For this Project, we were tasked with creating a set of 4 equations, 12 images to represent and describe ourselves, as well as envision ourselves in the future. The task was largely free for interpretation, with usage of techniques and concepts from previous projects strongly advised to be integrated.

The Four Equations were as follows:

_______ + _______ = ME

_______ – _______ = A BETTER ME

_______ x _______= AN IDEAL ME

_______ ± _______= ME IN 5 YEARS (Choose + OR – )

 

PREFACE: MOUSEHEAD, THE SYMBOL

Before I began the equations, I decided to centre the images as self-portraits – but not self-portraits in the traditional sense. I wanted to depict an essence of myself, and show a thematic progression as the equations carried on. The solution to this was to use a symbol of myself that was easily recognised: Mousehead.

The Mousehead concept was inspired by a few things: Electronic-House Musician Deadmau5‘s stage persona / helmet, and continuing on a thematic tangent that I had previously used in a 4D project of the same theme – self-introduction.

 

As such, I decided to go one step further this time: to make my face helmeted, styled after my gaming mouse, while keeping the concept of the mouse laser as my eye / illumination point. Mousehead hence had a silver helmet, a mouse button-esque visor that opened outwards, as well as his eye being where the scroll wheel usually is – projecting coloured light representing his emotional state in that particular composition. Mousehead also had a mechanical left arm, to represent a theme of continuity throughout the equations, as well as to emphasize his state as a transhumanist creation.

CREATING MOUSEHEAD

Mousehead was definitely not easy to create, as his creation was not in a virtual environment; instead, I used a technique where I would print out silhouettes and human parts of the figure I intended to make, and then manually create Mousehead’s head and arm. Below, I will give a brief insight through images to how an image with Mousehead was created.

MOUSE OVER THE IMAGES FOR DESCRIPTIONS

 

FIRST EQUATION: ME

+

=

For the first equation, I decided to choose 2 things that I felt represented my character best. I decided on Gamer, and Transhumanism, the two things that I feel most attached to and strongly about. I also wanted to create a sense of the metal arm fusing into Mousehead to create a new symbiotic relationship, so  I decided to make GAMER human, and TRANSHUMANISM fully mechanical, and as a result, HUMAN + MACHINE = ??.

GAMER

For those who have been in contact with me long enough, I am an avid and borderline hardcore gamer, having played in competitive Team Fortress 2 leagues prior to university, and running a gaming Youtube channel. I hence wanted to bring out the sense of a human offering the viewer a plethora of gaming symbols relevant to my life – in an almost “magical” way. The usage of Green represents Balance and Vitality, as gaming makes me feel alive.

TRANSHUMANISM

For TRANSHUMANISM, I wanted to use a metallic/mechanical arm to show the future I am very intrigued by – a future where man and machine will inevitably become one and interface. While transhumanism itself is a very deep and lengthy topic, with philosophical influences such as Friedrich Nietzsche’s Ubermensch or “Superman”, I wanted to lend from an art style I was very inspired by myself – the art of the Deus Ex video game franchise.

Even the creation process represented the conversion of man towards machine, which I felt was very poetic.

VISIONARY: ME

And that’s me. Man, machine and gamer, dressed in mage-esque robes. Or at least, that’s how I envision myself. For this composition, I chose to play heavily on light and symbolism of sight and illumination. Mousehead’s eye and palm project coloured light, representing illumination and foresight. The use of mage robes represent my other side – a love of fantasy and magic beside sci-fi.

MOUSE OVER THE IMAGES FOR DESCRIPTIONS

SECOND EQUATION: A BETTER ME

 –

=

For the second equation, I felt like showing through colour, the desire to remove Doubt from my life. I find myself second guessing myself all the time and doubting the quality of work. I often wish that I could get rid of this dark part of myself. Hence, the equation was Self-Doubt – Doubt = Self.

SELF-DOUBT

For this composition, I chose a dark background with purple wisps to represent the strands and tendrils of fear and self-doubt. The yellow light emnating from Mousehead, yellow, is used to represent fear.

DOUBT

I decided to use a Tiger Moth for this image with the same tendrils; as Moths are used to symbolise concealment. I feel that I hide or hold back whenever I feel self-doubt, and hence using the same direct colour harmony of yellow and purple, I decided to highlight the fear and alien feel whenever I feel self-doubt.

Self: A BETTER ME

For this image, I decided to use the concept of “opening up” – with the black plates of the visor opening up, revealing the true me inside. The background changes to blue to contrast with the skin tone, which helps to accentuate it more; the background is also made up of multiple “thumbs up” hands, to show the good and fun side of me I show to friends. I also took some inspiration from the iconic image of Albert Einstein sticking his tongue out, in the vein of  “a genius can act the fool sometimes”.

THIRD EQUATION: AN IDEAL ME

X

=

For this equation, we had to take something we already have, and show how more of it would make an ideal us. I decided on Time and Games, since after entering University the two have been in short supply in my life, even though I love being carefree.

TECH-SAAVINESS

I like to think of myself as fairly tech-saavy, as I build my own computers and like using new technology. The background was purple to show Royalty, to indicate a level of expertise.

TIME AND GAMES

For this composition, I decided to use a Clock to represent time, and CDs to represent games. The Background is red to mirror the colour of blood, as time and games are like lifeblood to me – I could always use more! { ͡• ͜ʖ ͡•}

Ascendancy: AN IDEAL ME

For this image, I wanted to convey a kind of Ascendancy, utilising a sort of religious iconography-style to convey that with more Time and Games, I can almost feel like a God of sorts. The Background is toned red and seems to shoot out towards the viewer from behind Mousehead, symbolising raw power and strength.

FINAL EQUATION: ME IN 5 YEARS (PLUS VARIANT)

+

=

For the final composition, I chose the plus variant of the ± option; as I feel that in 5 years I will have gained much from my time in ADM, and progressed from a mere stickman drawing into a full-fledged character. As you can see, Mouseman gets a new pencil staff, upgraded robes that cover his arms, and the ability to project power akin to a lion’s roar.

CURRENT SKILLS

For the first image, I really wanted to make it as amateurish and weak as possible, hence using black and white to represent the rudimentary nature of my current skills, and the use of scrawny stick limbs to show weakness. :((

PRIDE AND LEARNING

For this image, I chose a Lion with a Graduation Hat to symbolise the fact that in 5 years, I will have gained more confidence and pride in my work, as well as graduated with a strong set of technical skills for my art. The use of an analogous colour harmony (Dark Orange, Bright Orange and Yellow) is used to show an internal harmony, while being warm and projecting a sense of power, presence and force.

Progression: ME IN 5 YEARS

This composition was very difficult to piece together, as all the parts of Mousehead (arms, clothes, pencil, helmet) were at different layers of the image, and had to overlap in very awkward ways. Still, it came out convincingly 3D, such as how the robes cover part of the pencil while falling behind it.

Reflections

This project really gave me a lot of creative freedom to express myself and what I want in this life. It, surprisingly, also made me ask myself some deep questions; I have to admit I was stuck on the “me in 5 years” and “A Better Me” themes for a few days, as I had not asked that sort of question of myself before. That said, I’m pretty glad I did.