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3D II 003 – Submission [KINAESTHESIA: Shamora]

Dear all,
this project is done by Sheryl and I. We researched on Shark and Remora, and the final work is an inspired piece of their relationship!

 

SHAMORA

 

The Making

As we have already documented in detail our process in the other OSS posts, this will only contain photos of the key contributing making process! 

We decided to focus on the 2 main senses of our avatar – Shamora: Touch & Sight

After much brainstorming, we finally settled on the fresh idea of WATERBED. The gentle waves of the water from within, determines the motion of the structure. This facilitates a sense of movement as u rest yourself on the waterbed. Because the shark has fluid and smooth movement, the water seemed as a great choice of material.

  

The PVC plastic was an ideal material to contain the water, and its high density allows it strength to keep the water in it. We then sealed the plastic 2-3 times for security.

We had put glitter and little crystals to provide a shimmering effect as the water moves. 

For enhanced user experience, we realised that only 2 layers would give a better sensation and visual effect. Therefore, we would repeat the process again to make another layer of waterbed! 

Adding on the lights – we used purple and blue cellophane papers and placed them at the light source. This gives amazing visuals as the water reflects light and it would seem as if it is glowing. 
We were inspired by this actually:

 

 

All in all, there were a lot of testing and failures, but all of that only led to improvements and ultimately a successful piece. We are proud of this whole learning experience! wink

 

The Product

The ferroxide rests scattered on the top surface of the waterbed, and only gathers when there is a magnetic force underneath (between the 2 layers of the water bed).

 

The Experience

The user experience could be said as therapeutic, gentle, and beautiful laughing 
From feedback, the colours from the lights contribute to a beautiful glow as if it’s from the water. This exciting visual gives reference to how the sharks could see in deep waters with their relatively better eyesight. The fluid waves of the water in the installation mimics the fluid nature in movement of the shark as well. Resting your hand on the water bed helps relax, as it is a very comfortable feeling.


The installation is interactive as it allows 2 people to come and play with directing the ferroxide with the use of magnet hooks. With the magnetic attraction, the ferroxide is drawn to the magnets, with a spiky appearance despite a soft texture. This shows how the remoras have micro hooks on their adhesive discs to attach themselves onto the sharks.

While interacting, your hand now works as a shark, while the ferroxide act as remoras which are attracted to you. They follow your movement, and leech onto your transport. This is a powerful and convincing demonstration.

 

Artists’ Statement

  

 

We absolutely love this piece of work! It hasn’t been easy at all, going through trouble with getting the right materials, trial and error for each stage of the making and spending late nights making them work! Yet, looking at the final display, it seems all worth it 🙂 

It was also a very enriching lesson, experiencing the other works by our classmates, as well as receiving valuable feedback and suggestions given by Ms Cheryl and her professional friends smile

We hope that eventually, this may have opportunity to be potentially expanded and improved into something of a larger scale, to reach out to a wider audience and perhaps also contribute to the society in terms of medical or awareness purpose! 

 

 

3D II: SOUNDTEXTURISER 2.0

Improved edition of GAYO

 

The Making

To improve, I have to first identify the problems or weaknesses of the current model. After feedback from the class, I have finalised on a few points:

  • A lack of different materials to give layers in sound & visual
  • Too simple

I then worked on it, by drafting out new designs which eventually turned to a musical cube idea with stretchy ends! I am inspired by:

An Accordian

the mechanism of the accordian to trigger sounds! 

As for the cube, I planned to use materials of different densities/ opacity/ and abilities to reflect light. This would encapsulate many visual effects as well as sound difference. 

Materials picked:

  • Translucent hard plastic
  • Rose gold aluminium/copper paper
  • Square glass
  • Elastic strings
  • Soft wood of 2 thickness
  • Board

 

  

 

 

 

FINAL TESTING

3D II – WK 10 [Installation In-progress]

This project is a joint work by Sheryl and I!

 

Research

The animals we decided to work on were Shark and Remora. They had a mutualistic symbiotic relationship. This means that both of them benefit from the way they interact with each other.

An avatar we worked out was: Shamora!

( infographic of shamora )

 

Ideation

It is amazing how from adhesion, we could link it to magnetism in ferrofluid as the main force in our eventual work. From hooks and velcro, we turned to water bed inspired by natural fluid movements, and then coming across the idea of attraction and then following into magnetism! 

We agreed that it is very interesting to use magnets to depict the relationship of sharks and remora fish, as well as to symbolise their kinetic movements.

 

Progress

We started on the making of our work by first DIY-ing our own ferrofluid!!! And there was a very dangerous ingredient – acetone yell We were so scared we put on gloves, goggles, masks and we did it at a relatively safe outdoor environment.

Materials required:
Big non acetone-reactive bowl
Cassette tapes (we bought them on carousell 1 for $1 yay)
Magnets
Acetone
Oil

 

We first removed the rolls of tape.

One by one unrolling them into the big bowl.

Tada. We estimated we needed this amount of tape to be reacted with acetone.

Finally, we added acetone into the bowl carefully and cover it. We left it to react over the night.

Collecting the reacted ferroxide!

It is reactive!

Ironing and sealing of the PVC plastic!

Sealing works!

 

Check out our videos on the making of our work!

Making of ferrofluid:

——- Progress till 4 Apr ——–

 

4D II Project 3 – Controversial artists and their works [Research]

Researching on controversial art works

MILO MOIRE – PLOPEGG (2014)
Warning: Age-restricted content

At Art Cologne 2014, Swiss artist Milo Moiré stood naked on a pair of stepladders outside the German art fair, proceeding to squeeze paint-filled eggs out of her vagina. Each egg smashed on the blank canvas below, creating a supposedly colourful expression of fertile creativity. Moiré explained: “I’m interested in pushing boundaries through art, living and expressing my art with my body and mind while opening mental doors.”

Milo Moiré is a Swiss conceptual artist and model known for her nude performances and the use of her body in her art.   “To create art, I even use THE original source of the femininity – my vagina“.

 

Final work – “PlopEgg Painting”

 

Personal Opinion

I came across this piece of performance art by Milo Moire from a video post shared on Facebook, 2 years ago. It was a memorable piece to me as I first watched such a daring and raw art performance (before I started studying art).
What was impactful to me, was her nudity in public and that she was performing with her private body part, pushing painted eggs out of her birth canal (an act which will be censored and disallowed in most conservative societies such as Singapore). Hence, I was shocked by the explicity of her performance, but also admired how she was composed and confident of her own work. She knew what she was doing, and she gave sense of pride in her production.
In my own understanding, I perceived it as “a birth of her work of art” literally, with the most traditional and explicit expression and development of the work. I could relate it to concepts of women, fertility and creativity, but I feel like it could be at a more appropriate setting, with interested audience, instead of a public place with passers-by just moving on with their everyday life.
Was
she trying to normalise the performance and be integrated with the everyday thing or was she trying to invite serious attention to her art?

 

Public Response

laughing “a powerful feminist statement about women, fertility and creativity”
yell “absurd, gratuitous, trite and desperate. Anywhere but an art gathering, this would be regarded as a satire on modern cultural emptiness”

 

Art Practice

She believed in using her body as a medium, a tool of her art expression live. In her famous performance art pieces, she was mostly nude as symbolism for her beliefs/concept. 

 

Other controversial works by her:

“Naked Selfies” 

http://milomoire.com/en/imprisonment-naked-selfies-in-paris/

Naked Selfies was another piece of work by her which resulted in a resounding public discussion disputing over the controversy in the concept she was trying to perform. 

 

JOHN CAGE – 4’33” (1953)

John Cage composed his most famous and controversial piece of ‘music’, a piece void of sounds made by any musical instrument. It was performed by David Tudor, in 3 movements.
Pianist David Tudor walked out on stage on August 29, 1952, in Woodstock, NY, sat down at the piano and closed the lid. At the end of the first movement, the lid was re-opened. This closing and opening was repeated to before the second and third movements. Instead of music performed in a traditional concert setting, the initial impression was that the audience had been subjected to silence. 

 

John Cage on Silence:
https://youtu.be/pcHnL7aS64Y

 

Why 4’33” ?
John Cage: “Of the four characteristics of the material of music, duration, that is time length, is the most fundamental.  Silence cannot be heard in terms of pitch or harmony:  it is heard in terms of time length.” He emphasised structural significance in his music. 

 

Art Practice

Cage (1912-1992) was a pioneer in using instruments in non-standard ways. For example, he wrote works for a prepared piano–a piano that had objects placed under some of the strings to create unique sounds. He was also a major influence in the development of modern dance along with his partner, choreographer Merce Cunningham. He was also one of the first to compose using electronics.
It was the composer’s study of Zen Buddhism that influenced his aleatoric or chance music, meaning that part of the composition is left up to chance as determined by the performers.
(Adapted from: http://www.cmuse.org/john-cage-433-music-or-silence/)

 

Public response

Immediate:
The silence of the piano did not leave the audience in silence. They made their own music by their whispers that grew louder as they wondered what was going on. Some of them got up and walked out. Others shuffled in their seat, anticipating that the pianist would play something. Cage created this work to encourage people to listen to the sounds around them. The sounds make their own music even if it is not the traditional or conventional music people are used to.

 

Public discussion:
laughing Many were supportive with the idea of the natural soundscape and appreciative of the piece that was ‘played by the audience and the environment’. John Cage brought attention to silence (and pauses) as fundamental and essential music. It gave a deeper level of understanding of music that it comprises the production of sound as well as its absence. 

yell However, others disagree with the labelling of simplistic silence (already present & not produced) as music even though the composition and performance by professional musicians seemed to give the piece justification as legitimate music.

 

Personal Opinion

It was a brave move to “perform silence live”. I liked the avant-garde of it, a fresh idea of observing greater detail of our surrounding sounds and ambience into a soundscape. I was greatly inspired by that fact that 4’33” is a versatile and a constantly different piece played at different settings, under different conditions and with a different audience – because it is live piece contributed by everything/everyone in the same setting at the time. It just means that, each time it is a new experience. wow. Yet, I agree with the point that it may not be considered music or composition as there wasn’t a fixed or specific tune/feeling designed by the musician, but the novel idea and experience initiated by John Cage should definitely be credited. 🙂

 

KANYE WEST – FAMOUS (2016)
Warning: Age-restricted content

One of the most discussed controversial video of today’s age. This video features naked wax dolls of George W. Bush, Donald Trump, Anna Wintour, Rihanna (who sings the hook for the track), Chris Brown, Kim Kardashian, Ray J, Amber Rose, Caitlyn Jenner, Bill Cosby, Taylor Swift and Kanye West all laying naked in bed in a modern recreation of Vincent Desiderio’s Sleeppainting from 2008.
The controversy lies in the feature of controversial figures who were related to him in different aspects, as well as nude exposure of the other celebrities. Was it his attempt at greater fame? Was he using his artistic license to broadcast nude likenesses of real people to a worldwide audience.
(http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/music/2016/07/01/kanye-west-famous-video-taylor-swift-lawsuit/86549972/)

 

Kanye West

Kanye West is an American rapper, songwriter, record producer, fashion designer, and entrepreneur.
In a public interview with Vanity Fair, West divulged that the celebrities chosen for the “Famous” video had some impact or influence on his journey to fame which included his ex-lovers, industry friends, family and anyone else who has contributed to his controversial trek to celebrity.
He said his inspiration originated from “Sleep” by Vincent Desiderio (2008), and he had tried to maintain artistic vibe in the video by ensuring the shots were not too sexualised.

 

Public response

There were varying responses from the public. Most of them shared their own perception of the meaning of the video.

laughing “The video itself is really uncomfortable, because it mirrors how the media/world is super obsessed with these famous people, almost in a serial killer kind of way. Even when these famous people are really vulnerable (sleeping and naked), we still keep looking at them. At the end though, he thanks them for being famous and kind of having to put up with being famous. There’s a redeeming/clear shot at the end of the whole painting.”
An interesting rendition of “Sleep” by Vincent Desiderio.

yell Many comments on his video included discontent regarding the sexual content and explicit lyrics, drawing reference to it as pornography.  

 

Personal Opinion

I feel that this whole controversy brings us to a bigger issue in this age – nudity and sex. Looking at most controversial pieces around the world in the modern society, the feature of nudity and sexual content invites most discussion about what should be the extent/scope… IN THE NAME OF ART? This leaves us to defining art and how art should be. Yet, it cannot be done, which is why controversy arises. With regards to “Famous” by Kanye West, I do not agree with his ‘artistic move’ in rendering his own version of “Sleep” by including known figures ‘in the same bed’. I think it is unnecessary and there could be other ways to express his same meaning. In my opinion, he made use of the idea of sex and nudity as a topic for discussion and… fame. 

 

 

DAVID HAMMONS – HOW YA LIKE ME NOW? (1988)

This painting was initially on a public billboard near the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC, but was later moved inside the gallery setting after a group of young black people attacked it with sledgehammers.

In this painting, Jesse Jackson was portrayed with white skin, bleached hair, and blue eyes (the general features of white Americans). The words along with the portrait “How ya like me now?” were inspired by Kool Moe Dee’s lyrics (an iconic rapper of the eighties).

 

Jesse Jackson

Why Jesse Jackson?
In the 1984 presidential election and 1988 presidential election, Jesse Jackson became the second African-American black candidate to run nationwide primary campaigns.

Through this art work, Hammons challenges the notion that the colour of one’s skin can accountably change their politics, suggesting that racism still interfered with politics.

David Hammons

 

 

Public response

The most immediate and direct response triggered by the art work was the damage of the work piece by a group of young black people. They probably felt that Hammons’ portrayal of Jesse Jackson was an act of racism, an insult to the black as it suggested a white superiority.
Hammons’ ‘How Ya Like Me Now’ conjures an amalgamation of responses. Some find his portrayal an insult to black political history, whilst others recognise a pressing statement made by Hammons, ultimately, urges us to defy and combat the prejudices made in politics.

 

Personal Opinion

I liked this piece of controversial art. It was meant to invite discussion, raise controversy. The act of damage of the painting is a reflection of superficial understanding (misunderstanding) of the message behind the Hammons’ portrait of Jesse Jackson as white. Some may perceive it as racism, that white Americans are preferred, and would be superior than the black to become President. However, I feel a sense of Hammons’ sarcasm in his work. “How ya like me now?” contains a negative connotation in this case. He seems to be mocking/ expressing his disagreement towards the issue of race and skin colour, a factor to affecting victory of presidency election. 

 

Ultimately, art is subjective. Most art become different in the varying perception of its meaning. And I feel that is what is interesting and attractive about art.

 

 

References:
http://www.dazeddigital.com/artsandculture/article/20242/1/the-ultimate-controversial-performance-artworks
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/jonathanjonesblog/2014/apr/22/artist-eggs-vagina-paintings-performance-art-milo-moire
http://pegasuspages.com/2013/01/13/controversy-in-art-or-the-art-of-controversy/
http://www.nytimes.com/1989/12/01/arts/portrait-of-jackson-as-white-is-attacked.html

John Cage 4’33” Music or Silence?

What silence taught John Cage:  The story of 4′ 33″


http://www.highsnobiety.com/2016/06/27/kanye-west-famous-video-meaning/
http://hiphopdx.com/news/id.39379/title.kanye-west-reveals-the-meaning-behind-his-controversial-famous-video#
http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/music/2016/07/01/kanye-west-famous-video-taylor-swift-lawsuit/86549972/

 

4D II Proj 2 – Soundscape/ Sonic Portrait

Soundclip here

 

Artist Statement

My father works as a taxi driver. He stays in his taxi for at least 12 hours a day, 15 years, almost everyday.
I would like people to picture how taxi drivers like my father, work in their small driver seats and spend their days on the roads, and occasionally conversing with few passengers. He would sometimes have meals together with his colleagues in the same taxi company. But his life revolves very much around his taxi job after sending my siblings to school and my mother to work.
Main idea – With sounds, imagine space, time & experience
Why did I work on father? 
I want my works to have a little bit of myself, of my family. As I grow to an adult, they grow old. I want to always remember how they were like to me, I want them to see for themselves what influence they have made to me, how they are a part of me, through my work. In the previous semester, I worked with my mother in mind for 4D I Proj 2. And, it is time for my father, whom i am similar to in personality, yet we don’t connect as much. I hope to show that I appreciate them as they are involved in my production. Specifically to this project, I want to show appreciation in the sacrifice my father has done for the family.

Concept Development

Initial brainstorming

(trying different perspectives) 
  • My friend’s dog
  • My grandmother who stays at home all day
  • My father
  • My neighbour
  • Soundscape of my trip around the neighbourhood

 

 

Sounds:
recorder in the car (footsteps nearing the car)
opening the door
turning on the engine
setting up for work
seat belt on
driving off & on the roads
sounds of motor vehicles passing by
wind while winding down of windows
radio
sound of money transaction (notes & coins)
driving (fade out)
engine off
birds chirping
cricket sounds
lift
returning home
“hi daddy”

Research

I didn’t have to interview or do much research on the taxi-driver occupation. It is something I am already familiar with, I grew up with the car, and there are times when it is silent in the car and I pay attention to the environmental and mechanical sounds. With these familiar sounds, I formed an idea in my head – Journey.

 

Film/Artist references

Gentle Bones – Shifting Over

Reference from a music video!
(Okay, honestly my ambition is to shoot music videos so I find a lot of inspiration and reference from MVs)

  • How the engine starts off
  • How it includes the sounds of the vehicle + environment
  • Imagining space and journey with sounds

Challenges

The greatest difficulty of producing this sound clip is that I currently live in hall and I rarely spend time with my father and my family. It is challenging to find time for the both of us to obtain recordings of my father in the car, when he goes to work and when he ends work, considering the fact that as I process the audio I do not have the time to re-record if it fails. So, I could only work with the separately recorded sounds then mix and arrange them to make it flow as best as possible.

Another slight challenge would be using sounds to tell time (how the story flows). For example, how to tell that my dad has been driving all day… Then, I remembered to include sounds of birds chirping in the day, and the cricket sounds at night, as well as fading out to drag.

 

3D II – WK 7: SOUND TEXTURISER

Research

The vibrating ruler pushes the molecules in the air, making them bunch together. As the ruler vibrates back and forth it makes waves of molecules pushed together (pressure waves). The molecules transmit these pressure waves through the air into our ear, where they are converted to electrical signals that get sent to our brain.
When the ruler is longer it vibrates more slowly, so pushes molecules together less often, so the waves of molecules are further apart – the frequency of sound waves are lower. Lower frequency waves have a lower pitch.
When the ruler is shorter it vibrates more quickly, so makes higher frequency pressure waves, which have a higher pitch.

http://www.ingridscience.ca/node/497

 

Experiment

(video – varying width & thickness)

 

(video – varying length)

 

IDEATION

Deriving the concept of how different lengths and thickness of material can produce sounds in different notes, I picked soft wood as my main material.

The point of using only 1 material, is to highlight on how simply by varying the certain conditions of the same material, it can produce sounds of different notes and layers! 🙂

Another material used is the marble. It is interesting as it creates a special sound together with the soft wood. 

 

Inspirations

An enveloped structure (similar to 20 sided dice/ virus cell wall)
Ms Cheryl’s chicken feeding toy
Chinese yo-yo

Egg Shaker

 

Process

Creating unique pieces in varying sizes (length & thickness) and then assembling each of them together. They must be closely pieced so that the marble would not fall out! yell

 

Finally trimming pieces and adding the marble in, before sealing the piece. Would be horrible news if I forgot to put the marble and sealed it first… 

The original idea ended here, but EUREKA. The sound invoked an idea – chinese yoyo!

 

The sticks and strings were then added to include entertainment value to the piece.

 

TADA my finishing piece! 

 

Continue reading

3D II WK 8 – Research: Sharks & Remora

SHARKS vs REMORA

  

 

Look at them being so harmonious and comfortable together…
The relationship between the two species is… Symbiotic – Mutualism 

 

Mutualism relationship:
The remora fish attaches to the belly of the shark by a sucker disc in it’s mouth. It travels everywhere the shark goes, with protection and free transport from the shark. It eats any parasites on the shark which helps keep the shark clean. It also eats any leftover food from the shark. The remora gets to eat and the shark stays clean and healthylaughing

 

…however, too many of these remora fish may cause the host to slow down significantly (causing similar effect to how barnacles are to whales), and this may cause danger!

 

Skeleton of remora (taken from the video link)

Front view. Skeleton of remora (taken from the video link)

Skeleton of remora (taken from the video link)

 

For more information:
http://www.leisurepro.com/blog/explore-the-blue/shark-remora-relationship/#

 

Specifically on Remora

2 key senses (adaptation) they rely for survival

  • SIGHT 
    To spot hosts and then attach themselves
  • TOUCH – Grip (To adhere)
    In the case of remora fish, there isn’t specific senses that are especially enhanced that they require for survival. In these fish, they have very distinct and unique adaption: suction plate. They use this to attach to host fish like sharks to benefit from them. 

Another special ability of them for survival is the ability to feed off parasites, meaning cleaning their hosts. This way, they feed from it, while helping the host fish. 

 

Range of motion

They adhere to host with their adhesive plate 🙂
They swim well with their fins and tails, in a sinous or curved motion.

 

Skeletal make-up

The remora’s suction plate is a greatly evolved dorsal fin on top of the fish’s body.
The fin is flattened into a disk-like pad and surrounded by a thick, fleshy lip of connective tissue that creates the seal between the remora and its host. The lip encloses rows of plate-like structures called lamellae, from which perpendicular rows of tooth-like structures called spinules emerge.
The intricate skeletal structure enables efficient attachment to surfaces including sharks, sea turtles, whales and even boats. (Georgia Tech, 2013)

Head of a young remora (Remora osteochir) 26.7 millimeter long as seen fron the (A) side, (B) top and (C) front. (Images: David Johnson)

In Feb 2015, NJIT researchers found that the adhesive disc on the remora’s head used to attach to sharks, rays and other pelagic hosts is actually a complex mechanism that includes a modified fin structure with teeny spikes (called lamellar spinules) that generate friction to adhere to the host. Remora head anatomy also differs from other fish in having unusually-structured blood vessels that may be the secret to how they maintain adhesion for hours at a time.

Read more at: https://phys.org/news/2015-02-remoras-dont.html#jCp

 

FUN FACT
Did you know:  the name ‘remora’ comes from the Latin word mora, meaning ‘delay’ or ‘hold up’ or ‘totally annoy tongue-out

 

In-class Activity!

We had class in a dance studio where we demonstrated movement of our researched animal! Below are the results in terms of sketching:

 

Next, we did paper crafting according to movement and their special characteristics!
For my research on Remora fish, the sucker disc is the most distinct feature of it, therefore I depicted it with paper showing suction.
As the fish adopts free transport from the host fish eg. shark, it doesn’t exhibit it’s own swimming motion.
It swims to the current and to the movement of the shark, which is flowing (as shown below!)

 

3D II WK 6 – Dialogue In The Dark (17/2)!

It was my first experience at the DiD, and I have been looking forward to it since weeks ago! I have heard sharings from other people regarding their experience, but still not know what to expect.

The following will be charted graphs about my personal experience throughout the whole trip.

 

 

 

 

Crafting my experience

img_3649

The above is the overall view. I did not craft a sculpture, but a landscape to present my rough sense of space while I toured the room in total darkness. Generally, it felt a little enveloped throughout, except for when we were taking a seat and chatting at the park as well as the interactive part of the tour (where we sat on the virtual boat through the Singapore River), there was motion, there were sounds of the environment and I could really feel that I was outside and feeling the breeze and water on my face wink

 

img_3650

This depicts how I felt when we first got in. It felt really enclosed as though the space was so small. We had to feel the wall and ‘touch’ our way further in the curved path and curved walls. I could see nothing, so I felt like I was walking through a scary deep tunnel frown

 

img_3651

As we travelled deeper, I had a little sense of engulf-ness as I felt myself smaller compared to the space I was being brought into. 

 

img_3652

We were slow and careful, for there were stairs and uneven ground filled with rocks/pebbles that we normally have at parks. Steps were really scary and I was glad we formed a line and we had people at the front passing down the message where the stairs would start/ end.

 

img_3653

This was how I felt as I walked into the rocky uneven ground at the ‘park’. All of us used the white cane to feel for the ground surface and held onto each other for balance as we wobbled our way through the rocky and grass patch towards the benches and the trees. 

 

img_3654

Shortly after, we were guided to the interactive virtual boat area. This was the highlight and the favourite part of my trip! The ferry was swaying to the waves and sprinkles of water from the side of the ferry could be felt at my face. This evoked picture memory of myself at the Singapore River Clarke Quay area together with the sounds of the environment, the surrounding shops and also The Merlion!

 

img_3655

The rest of the experience includes touching a real car, the car plate and passing by the ATM, a market and finally a cafe where we purchased drinks and snacks at the counter. We made use of our sense of touch and smell and hear to help us experience the surroundings. The fruits at the market smelt nice 🙂 This part of the trip did not specially give me a sense of space, besides with no light and no sight, I couldn’t quite grasp space. 

 

Discussions & Take aways 🙂

During the 1-hour long trip in pitch darkness, the group had discussed with the guide several interesting questions especially about the use of other senses:

 

How do the blind differentiate money?
Much to our surprise, the blind do not exactly rely on the braille on the notes, but instead just compare sizes. Differentiation of coins would be simpler as the new series of coins has differing edges and ridges along it’s side as well as the surface.

 

How do the blind dream?
For people who are born blind, they do not dream of actual images/ colours. Their dream consists of sounds and they would feel from sense of touch. As for people who have lost their vision, they are capable of dreaming actual images from their memory or blurry images.

 

Concept of colour to the blind?
People who are born blind cannot imagine or picture colours in their minds, but there is description or meaning of colours that associate with feelings, to help them ‘feel’ colours.

 

4D II Proj 01: Alter Ego

Truthfully, i’m excited to be doing alter ego. I have known myself since young that I have many many alternative personalities of me in my head that I think about and feel about. But moral education and my own set principles lead myself to who I am today.

This project would kinda be stripping a part of my inner a little and I’m just excited to do that.
Haha oh, you don’t know me man. 


PROCESS

Task 1: Fictional characters
Severus Snape
Hulk
Bruce Banner
Harley Quinn
Squidward 

Task 2: Public figures
Show Luo Zhi Xiang
Cara Delevingne
Lu Rui En
Song Ji Hyo
James Corden

Task 3: People I know
Cousin
Wei En
Kai Xin
Mother
Arrow (My God Dog – friend’s dog)

Task 4

Harley Quinn
she reflects our own dark desires, our own animalist nature that most of us suppress with religion, cultural values

voluntarily dives into the acid to prove her love
walks the fine line between dependent and independent
crazy and lovable to slut and bimbo
constantly seeking a sense of identity but doesn’t know how
a character full of conflicting personas
and another one of her personas is her rational, Harleen Quinzel side
ultimately, Harley is a character of passion
instead of allowing societal constraints and accepted norms dictate her action, she feels she is only free when she is allowed to do absolutely anything she wants
and she doesn’t hate people like the Joker, she loves people
Harley has a strong sense of compassion and loyalty towards the people in her life

The Psychology of Harley Quinn: A character analysis

I feel I have conflicting personas similar to her.

She does shows our dark desires, one of them 敢爱敢恨 (dares to love and dares to hate). Her love for Joker so strong to willingly do almost anything for him, and sticking by him no matter what.

People may say she’s dumb to be his puppet when he doesn’t reciprocate her love. But she’s brave.

Most of us today have reservations about showing our vulnerability and about being dependent and clinging onto what we love and what we want. Sometimes, we let go.

I want to love like her. In another side of me, I want to be that crazy and lovable and a slutty bimbo.

Yet understandably, we suppress our dark side with morals and values we think are more important in the society. That is the rational, Harleen Quinzel.

Wanting to break free from societal norms and constraints to do anything she absolutely wants, that is Harley Quinn.

And that is me too.


Squidward

ill-tempered, pretentious, and cynical who strongly despises his neighbors for their constant boisterous, noisy behaviour
also has a passion and interest in reading, arts and music

a darker side of his personality where he sometimes became wrathful, indifferent, and sadistic
however, Squidward is not a heartless character as he had softer side
to some degree, he actually friends with SpongeBob and Patrick but incapable to see the positive side of their childish antics, reason why he tend to loathe them more than truly love them

deep down, squidward wants to integrate himself into the world of zaniness his bikini bottom, but his intelligence and inability to ‘turn off his brain’ means he will always have high expectations that the thrills of bikini bottom can never meet, meaning his only hope is to save up and move somewhere that he prefers.

http://spongebob.wikia.com/wiki/Squidward_Tentacles

Perhaps the personality of Squidward could be relatable to most of us Generation Z teens.

Grumpy 24/7, ill-tempered, indifferent and a little unconcerned about life.

I feel like that most of the time though deep down, I really wish to integrate myself into this world and socialise with everyone else.

But I also feel that I’m too old and grumpy for all these, and reality just falls below expectations all the time.

Despite how we really feel like squidward, we hide this self just to integrate into society, to make friends so we don’t really end up a sore and lonely squidward.

Bruce Banner/ Hulk
socially withdrawn
emotionally reserved

capable of deep love/
turns into Hulk under extreme stress and anxiety
simple minded
quick to anger
resistance to mind control
violence

http://marvel.com/universe/Hulk_(Bruce_Banner)
http://www.incrediblehulkonline.com/incarnations.html
https://prezi.com/p0bmekxg_z_m/psychological-analysis-of-the-incredible-hulk/

I was drawn to the personality of Bruce Banner and his alter ego, the incredible hulk.

I have been known to my family and friends as an easily hot-tempered person, but most of the time socially awkward and reserved about expressing my feelings and emotions. I agree I get mad easily and I didn’t manage my anger issues well enough in the past. I regret that I used to let them out on my closest kins, having hurt them physically and emotionally. ):

After regaining my rational sense, I was deeply upset by myself, seeing the disappointed and saddened faces of my family. I promised to learn to control my emotion with better ability, learning to change ‘hot anger’ into ‘cold anger’ at times, and even to not be as easily angered.

Under high emotional stress and anxiety, for example academic pressure, I am vulnerable to being annoyed and getting mad.

This has happened just not too long ago when I was extremely stressed about taking my ‘A’ Levels but my family wasn’t helping me at all in doing so. I had to take up much of the responsibility in taking care of my grandmother and my parents, while managing with the heavy academic workload. The home environment was especially disruptive, not allowing me to rest well nor being able to revise my work when I get home. I forced myself to cope with all the commitment but eventually, I couldn’t hold it in and things happened… pretty badly.

The more I hold my emotions in, the greater the anger reflected in my actions.

I finally decided to do it based on Hulk, as it relates to my life more.

 

Task 5

Perform alter ego.

(Password: Hulkie)

 

Storyline:

Candy is an emotionally reserved and shy student. She tries to mingle around but is socially awkward. 

Under high emotional stress and anxiety, such as academic pressure and social expectations, she becomes vulnerable to being annoyed and getting mad.

The more she hold my emotions in, the greater the anger reflected in her actions.

She finally flips… (pun intended)

 

Further character research:

Dialogue/monologue/narration is especially important in this assignment. Therefore, to construct a scene and script, it is imperative to first know the way Hulk speaks.

From watching movies and from comics, I found out that Hulk speaks in third person. It is the most crucial find, with others including the fact that he is stuck with very little vocabulary and very little speech as well.

 

Concept development:

I wanted to it to be a close reflection of my life, that it has happened similarly to me before with the characteristics and traits of the person whom I decided to work based on. From Hulk, I found relativity in his simple mindedness and easiness to anger. I follow a close personality of a usually shy and reserved person, but is able to ‘explode’ and change into a different person when triggered.

 

References:

Film reference:
The Incredible Hulk (2008)
Avengers (2012)

Paying close attention to how little Hulk speaks, when does he speaks, and how he speaks in third person with simple language.

 

Challenges:

The greatest challenge is to portray the similarity in characteristics and behaviour, without outrightly displaying or changing the outside appearance. Meaning, I have to show distinctly who was my inspiration for this video, without giving obvious physical hints. This has to be done with sufficient character research.

3D II WK 4 – A4 SOUNDSCAPES

PROJ 002: PART I

CHOICE OF SOUNDS

 

Pleasant sound: Heartbeat

Hi guys, yes the audio above is truly the recorded sound of my heartbeat. smile I danced to increase my heartrate, then I placed my phone at my chest to record the sound of my heart beating. It has been digitally enhanced to amplify the sound slightly. 

 

Not tryna be philosophical but I think life is AMAZING. Also, the sound of my heart beating can not only be heard but also felt!!!!! from skin, from touch. surprised Hearing the beat of my heart, or my loved ones’ is extremely calming as it just reminds me how lovely it is that we are still here and alive LOL.

 

Represented by LOVELY PINK STRING.

To represent this sound because HEARTSTRINGS!! Pink to highlight the light mood of the favourable pleasant sound and the varying sizes of balls formed by twirling strings symbolises the impact of the sound. The heart pounding gives a visual image in my brain of a ball bouncing, which is why I designed such a construction! The varying sizes suggests the varying impact of the sound, although we may expect heartbeat to be rhythmic.

 

 

The voids and the suspension of the ‘beads’ are interestingly placed.

 

Unpleasant sound: Snoring

This is an unpleasant sound for me as having to sleep with someone who snores is simply terrible. This was in the past, when I was young with my siblings, we all used to sleep together with my parents in the same room. The purpose then was to make sure my parents could attend to us readily in case we need them in the night. I already have trouble falling asleep, so the addition of my dad’s loud snores only makes it worse ): Sometimes I got so annoyed that I had to wake my dad up to stop the snoring.

 

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Represented by BLACK GRAINY CONSTRUCTION PAPER

When I just listened to the sound, I visualised a very normal dark night, but the sounds ‘hit’ like thunder. They just sounded loud and disruptive. Therefore, I decided to come up with an uneven and ‘piercing’ soundscape.

It means to have a very uneven surface with sharp ridges emerging from a plain surface, yet somehow it has patterns in the heights, rhythmic like snoring. The grainy texture of the construction paper suggests the quality of sleep :/ and also the certain really soft ‘white noise’ or sounds from the environment which contribute to my whole sense of hearing!

Here are the photos documenting my work-in-progress:

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The idea of paper pop-ups came to me when I chanced upon this video post of wonderful paper pop-up sculptures, on Facebook by Peter Dahmen so the link’s below if you would like to check it out!
(I mean it is not as decorative as his, but the concept is similar…)

I decided to adopt this idea and I chose black paper to represent late night and the visual of the dark room in which I was supposed to be sleeping. The pop-ups form ‘Z’ and it symbolises ‘zzz’ which means sleep 🙂

Most importantly, they are designed with abrupt pop ups to show the thunderous and loud snores that disrupt my night ):<

 

Inspirations

Peter Dahmen
https://www.facebook.com/boredpanda/videos/10155015938159252/