March 2016 – ziyuziyuziyu

Art History // Final project_Research

Group members: Andrew, Fern, Chen Yue, Ziyu

Our group discussed and decided that we want to expand on the Chinese Ceramics for our final project!

We felt that the Chinese Ceramics in the past and now is really different in terms of functionality. They used to have ceramics as decorations at home on shelves, for offerings, and for storing items, and they are usually being owned by royalties in the past.

11057859_10152840338907761_8710685430858040730_n — Taken in South Korea

Now, anyone can purchase ceramics, and we use it mostly to place food and as a tool for us to eat.

We’d want to combine the two, tackling on the issue of using plates as decorative, and if it is only a utilitarian function, how can the print on the ceramics help push any idea we want to raise awareness about.

We are still in the midst of discussing how we should execute the prototype but here are some that we are considering:

Purchase a plain ceramic plate, paint it
Make a ceramic plate from scratch
Use paper plates, and then acrylic paint or white lacquer to try and paint it to look like ceramics
Use wood to shape it like a plate, then use white lacquer to paint and make it look like ceramics

Art History // Buddhism in Japan

Create an imaginary interview of the three Buddhist Japanese royal patrons: Shotuku, Shomu, and Fujiwara no Yoromichi

When we first saw the topic, Iskandar and I immediately said “Let’s do a talk show together!” and the rest were quick to agree as well! I was so glad that the decision was so unanimous. We then went back to research on the three patrons and inserted into a shared document on Google Docs.

After which, We transferred the words to a shared Google Powerpoint and started editing and adding visuals into it.

After that, we did a script that can aid us in the flow of presentation.

Now that all contents were in, we have to be in character to make sure that this talk show is convincing!

I managed to dig deep enough in my closet for 3 japanese-looking kimono for the team to wear! (it is supposedly 3 pajamas!). And Iskandar has his own Japanese looking outfits, so there we go!

At the initial stage of this module, we already received the timeline of what we will learn, and also, the topic for our presentation. We were not very sure of what to do because we saw other groups visiting museum, and the fact that our team is doing a topic on Japan, we were left confused…not knowing if we were supposed to visit a Japan related museum here in Singapore or not (is there one?) Later, we managed to find out that we are only required to do research and a mock interview or a role play. So as I’ve mentioned above, our group was really cooperative and this project is really a smooth sailing one!

Through this project, I really found out a lot more about Japan. I have always thought that Buddhism was from China, and Japan solely has got Shintoism as a religion and the other minorities are just small influences. I am awed and can’t wait to visit Japan one day to see those sculptures and temples in real!

2D Project 2 // FINAL

WATER

I wasn’t very confident of illustrating graphic art, but decided to try it anyway, because I really liked the idea of photography combining with illustrations! Overall, I really had fun exploring and trying out various ways of directing a shoot and drawing digitally, and below are some of the process work for my final artwork!

Water from the point of view of a flame is death.

I first shot an empty bottle with the motion of pouring water to an lighted candle.

I then illustrated water flowing out of the bottle towards the candle. However, my friends from group consultation suggested that the idea of a dying flame was still not as strong.. Thus, I’ve made the flame extinguish and water overflowing everywhere for my final piece

2. Water from the point of view of feng shui is flow of money.

suntec fountain 2 — I took a picture of the fountain of wealth at Suntec. Concept being, wealth=money, water=flowing, which already depicts my line! In addition, fountain of wealth is also known as the world’s largest fountain in 1998! It also is the representation of fengshui, thus my selection on this!

3. Water from the point of view of a Thai citizen is Songkran Festival.

SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURES — I directed the scene of Songkran with the help of my friends

Then i started editing the water illustrations in

A tourist spray a boy with his water gun during the Songkran festival at Khao San road, a popular tourist area in Bangkok. Songkran is the traditional Thai New Year festival. The most obvious celebration of Songkran is the throwing of water. — Tried to have a Thailand city Songkran background but it looks a little messy?

4. Water from the point of view of Singapore is contract.

bottle2 — We all know NEWater bottle is iconic, and its existence is also significant to Singapore’s water and its contractual terms with organization or regional countries. Thus, I decided to incorporate this element into this line.

had to use this toilet bowl because I wanted to illustrate and portray the idea of what people perceives – toilet water = NEWater

contract — I illustrated the water and incorporated NEWater’s logo into it too!

5. Water from the point of view of instant noodles is completion.

6. Water from the point of view of Science is ph7.

pH7 chart — I can’t find the correct tools and apparatus for this science experiment, thus, I used a stock image for this. As we know litmus paper test can determine the pH value of a substance, thus I used this visual to portray my idea!

All in all, I really had fun exploring and learning while on this project. Can’t wait for the next project already! 🙂

P.S. thanks for all the post-it notes guys! 🙂

4D Assignment 2 // Sound & Image

In this project, we had to use only audio/foley to present our narratives. This is a really interesting assignment and it also helped me understand how much music and sound effects can affect the mood and setting of a “film’, and how important it is to choose a suitable piece to fit at suitable place.

Story 1: Psycho Murder

Genre: Thriller

Scene description:
Sarah is being kidnapped in a dark room, she couldn’t see anything, and the silence was deafening; until the door finally creaked open, and the mysterious sound of footsteps slowly approached her.
As the footsteps reached beside her, all she could hear was voices calling out her name in the creepiest way ever. She then heard the mysterious person giggling, and then going a distance away from her, ransacking items, and then she hear him carving knives….In no time, the mysterious person ran towards Sarah and attacked her, and she passed on.

Soundtrack:

Story 2: A Chance Encounter

Genre: Romance-Comedy

Scene description:
The scene started off with a romantic jazz music in a French setting that leads us back to around 1940s. The protagonist would be having their meals, and as they got the bill and leave the restaurant, it started pouring and the male and female lead bumped into each other. Feeling the same way for each other, the two immediately had feelings for each other and they went off into a car, back to the apartment to “get a room”!

Soundtrack:

References:

To start off with the project, I searched on silent films to see how each narrative flows and also to see if the visuals still play a big part of the film, or is it heavily reliant on the audio effects.

Below are some of the reference videos that I used as a guidance to my assignment or some of which I found really interesting.

Le Roman De Max

Charlie Chaplin

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIq-JQHL6yU

Get your man

Process:

2D Project 2 // Research 2

We have presented on our initial ideation and direction of this project – point of view, and I have received many constructive feedbacks from my classmates (THANK YOU ALL!)

Moving forward, here are my final 6 phrases that I will be working on for the visuals:

Water from the point of view of a flame is death.
(Plan: to pour the water on the flame, but the water doesn’t touch the flame OR water touches flame and and it extinguishes)
Water from the point of view of feng shui is flow of money.
(Plan: Using the idea of Fountain of Wealth at Suntec)
Water from the point of view of a Thai citizen is Songkran Festival.
(Plan: Direct a scene of songkran with my friends)
Water from the point of view of Singapore is contract.
(Plan: incorporate newater – still planning!)
Water from the point of view of instant noodles is completion.
(Plan: Photograph the adding of water into the noodles)
Water from the point of view of Science is ph7.
(Plan: Show the litmus paper test and that water is ph7 – still planning!)

I will be focusing on illustrating only the WATER, since this is the topic I have chosen for this project. The other objects or setting will all be real, directed and photographed.

In the midst of planning my edits, I found a reference artist with a similar execution style that I am looking at – Hattie Stewart

On my previous post, the artist incorporated 2D into a 3D object, and snapped an image to make the 3D object look 2D. But Hattie Stewart’s execution is definitely closer to what I am looking to achieve. Graphic illustrations on top on an image or photography. Hattie’s designs are very elaborated, almost giving the idea of dadaism? For mine, I will only focus on her execution, on how she blend her illustration and photography that it will complement each other!