did out of the four. Initially I had the concept of a girl with a blurred out face or a row of people without their heads, and with flowers in their body to bring out the idea of “don’t judge a book by its cover”. However, it was too literal and after the consult I felt like i should explore a different approach for this quote. After brainstorming, I had the thought of beauty in terms of food and also representing the negative side of social media as well. However, Joy mentioned that it would be too confusing since there was now two ideas in one work, so I eventually decided on food since it was meant to have a self-reflection effect and I love food (who doesn’t?) Ultimately, I decided on the concept of finding beauty within food, upon tasting the food similarly like how you only get to really know someone after knowing them for a period long enough.

This was the final design for the last quote

In the end, I settled for this composition. This composition includes the main focus of a little girl licking this toy figure like item, composed of all my favorite food. I wanted to express the excitement of finding out how someone is really like after getting to know them well. The food bits on the bottom shows how careless she is since she is still young. For this image, the subtle imagery of the Jasmine flower is represented at the back as fireworks. The fireworks are made out of Jasmine flower petals to include a personal touch in this work.

This was my completed four works in the end

Although I am so glad that project 2 has ended but I must say it was a really fun project as it forces me to think out of the context of the actual quote and it was really fun experimenting with Photoshop as well.

It was also fun printing my design on the tote bag although I must say it was really stressful trying to do the silkscreen printing because you never know how each try will turn out! I think it really depends a lot on luck, when I did it I felt so nervous as if I was going for an interview! Although my art friend tote bag did not work out well, but I am glad it worked for my Muji bag! Learning how to think out of the box and to play around with the composition until you figure out that it really works is definitely a challenge but I wouldn’t mind doing this again..I guess haha.