February 2016 – Kaysieeeee

Point of View- Research

“Point of View”

Research

I figured I would start out this project by looking at the aim of the project. I thought it would help me to understand the purpose a little better and hopefully allow me to make the best out of this experience and learn more. I’ve also highlighted the points which I think are important to this project.

Aim of this project (from brief):

“The Point of View project gives one the opportunity to approach visual problem solving in a more methodical, conceptual, thought-provoking way. Making the effort to see subjects from different vantage points opens one to the process of self-generating ideas.”

The term ‘methodical’ does stand out to me at this point. Throughout this entire project, I’m going to make sure I do so, working step by step. And hopefully this will help me to have a clearer idea of what my next step would be and also how to apply what I’ve learnt to my work.

The first task:

Select a subject matter and express it from eighteen different view points, using the phrase ‘A ____ from the point of view of ____ is ____’.

Subject matter chosen: Butterflies

http://www.sedumgreenroof.co.uk/designing-green-roof.php

I’d like to talk a bit about why I’ve actually chosen butterflies as my main subject out of the many other things, concepts and animals. It was not a random choice for me. There are several reasons for this and I’ll go through them briefly.

Butterflies have a very special place in my life. I grew up in a house with a garden that was and still is filled with all kinds of butterflies, from the small lilac ones to the big orange ones. I was the child who wanted to catch these butterflies (and I did once, but I let them go eventually) and keep them, because they were so beautiful but they were also so fragile. I’d examine, chase them and admire them. I am extremely comfortable with them. So in a way, they were part of my childhood.

When I was studying art in secondary school, butterflies was also my chosen subject matter for my ‘O’ Level coursework. I don’t recall there being much debate about my subject matter, I guess I just gravitated towards them unknowingly. And of course, throughout the process, I got to study them a lot more, the details on their wings and their form at every stage of their lifecycle. My appreciation for this tiny creature grew. Even some of my works which I have done in university revolved around butterflies. It is definitely something I’m attracted to.

As I grew older, I met more people who were afraid of butterflies (especially when they fly too close). So I realised butterflies were like any other insect to people and they frighten others (and I can understand why). I still like them though.

What I think I’m trying to get at is that butterflies aren’t just another six-legged creature to me, they’ve been with me remind me of my past, my childhood and they are really special to me.

The Thought process:

Now that I have chosen my subject matter, what next? How do I move on to come up with the different view points? I thinking about things I’d associate with butterflies, both facts and the fictional (films etc), basically anything that involves or is associated with the insect.

Here are some of the point of views that I thought of:

A BUTTERFLY FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF A CHILD IS A GAME OF CATCH.

A NET FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF A BUTTERFLY IS DANGER.

The presence of a net just means someone is about to catch it and rid it of its freedom.

A BUTTERFLY FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF A BEE IS COMPETITION/SELFISH.

http://topnews.net.nz/category/general/science

Bees work for the good of the hive while butterflies live for their own.

http://www.isegardencentre.com/garden-tips/29/bee-and-butterfly-gardening

Both insects need nectar and thus they would be competing for it.

A BUTTERFLY FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF A BIRD IS A MEAL.

The usual prey and predator relationship here.

A BUTTERFLY FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF A FLOWER IS HELP / SALVATION/ MATCHMAKER/ CUPID.

Butterflies here to pollinate flowers when they visit flowers for nectar.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/11758166/The-UKs-most-beautiful-bee-friendly-gardens.html

A BUTTERFLY FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF A SPIDER’S WEB IS A NEW VICTIM.

If they get catch, they will just be another meal for the spider. A trap with no escape. The new victim.

http://artofschmidt.com/2011/10/08/spider-eating-a-monarch-butterfly/

https://sites.google.com/a/5565.ca/ava-s-monarch-butterfly/enemies

A BUTTERFLY FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF A MOTH IS ENVY.

Moths! The close relatives of the butterflies.

There are definitely more people who would prefer butterflies over moths just because they are more visually appealing. (It’s really quite sad). The wings of a butterfly are more colourful and vivid as compared to a moth. The ‘eyes’ you see on the wings of a moth make them look rather intimidating (creepy as well). I thought maybe a moth may be envious of the attention butterflies get because of their wings as well as the of just the fact that butterflies may be more pleasing to the eye. (That is if appearance matters at all.)

Intimidating is what I would call a moth. It’s generally a lot bigger than butterflies and its patterns are lot more distinct and bold. It’s not just their appearance that sets them apart from butterflies, it’s also how they affect mankind. They are termed as pests. Remember mothballs and the toxic smell of naphthalene that comes with it? Well, you’re actually trying to prevent the webbing clothes moth from destroying your possessions. Their larvae feed on clothes, upholstery, carpets, etc. They are rather destructive.

Here are some extra things about butterflies and moths:

The differences between a moth and a butterfly

In general, we would assume that moths are more dull in colour and the patterns on their wings aren’t so appealing either. However, I actually found what it called a lily moth.

I thought it was a fake moth at first because even I assumed that moths were all just brown in colour (how stereotypical of me). But it is really quite beautiful. (It’s interesting how we judge insects by their appearance as well, I wonder if it’s really necessary.)

You can take a look at a whole range of really cool moths on this website: https://blogs.extension.org/mastergardener/tag/citizen-science/

They have really cool patterns and sometimes it even forms a face. See image below.

I found an article that argues about how we should embrace moths because they’re not all that bad. Website: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/dec/22/moths-loved-not-loathed-only-few-after-clothes

Something from my childhood…

A film that I often think about is Disney’s Alice in Wonderland. It is one of my favourite Disney films (it’s really nostalgic) and the Caterpillar has always been one of the most interesting and iconic characters of the film.

I’m not able to embed this particular video but you can watch the scene here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBjExwMtoaw

This whole scene was really bizarre and yet intriguing. From the film itself, I derived several things: the caterpillar and metamorphosis. The lifecycle of a butterfly and its various stages then comes to mind.

A BUTTERFLY FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF A CATERPILLAR IS HOPE/ OPTIMISM/ THE FUTURE/ ANTICIPATION.

Caterpillars also remind me of the book The Very Hungry Caterpillar. It’s really quite iconic. It was even made into the Google logo!

The Very Hungry Caterpillar By Eric Carle

Another scene where butterflies appear would be in the flowerbed. Actual butter flies are seen, more specifically, bread-and-butter-flies. I think it is a hilarious pun. You can see it at 0.15 onwards.

Something extra: A video was brought to my attention by a friend the other day about butterflies. It is really quite cool. Butterflies meet technology.

I then started researching and looking for interesting facts about butterflies. I came across an image a few years ago regarding a ‘metallic’ butterfly chrysalis.

I also found out that butterflies have a pretty short lifespan. When in the butterfly stage, some live for a few weeks or even days. They are affected by rain and wind as well. So they are very fragile creatures as are the many other insects.

A BUTTERFLY FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF A GRIM REAPER IS WITHIN REACH.

Since they have such a short lifespan, death is always on the sidelines and fast approaching.

A DOWNPOUR FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF A BUTTERFLY IS DEATH.

Above are photos I took a few years back of a dead butterfly.

My science is showing….

This project would not be my project if I didn’t include science into this (I like to make good use of what I have studied). But this time, it’s more of an easter egg, the project isn’t based on that.

A BUTTERFLY FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF A SCIENTIST IS THE CHAO THEORY.

The Lorenz Attractor http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/chaos/

The chaos theory is also known as the butterfly effect. In explaining the chaos theory, it is said the wind from the motion of a butterfly’s wings can cause changes in initial conditions that could then start a chain of reactions eventually causing a large event.

It’s a very interesting concept, the main idea is that a small event could result in large impact later on. There are actually many games that are based off the chaos theory such as Life is Strange and Until Dawn, both of which have an amazing storyline.

A BUTTERFLY FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF AN ENTOMOLOGIST IS A SPECIMEN.

An entomologist is one who studies insects so I think this sentence speaks for itself.

Specimens from the Bohart Museum of Entomology

A BUTTERFLY FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF AN ENTOMOPHOBIC IS FEAR.

I know that this is definitely true. I know of people who can’t even stand the sight/ image of a butterfly. It is like any other phobia.

A TAXIDERMIST FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF A BUTTERFLY IS A MURDERER.

The job of a taxidermist is pretty cool, I’m referring to those who do so for museums, professionals basically. It takes a lot of skill to successfully create a specimen. But in this case, I have referred to it in a negative way. I am referring to possible taxidermist and hobbyists who would purposely catch and stuff butterflies just for their collection. Butterflies are living things so to do so on purpose is inhumane. My curiosity in taxidermy peaked after watching a show called Bates Motel (it’s the modern day Psycho spin-off).

It was not portrayed in the brightest of light, there was something rather sinister and dark about the whole trade (the non-professional one) and so I guess that’s what influenced me to view it in a negative way here.

But while looking at images involving taxidermy, I have to say it does make me feel rather uncomfortable to see inanimate animals who were actually once alive.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3178868/Inside-Namibian-taxidermy-factory-stuffs-6-000-animals-year-trophy-hunters.html

After more research…

A BUTTERFLY FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF MYTHOLOGY IS THE SOUL. / A BUTTERFLY FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF PSYCHE IS HER SOUL.

It’s Greek mythology time. Psyche in Greek means soul, hence the first variation of the sentence.

Antoine-Denis CHAUDET, Cupid, Marble (presented at the Salon of 1817), Plaster model (presented at the Salon of 1802) H. 0.77 m; W. 0.64 m; D. 0.44 m. The Louvre

For the second portion, it is based off the love story between Cupid and Psyche where Psyche’s soul being represented by a butterfly. See image of painting below. Note the butterfly flying above Psyche’s head.

François GÉRARD, Psyche and Cupid, Salon of 1798, H. 1.86 m; W. 1.32 m. The Louvre

A BUTTERFLY FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF THE SUPERSTITIOUS A BAD OMEN.

Butterflies being seen as bad luck defers culture to culture. It is not the case everywhere.

A BUTTERFLY FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF A STOMACH IS ANXIETY.

I think we’ve all experienced this at least once in our lives, ‘butterflies in the stomach’. Nervousness is unavoidable.

A BUTTERFLY FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF THE EVERYDAY PERSON IS JUST AN INSECT.

Ulysses Butterfly Photograph by Peter Jarver

After all this thinking and research of butterflies, I decided on this as my final point of view. I had thought of 17 different point of views about what a butterfly could be.

But then I realised, I wrote those with the mindset that butterflies are special when in fact to many other people, a butterfly is a butterfly, it’s an insect, so what? Nothing special about it. So to the everyday person, I’d imagine that’s exactly how they feel towards these creatures.

The full list:

A BUTTERFLY FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF A CATERPILLAR IS HOPE/ OPTIMISM/ THE FUTURE/ ANTICIPATION.

A BUTTERFLY FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF A MOTH IS

A BUTTERFLY FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF AN ENTOMOPHOBIC IS FEAR.

A TAXIDERMIST FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF A BUTTERFLY IS A MURDERER.

A BUTTERFLY FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF A BEE IS COMPETITION/SELFISH.

A BUTTERFLY FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF A BIRD IS A MEAL.

A BUTTERFLY FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF A CHILD IS A GAME OF CATCH.

A BUTTERFLY FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF A FLOWER IS HELP / SALVATION/ MATCHMAKER/ CUPID.

A BUTTERFLY FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF AN ENTOMOLOGIST IS A SPECIMEN.

A NET FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF A BUTTERFLY IS DANGER.

A BUTTERFLY FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF A SPIDER’S WEB IS A NEW VICTIM.

A BUTTERFLY FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF A SCIENTIST IS THE CHAO THEORY.

A BUTTERFLY FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF MYTHOLOGY IS THE SOUL. / A BUTTERFLY FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF PSYCHE IS HER SOUL.

A DOWNPOUR FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF A BUTTERFLY IS DEATH.

A BUTTERFLY FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF THE SUPERSTITIOUS A BAD OMEN.

A BUTTERFLY FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF A STOMACH IS ANXIETY.

A BUTTERFLY FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF A GRIM REAPER IS WITHIN REACH.

A BUTTERFLY FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF THE EVERYDAY PERSON IS JUST AN INSECT.

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Artist References

Aim of this project (from brief):

“The Point of View project gives one the opportunity to approach visual problem solving in a more methodical, conceptual, thought-provoking way. Making the effort to see subjects from different vantage points opens one to the process of self-generating ideas.”

Taking into account the given aim of the project and what was covered during the class sharing this week, I can conclude that with this project, it would be good to represent the point of views about butterflies without explicitly using butterflies in the compositions. Personification would be a good way of putting it; to use something else to represent butterflies.

I was not looking for anything in particular when searching for artist references so I just listed out some of the artists whose works I really admire. The selection started off pretty random but as I continued searching, I more or less found a style and concept that I liked by an artist which I will cover later on in this post. But as a starting point, I looked at artists who incorporated a lot of details into their work because when I think about butterflies, I’m reminded of their intricate patterns on their wings.

Artist #1- Laura Laine

Laura Laine is an illustrator and most of her works can be seen in advertisements and magazines (fashion, etc). I’ve been a fan of her work for over five years now and her works still amaze me till this day.

What attracted me to her works is her attention to detail. The hair of her figures in particular is incredible. Every strand is taken into account and drawn out carefully.

As most of her illustrations are used in fashion magazines, the clothes worn by the figures become crucial. Laine has rendered each fabric beautifully, to the point where you could almost feel the actual texture of the clothes. The softness, sheen and folds of the various fabrics are all taken into account.

Besides the intricate details that come with her work, I also like the way she incorporates her figures with the products she is helping to advertise.

The figures interact with the product and are not independent from it. From her works, it is evident that she takes into account the products of her clients and works with the product rather than against it. As a result, her illustration do not take away any attention from the product but rather has helped to bring attention to it. The merge is also usually done in a quirky way as well so it’s never boring.

I go on forever about Laine’s works but I think I’ll move on. You can check out more of her works at her website: http://www.lauralaine.net/

Artist #2- Maude White

This research would not be complete without a reference to paper cut. It is an art form that requires a lot of time, patience and skill. One wrong cut and the whole piece is ruined. So a steady hand and keen eye for detail is definitely necessary. White definitely has all of these qualities considering the amazing work that she has done. All her works are done by hand.

With reference to the work above, we can see that even the display of works is taken into consideration. The shadows cast onto the wall create the image. And again look at the hair on that piece of work! I can appreciate the amount of effort that went into that.

The selected birds section of her works is where the paper cuts get pretty detailed.

The repetition of lines as seen by the almost parallel lines of paper gives texture to the feathers of the eagle. The direction of the lines (in an outward direction) all help to give a little bit of movement and rhythm. It also makes the bird look a lot bigger since it draws the eye from the head to the outer areas and vice versa.

Artist #3-Eugenia Loli

Loli’s works are collage based. She makes use of images from vintage magazines and science textbooks for her collages so it’s not surprising that the final pieces have a vintage feel to them (which I really like). Quite a few of the works involve the universe, planets, galaxy landscapes, just astronomy in general (which I also really like).

Her works are really quirky and humorous. She makes use of different images to create thought provoking works. What’s interesting is that the individual images have their own meaning but when put together with another image, the whole concept and meaning changes. If you look at the image above, ‘Maker’. It is most likely referring to the maker of the universe as the girl is creating the planets. Instead of blowing bubbles, she is blowing out planets and the whole image works. It’s a beautiful image.

The image itself is good but together with the given title, the work gets lifted to a whole new level. Each piece seems to tell a story and is hinted by the title.

I had a really hard time selecting which works of hers to show because their all so good and funny. The vintage look really is working for me, very classic. Composition is paid attention to as is the use of colour, which I assume can be challenge since the colours of these images are fixed.

The addition of Ironman into this painting changes the meaning of the original work. It is also a juxtaposition of the old and the new (pop culture).

Some of Loli’s other works:

Every Act of Creation is First an Act of Destruction

Eugenia Loli’s work- vintage and surreal

Please do check out more of her works: http://cargocollective.com/eugenialoli

Artist #4- Xavier Casalta

Time and patience. Qualities required for paper cut and stippling. But we’re not talking about paper cut for this reference. We’re talking about stippling, which is a technique of using purely dots to draw. Stippling may also be referred to pointillism, of which Georges Seurat was famous for using (see image below).

A Sunday on La Grande Jatte—1884, Georges Seurat, 1884–86, Oil on canvas 81 3/4 x 121 1/4 in. (207.5 x 308.1 cm), The Art Institute of Chicago.

Xavier Casalta is an artist that makes use of this technique.

Using stippling allows you to have a lot more control over your drawing because you’re drawing to a much finer degree, almost like painting by pixels. I have used this technique a couple of times and I do enjoy it, I like the control I get with it although I have to admit it is very time consuming (but really worth it).

Depending on how close the dots are and the density of dots in an area, varying shades can be obtained. Stippling gives a rather soft look unlike hatching which can look quite harsh.

Look at the amount of detail that you can get into a drawing with stippling! In the above image, even the veins and texture of the leaves can be drawn in.

Artist #5- Marco Mazzoni

Marco Mazzoni is an artist that uses coloured pencils to create his works. I found out about his works a year ago and his works really made quite an impression on me.

His subject matters include women (their faces especially, but without their eyes), morphed animals, plants, flowers and butterflies. He seems to make use of blues and pinks more often in his works.

The compositions are always balanced and each work is filled with texture, movement. Contrast can be seen in the blank spaces (where the eyes are supposed to be), bringing emphasis to the lack of the eyes before the viewer sees the piece in its entirety.

Each work has a sinister or rather haunting feel to it. They all whole a sense of mystery. The use of colours translates very well here. Warm colours such as red orange are used sparingly and when they are used, they are accompanied by a larger amount of black. There seems to be a tension and yet a harmonious existence between the various subject matters in the drawing.

More of Mazzoni’s works here: http://marcomazzoni.tumblr.com/

http://www.galleribenoni.dk/artists/marcomazzoni

Other Artists References

Sarah Esteje creates these amazing drawings with just a Bic pen. With this example and the ones seen by Xavier Casalta, using pens to draw allows for a more detailed drawing since you can get a really fine nib to draw with. Ink has its own aesthetic quality as well. Such drawings are usually in a single colour (and it’s a colour that isn’t too vibrant either).

Thoughts & Reflections

Earlier on I mentioned that there was an artist whose style and concept that I liked and it was actually Marco Mazzonis’. I really liked the tension that exists in his work, there is something dark and mysterious about them. His use of colours and compositions is something I could learn from.

I feel that I could apply these to some of my point of views that involve topics that are a little more melancholy or depressing in a way (topics involving death, envy, etc). After the sharing this week, I was advised to maybe look into using humans to represent my point of views. I guess I can then bring across this same tension and sombre mood into my works. Also mentioned was that butterflies are often associated to femininity rather than masculinity, and I do find that to be the case too. So maybe I could use women, as Mazzoni does in his works, to represent the butterflies.

After writing this artist reference section of this post, I have found myself to be attracted to the works of another artist besides Mazzonis’. I have fallen in love with the collages done by Eugenia Loli. Before the sharing, I only had the opportunity to view some of her works but after researching and looking through most of her works, I can say that I really love them. I love how each piece is quirky and yet has a message (sometimes sarcastic, sometimes of mockery, things like that). I would actually like to try out collages as well.

So to end off, I think for now, the artist references that I will be following will be Marco Mazzoni and Eugenia Loli. Between now and my next post, I will be selecting my six points of view and seeing which style of illustration works best for which. (My apologies for the lengthy post).

Lore 7- Entertainment

Stoned

Dealing with the dying earth was not easy for anyone. Life became a lot more meaningless. Joy was a thing of the past. What could anyone look forward to? Not long after entering the dome, The Outskirts became a containment of depression and despair. The mentally weak did not last long, the notion of a dying earth and being permanently contained in the dome really took a toll on them. Suicide was their way out.

Morale worsened every single day in The Outskirts then (in the days after entering the dome). They were reminded daily of the fate of the earth whenever they looked out of the dome (remember that The Outskirts was on the outermost dome and the walls are made of glass). They faced with the same scene everyday, a sky filled with darkness, speckled with the glint of distant stars and light from the Sun. No blue sky, no clouds, and no hope.

Then came a day when the guards went around handing out something to those in The Outskirts, every man, every woman and every child. Tension and feelings of despair disappeared with every breath. It was said to be similar schwag and people welcomed it and the feelings that came with it. Besides the handing out the substance, the air vents would occasionally be filled with its fumes, it was a treat they looked forward to.

No one really knows where the supply comes from but rumour has it that one of the inner domes houses an entire plantation of just pot. The higher grades/qualities are made available to the upper class and the lower grades are given to The Outskirts. The term ‘given’ would have been applicable then but now the term ‘sold’ would be more appropriate. The distribution of the drug slowly seized and can now only be bought on certain days of the month or in the black market. Today, many just spent their days stoned. It was a lot better than feeling depressed anyway.

Lore 6: Celebrations

Celebrations

There aren’t many celebrations in the Voitheia simply because it would be a waste of already limited resources but there is definitely one occasion where there are celebrations.

“We have dedicated the 22^nd of December to commemorate the designer of the Voitheia, Charles Williams. One this day, we remember the man who helped mankind live another day. Celebrations will be held in the 23^rd inner dome at the Plaza, with Spector as the guest-of-honor”

As part of the Outskirts, you are also entitled to celebrate this occasion. A total of ten people will be taken into the inner dome for the celebration. You are to decide and nominate these ten people amongst yourself but do keep in mind the following:

No one under the age of 15 is allowed
No one over the age of 60 is allowed either
Only those who have never been for the celebration can be nominated, no repeats.
The sick and disabled are not allowed in

According to those who have been to the celebration, almost everyone from the inner domes would be present. There will be a parade with pyrotechnics, something that wouldn’t be used since the entering of the dome. Pyrotechnics or fireworks are banned in the dome as it pollutes the air supply and it damages the contained environment. Exceptions were only made for this celebration, so people really look forward to this biennial event.

Lore 5: Law

Laws for the Outskirts

No leaving of the Voitheia
No entering of the inner domes
Possession and use of firearms is strictly forbidden
Breakfast and dinner timings are set at 0630 and 1900hrs
Roll call will be done every forth day of the week. You are to be in line at designated area at 0800hrs sharp.
Assault and slander of guards, officials and those of the inner domes will not be tolerated.
Every law and rule passed by Spector is to be followed, compliance is necessary.
Patrolling guards have the final say and you are to follow all their instructions.
No vandalism or alteration is to be done to the Voitheia.
All deaths are to be reported to guards immediately
No entering of dormitories of the opposite sex.
Curfew is at 2100hrs. All to be in dormitories.
All food that is given must be consumed.
No second servings are allowed.
No disposing of food.
No rowdy behavior

Those found to be breaking the law will be taken into custody to await their sentence

Should you suspect anyone is guilty of breaking these laws, you are to report it to the guards immediately. Failure to do so will make you an accomplice and you will be dealt with in the same manner of severity as the accused.

Lore 4- Architecture

The Voitheia is a geodesic dome. The outermost layer of the dome was made of triangular glass panels that have a special coating to reflect all ultraviolet radiation from the Sun. The glass was manufactured to be over half a kilometer thick which now helps to keep all the heat in the dome. The glass is impenetrable and is strong enough to withstand the occasional collisions with meteors.

The Voitheia is the new and improved version of the Biosphere 2 (see image below).

It is significantly bigger and definitely had more success than the Biosphere. This particular building was made such that several other domes within it, you could think of it like an onion, layer after layer, or a Matryoshka doll. Each layer either holds a facility or residences for those of different social status. Below is an image of what one of the inner domes may look like, particularly the safari/zoo area, where natural habitats were recreated. (Imagine a rainforest shrunk in size and placed under a dome, like a terrarium).

Typographic Portrait- Final

Final work and thoughts

The main theme surrounding this project was science and I covered four branches of science: mathematics, chemistry, biology and physics. The route I decided to take with this project has resulted in me looking at how science is portrayed and scientific information conveyed. With that said, I decided to make all my works under the same principle of keeping it clean, simple and with no excess details, nothing too elaborate. In things like research papers, it is important to relay the information in a clear manner, the more unnecessary details are placed inside, the more confusing it gets. So, minimalistic and simple. I had to constantly remind myself ‘don’t over do it’.

Final work

Here are the images of my final work.

Mathematics

Mathematics: Logical (Geometric)

Medium: Digital

Artist reference: Hexagontica typeface (starting with a shape and working the shape to form the alphabet)

Biology

Biology: Detail-orientated (stippling)

Medium: Ink on paper

Artist reference: A range of artists

Final thoughts: I want to talk about the ‘rules’ that I mentioned in the post before and how I have applied it here to my final work. All the midpoints of chromosome letters are the same, the length within each pair is also the same as is the banding patterns. The banding patterns(horizontal stripes) were to be rather subtle. From the first letter ‘K’ to the last letter ‘e’, the overall length decreases. I talked about compromise of logical the last time and I did compromise to a small extent as seen in the letter ‘a’. The arms bend towards the other chromosome instead of away. My lack of compromise here has resulted in a double ‘s’ and ‘i’. If I had to do this again, I would have done the same thing, I would like to remain true to myself and remain as scientific as possible. In fact, the double letters pushes the viewer to look at the negative space or the space between the duplicates to find the single letter.

I didn’t really specify the artist reference for this work because I feel like I have applied bits and pieces of what I have gathered from the many artists that I came across throughout this project. Information not just about their final work but also the process by which they worked with.

Chemistry

Chemistry: Risk-taking (fumage)

Medium: Fire & smoke on paper

Artist reference: Dada movement. Wolfgan Paalen

Final thoughts: After attempting the fumage again, I can say I am pretty pleased with this outcome. There are holes that went beyond the original shape of the hexagons but they are really growing on me. You can see them in the letter E in the image above, where two hexagons have merged. Again, I would link this back to success and failure and the unpredictability of risk-taking. The outcome is not something you can always predict and you just need to make the best of the situation and use it as a learning experience.

Physics

Physics/Mathematics: Inquisitive (Moiré patterns)

Medium: Digital (printed on paper and transparency)

Artist reference: Andrea Minini

Final thoughts: I mentioned in class that this didn’t really turn out as good as I would have wanted it too. However, I am growing to like it. Not to say it doesn’t work entirely but it is just not to its full effect. The ink did not hold on well to the transparency film resulting in splotchy stripes that were not opaque so the name behind was not fully hidden. The fading in and out can still be seen though and I’m not too disappointed with what I have made. It is a learning point for me and I don’t regret trying out something new like moiré patterns. It was really interesting to make and that further emphasises on the inquisitive nature. There is also an element of unpredictability seen here, the fact that the results were unknown until the final outcome. I’m pretty that I likened this to my physics results, saying that I like it but the results don’t always show my love for it. I still think it to be mostly true.

I would kept my works in black and white, with the execption of the fumage. The reason for this is that when you talk about scientific information, it is black and white, they are facts, not much grey area. That is something I really like about the sciences, it either is or it isn’t.

Moving forward

I received a lot of lovely comments from the others and it was really encouraging.

What I can take back from the critique session is that I should further explore my relationship with science and deal with the fact that I actually have a love-hate relationship with it. Also, back to the good old petri dish. I talked a lot of safety hazards and was told that now I should maybe look into hazards as a designer if i’m not wrong and merge the two together. So that’s what I’ll be looking into.

Typographic Portrait- Process 5

Work-in-progress

Biology

In this short post, I will be covering how I will be doing the biology themed piece of work. After much internal debate, I have decided to go with the chromosomes as a base to start with.

The medium would be in pen (0.05, black). I will be stippling the entire piece. I enjoy stippling as much as some would consider it time consuming. I like the control I get with it, you get to decide where each dot goes, it’s like drawing at a micro level. I really like that level detail that comes with it. The process just involves dotting basically. Areas that are to be darker just require a higher density of dots, lighter areas involve dots.

If you think about, the dots seem to represent the numerous genes present on DNA and chromosomes, so it is appropriate to have dots/genes make up the chromosomes. I really hope I am making sense.

I am as much a science student as I am an art student. I like to be as scientifically correct as possible. In this case, I decided to stick with the ‘rules’ that come with the chromosomes. And I will be sticking to these rules while drawing this work. Here is an image that I showed in a previous post. I will be referring to it to illustrate the rules.

The first thing to note is that the midpoint of every chromosome pair is the same. See the reference line that runs through the middle of each pair? That’s the common point (it’s called a centromere). Next, the length of chromosomes in each pair are the same length. If you look close enough, you will find that the chromosomes aren’t uniform in colour, there are bands of different opacities. That’s the staining pattern and is usually the same within each pair. The last rule is the direction in which each chromosome arm bends in. Sometimes they are vertical but they can be bent. They usually only bend away from the centromere.

I understand that following these rules to create my work might be limiting what I can do but I find it hard to make such a compromise, I want the work to look good but also be logical to me. I mean, I am willing to give in a little but overall I would like to make something that is still scientifically sound.

The process for this piece is pretty straightforward. First I draw a horizontal line across the middle of the paper. Sketch out where I want the chromosome pairs, making sure that the distance between each pair is roughly equal. Then the dotting begins. The darker bands created just require more dots and lighter bands less dots.

IMAG1268 — Length of chromosomes also decrease left to right

With so many dots involved, I’d like to think about this work as me being detail-orientated. Every detail is taken in account. It is also an attribute that is crucial for any scientist. To never overlook any detail and record their process and hypothesis in a detailed manner. A lack of detail of result in very different outcomes.

Typographic Portrait- Process 4

Work-in-progress

Brainstorming

The most obvious route to take with chemistry would be to work with structural formulae and skeletal structural formulae of molecules. However, that has already been done, see K-mistry Typeface by Ranmalee Jayaratne, where the skeletal structure of molecules are used as letters.

Website: http://betype.co/post/102095978657/k-mistry-typeface-by-ranmalee-jayaratne

I think the idea is a brilliant one, the letters look clean and simple but scream out chemistry. Straightforward and to the point, which is what I like about it.

I tried my hand at it nonetheless but took my own take on things.

Name in chemical structure form — Name in skeletal structure form

I used the real skeletal structures of certain chemicals found in the body or needed by the body. They include vitamin K (and its variants), vitamin B and its subsets, vitamin E, vitamin A, adrenaline and serotonin. Instinctively, the letter K was made up of vitamin K and the letter A was made up of vitamin A. The letter S made of Serotonin.

Above are images of structures that I have created using illustrator of real structures. However, I have removed any letters (meaning the ‘O’, ‘N’ or ‘CH3’ for oxygen, nitrogen and methyl groups respectively) which is why you will see gaps in some of the structures. Take for example the image below of Vitamin K3 in its full form and compare it with the structure above.

I didn’t want to add them in as I thought they were too distracting and would have deviated from the simple clean look I was going for.

So what are we then left with, the periodic table? I find that equally common. I could do something related to organic chemistry that includes benzene (hexagon in shape). Similar to the Hexagonetica mentioned in an earlier post, I could create a three dimensional shape (not a cube though) and derive the letters from resulting shape.

Other ideas of mine included paper chromatography, which is really fun to do. Chromatography in this case basically separates ink into its different component (every ink colour usually made up of several other colours) with a solvent (e.g. alcohol). Each colour ‘travels’ at a different speed on the paper so the result is a gradient of colours, which is really quite beautiful if the right amount of solvent is used.

Chemistry reminds me of copper(II) sulfate crystals, maybe its because the blue crystals we actual got to create years ago just looked really beautiful and I will always remember what they looked like. So, crystals, many compounds can form crystals and I feel that that is one of the reasons that makes chemistry so cool. Your starting solution (aqueous) is slowly evaporated and a shiny jiggered edge crystal is formed, almost like magic. I could create a crystal typeface. But the issue I’m having now is that the typeface may not give people the impression of it being of chemical origins.

After much thought and reminding myself that I should keep designs clean and simple without excess details, I have decided to use fumage, which I believe is part of automatism. I didn’t really do much of fumage art in semester one simply because I was terrified of burning the paper and setting fire to everything else (the paper did actually catch fire). But you know what, risk-taking, that’s what it’ll show (done more carefully this time though). And indeed, risk-taking is important in the realm of science. If you are willing to take that risk to experiment, you could discover great things. I guess that’s an attribute that I would be portraying with this chemistry themed piece of work. The attribute would be portrayed more strongly in the process of the work rather than in the final.

Furthermore, the use of fire is quite common in chemistry. Bunsen burners should ring a bell for most students. They were a staple in lab sessions. I think it is only appropriate to use something we have frequently used in the lab in my work, just makes it more relevant.

Process

So to begin this piece of work, I have decided to create a design that I would follow to burn. I choose a hexagonal shape because it is rather iconic in organic chemistry (benzene rings). Initially I tried to use nuts to create the image of hexagons however, it was not too successful since the nut itself is not fully flat so it is not in full contact with the paper.

I experimented with two different sizes with the same result. The area around the nut turns brown and burns because the heat is absorbed by the metal (good conductor of heat) and the place where the nut was remains white. It is almost like drawing in the negative. Now because the full hexagonal shape of the nuts were not in full contact with the paper, only circles were formed.

That aside, the way I went about this was to place the nut on the paper and hover the paper above a lit candle until the paper turned brown, almost black. The tricky thing about this is that I had to decide when to lift the paper off the heat. From experience, leaving the paper on for too long will cause the paper to burn a lot quicker and uncontrollably (and there is a lot of smoke and ash that comes with it). So there is a fine line between getting the paper brown just nicely and burning it. Besides the time taken to burn the paper, another factor would be the distance from the flame, the closer to the flame, the faster it burns. It is a double edged sword because on one hand, it is faster to have it closer and I can actually have a more direct flame at a specific spot, which is brilliant, but on the other hand, I risk burning a larger hole in the paper than expected.

I decided to use a stencil instead of the nuts to see if I could get a clear hexagonal shape. I cut out a square using an exactoknife just to test things out. I placed the stencil below the paper I wanted to burn and placed it over the flame (so stencil is nearest to flame).

The results I got were better than expected, not because the image that came out was good but because the stencil itself looked really interesting and good. The edges of the stencil were burnt well; the edges had a hint of black, which gave it an interesting texture.

So I decided to cut out hexagonal shapes and burn the edges instead. I created a design using the polygon. It may look rather rigid (no curves or bents), the polygons are arranged in straight lines but that is exactly what I’m looking for.

In a way, the rigid arrangement is similar to how structures are drawn and presented in chemistry and since it is chemistry based I thought it would be apt to leave components of chemistry in the work. It also reminds me of the structure of amylopectin and amylose.

Image:http://www.mhhe.com/biosci/pae/botany/uno/graphics/uno01pob/vrl/images/0026.gif

I cut out the individual hexagons on drawing A5 paper and began to burn the edges of each shape. How appropriate it is that I am calling this a risk taking attribute because my fear of excessively burning the paper definitely came true. I had failed my first attempt.

IMAG1262 — First attempt at fumage final

Maybe it wouldn’t be fair to call it a downright failure but I certainly did not intend for there to be quite so large a hole between the letters I and E. I think I was getting a little impatient and went too close to the flame. But the whole point of this is that I was willing to take that risk and risk the whole piece. I guess it was a learning curve for me. I have since decided to redo piece.

Additional

Some extra information about fumage. According to Oxford art online, it was created by Wolfgang Paalen.[1] The smoke of the flame is used to create images on paper or canvas.

The special thing about fumage is that you are never really fully in control, the flame burns the way it wants to and external environment plays a part in the process as well. Wind and drafts causes the flame to shift and move away from the area I want to burn and I realised how important it is to work with the flame rather than to control the candle. The outcome of the burning is soft brown marks on the paper that contrasts with the black rough edges of burnt paper.

[1] Celia Rabinovitch, “Paalen, Wolfgang.” Grove Art Online, Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press, accessed February 17, 2016,http://www.oxfordartonline.com.ezlibproxy1.ntu.edu.sg/subscriber/article/grove/art/T064397.

Typographic Portrait- Process 3

Work-in-progress

Update on the geometric work. After playing around with the arrangements of the letters I have decided to settle with something fairly symmetrical because I do like symmetry. Things that are symmetrical always seem to make more sense and are easier on the eyes. It also reminds me of mathematics because we usually aim to equate and balance. Think the equal sign, something is the equivalent of something else, they are then of equal weightage. Similarly in my work, I aim for the same thing. If you divide the image in half lengthwise and count the number of triangles (taking each square as two triangles) on each half, they are the same. Or you could see it as the total surface area covered by the shapes on each side is the same. Both sides are balanced and equal.

Here’s where each letter is positioned:

Screen Shot 2016-02-17 at 10.51.14 am — Letter K-uppercase

Screen Shot 2016-02-17 at 10.47.01 am — Letter A – lowercase

Screen Shot 2016-02-17 at 10.49.16 am — Letter Y- inverted

Screen Shot 2016-02-17 at 10.50.07 am — Letter S- uppercase

Screen Shot 2016-02-17 at 10.48.44 am — Letter I-uppercase

Screen Shot 2016-02-17 at 10.46.48 am — Letter E-lowercase

The whole idea of geometry and symmetry got me thinking about truncated hexagonal tiling and basically Euclidean tiling. I did feel that my work was lacking something and maybe this is it. A background that involves tiling that supports the main work.

Screen Shot 2016-02-14 at 3.32.53 am — Trying out different backgrounds

Moving on to other things…

It is now time I talked about the work focused around biology. I turned to all of my old notes that I have accumulated over the years for inspiration. I think the most obvious object associated with biology would be DNA so I turned my focus to just that. My initial thought was to analyze the DNA molecules’ structure and then deconstruct it. I really hope I don’t get too technical with this; I’ll try to reduce jargon as much as possible. Sticking to the theme of genetics, I looked into chromosomes as well (the condensed form of DNA during replication). From replication, I thought of meiosis and mitosis (division of nucleus in somatic cells) paying special attention to the anaphase and metaphase. Metaphase and anaphase are phases in the division process where the chromosomes are aligned and pulled apart respectively. You may choose to refer to image I found here:

So DNA, the condensed form is known as chromosome or chromatin (depending on which part of the structure you are referring). Chromosomes come in pairs (one from each parent). I might actually work with this and create each letter from a pair of chromosomes.

Other Ideas

Besides DNA, I also thought about proteins and molecular sturcutres. When I was studying biological sciences a year ago, we used a software called PyMOL that enabled us to visualize molecules in its three dimensional form. I think I might use this software to create my letters if possible. To give a better understanding of how good and amazing this software is, I have dug up some of my old screenshots from my dry lab sessions. (This probably doesn’t excite the everyday art student as much as it does to me.)

Typographic Portrait- Process 2

Work-in-progress

A little something on another piece of work.

I realised that I am relatively out of touch with physics; it’s been a while since I’ve actually studied a topic in full detail. This is in comparison to the math, biology and chemistry that I have studied in much more detail. Thus, for the next work I have decided to merge math and physics into one. I will be attempting something called moiré patterns which involves as you can guess maths. An artist who has done this quite successfully is Andrea Minini.

You can check out more of her works here: https://www.behance.net/andreaminini

From my understanding, moiré patterns actually work by use of lines. Patterns of lines that are almost similar and are then overlapped to produce a pattern. I’ll admit I’ll not very good at explaining the science or how exactly this works (a little bit difficult to put it in words) so I found a video that illustrates this point:

If you take a look at Minini’s work you will find that it is made up entirely of lines and nothing else. I really like the simplicity of her works and moiré patterns. It is almost like an optical illusion because you will never see the full image unless every line is in its right place. There is a strong sense of depth from just the use of lines placed at varying proximities and angles. Every line is placed differently but in a rather subtle manner.

With moiré patterns, you can also create ‘moving’ images (much like an animation) depending on how you manipulate the lines as seen in the video here:

For lack of a better more formal term, I would say moiré patterns are just really cool. Moiré patterns can also be seen on television. I realised that I have actually been seeing these patterns on the T.V. and never knew they were moiré patterns. It occurs when actors wear for example stripped shirt. It is quite funny how while researching moiré patterns I found many websites that were teaching how to remove moiré patterns from things like photographs and there I was trying to create that very thing that people were trying to get rid off.

I decided to try my hand at this. I can admit it was rather challenging. The positions of each line are really important to the overall work. I started by making a ‘top’ layer of the work. This will be the piece that will be moved side to side to create the illusion of movement. This layer is done by creating a regular pattern of lines each equidistant. I experimented with lines of different weights and settled with one of a heavier weight (10pt instead of 5pt).

The next step was to create the image below which in this case will be my name. I first created my name, keeping the font fairly simple and straightforward (as they do in science papers and articles). I used Helvetica which isn’t what we use for research papers but I feel like it works best here as it is even more simple and clean than Times New Roman. I inverted the text and made the entire text into a brush and used it as an eraser in the next step.

Screen Shot 2016-02-17 at 10.20.37 am — What the eraser/brush does

The image above is what the brush looks like. The entire rectangle (A5 sized) will be the eraser. Only the portions filled in black will be erased.

This next step involves the appearance of the first layer (striped layer). I duplicated this layer first, keeping on untouched and worked on the other layer. The process now is fairly simple, taking the new brush that I made, I erased all of the lines, leaving just my name in stripes.

When I place back the unedited striped layer over my name layer, the name is no longer visible.

But as I move this striped layer to the right the name slowly becomes visible.

As the layer moves, the name will disappear again. The name will fade in and out as the top layer moves. For this to work, the striped layer has to be printed or drawn on a piece of transparency, while the name can just be on any piece of ordinary paper really. The transparency will then be placed over the name and can be slid around (side to side) to reveal my name. When pulled in one continuous motion, the name will appear to be flashing, fading in and out and regular intervals.

Moiré patterns work on a mathematical basis and can be applied to physics as well. But i would suppose it gravitates more towards maths. I didn’t want to make physics my main focus because I am really out of touch and it wouldn’t be fair to do something entirely on that based on my measly knowledge of physics. This piece is an interacting piece and it shows my inquisitive side, trying out new techniques and taking that risk to try something completely new.

The fading in and out of my name represents my relationship with science. Sometimes I really love, sometimes, not so much. A love-hate relationship. There are times when I want to learn so much and be involved, other times, I want to have nothing to do with it. Sciences aren’t easy to grasp all the time and there are occasions when it just frustrates and confuses me, and it’s times like those that make me withdraw (fade out) from it all. Then something about it will interest me and draw me back in (fade in).