4D Project Proposal — The Library

Group members: Calista, Lydia

Ideas:

  1. Interactive game 
    Focus: Peculiar looking books found in the ADM library

    Idea: To draw people to not only the appearance of the interesting looking books of the ADM library but also the content of what is within these books, this interactive game will constitute the content of the various books to form a riddle, which will be the basis of the game.

    The game will be centered around a murder mystery, tasking the audience with the roles of detectives. The black, empty space sandwiched in between the printing area and the study area will be the starting point of the game. (Where the victim’s body is found). There will be clues left behind, guiding the audience through a linear story. Bright colored ribbons will help to bookmark the pages of the peculiar books, and notes will be placed inside these books (hints) to guide the audience to the next book.

    The interactive installation will come to a close when all the hints have been collected, and when the audience has solved the riddle/mystery.

  2. Filtering light
    Focus: What makes the beanbag area such a cosy place to sleep in?

    Idea: After interviewing a few friends regarding the library, we found out that the beanbag area is a nice place to take a nap, mainly because of the dim lighting of the area and not to mention, the comfortable beanbags. This idea will serve to make the beanbag area even more inviting by pasting colored translucent plastics on the windows to have it filter light. The light that is filtered through will then form a shadow on the floor, like light filtering through the canopy of trees.

  3. Optical Illusion
    Focus: The black, empty space between the printing area and the study area

    Idea: The empty space goes unnoticed because of how the walls and the carpeting is black. To draw people into the area and discover the fact that the area is in fact isolated, we will place an optical illusion installation in the space to draw people into the area.

 

Artist Inspirations:

  1. Teresita Fernandez, Fata Morgana

    “In nature, a Fata Morgana is a horizontal mirage that forms across the horizon line. Alluding to this phenomenon, Fernández’s project introduces a shimmering horizontal element to the Park that will engage visitors in a dynamic experience. The installation is a mirror-polished, golden metal sculpture that will hover above the Park’s winding walkways to define a luminous experiential passage for Park visitors. The metal forms, perforated with intricate patterns reminiscent of foliage, will create abstract flickering effects as sunlight filters through the canopy, casting a golden glow across the expanse of the work, paths, and passersby.  The project is Mad. Sq. Art’s first to fully utilize the upper register of a visitor’s space.”

    link: https://www.madisonsquarepark.org/view-do/calendar/mad-sq-art-teresita-fernandez

  2. Damien Gilley, Fortress

    “Portland-based multi-disciplinary artist Damien Gilley creates immense depth on flat surfaces and walls using only colored strips of tape and contact paper. His designs are meticulously measured and calculated considering the unique proportions and dimensions of each space where he constructs his art. The geometry of his work makes flat surfaces appear to have immense depth and space.

    link: http://www.damiengilley.com/Fortress

Introduction to the Histories of Art II Research Paper Proposal

Proposal

  1. Compare landscape painting by Guo Xi’s with woodblock print of Mt. Fuji by Hokusai. Consider the following in your discussion: patrons, producers, materials, production, function and meanings.

 

Two objects:

– Early Spring, Old Trees, Level Distance (hand scrolls)

– Fugaku Sanju-Rokkei (Thirty-Six Views of Mt. Fuji)
e.g. The Great Wave off Kanagawa

 

Introduction:

General Claim:
Both Hokusai and Guo Xi captured the essence of the landscapes they saw (? Not sure yet)

Stand:
Clear differences in influences, mediums, style/technique and context of landscape painting

Hokusai:

Edo Period Artist
Background: Katsukawa school, cutter of woodblocks, Tawaraya Sori School, Kano and Tosa Schools (Chinese-style painting + native Japanese yamato-e)
Influenced by Chinese, Western and Dutch styles of art

Guo Xi:

Chinese landscape painter from Henan Province
Northern Song Dynasty
Court Professional, a literatus, well-educated painter

 

Tentative claim:

-There are more differences between the landscape paintings by Guo Xi and Mt. Fuji by Hokusai (?)

 

Essay Plan:

  1. Introduction 
  2. Differences between Guo Xi and Hokusai’s use of techniques and approach to landscape painting

Hokusai:
Kumogata Clouds,
foreign influences,
use of color and pigment,
interpretation of a picture (context),
deep pictorial space, removed and high viewpoint (yamato-e)
enhance 3D via placing one foot in front of the other.

Guo Xi:
rooted in tradition (academic scholar) – studies the trees, nature etc.,
use of tonal varieties of ink,
brush strokes: thin beginning and end, broad centers,
landscape art not bound by nameable place,
approach towards space and spatial recession- through motifs

  1. Similarities between Guo Xi and Hokusai’s approach to landscape painting– yamato-e’s Chinese characteristics (rhythmic repetition)
    – deep pictorial space
    – execution based on fundamental knowledge of perception of space and depth
    (academic backgrounds, studies from schools (Hokusai)
  1. There is a distinction between Hokusai’s woodblock prints and Guo Xi’s handscroll landscape art
  1. Conclusion

 

Tentative Bibliography:

Hokusai

Bouquillard, Jocelyn. Hokusai’s Mount Fuji. New York: Abrams, 2007.

Bell, David. Hokusai’s Project: The Articulation of Pictorial Space. England: Global Oriental, 2007.

White, Julia, Mochinaga Brandon, Reiko and Woodson, Yoko. Hokusai and Hiroshige: Great Japanese Prints from the James a Michener Collection, Honolulu Academy of Arts. Seattle, Washington: University of Washington Press, 1999.

Mayor, A. Hyatt and Betchaku, Yasuko. “Hokusai.” The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin New Series Vol. 43, No. 1 (1985): 1-2+4-48. Accessed March 3, 2016. http://www.jstor.org.ezlibproxy1.ntu.edu.sg/stable/pdf/3263896.pdf

E. Guth, Christine. Hokusai’s Great Wave: Biography of a Global Icon. Honolulu, Hawaii: University of Hawaii Press, 2015. http://www.jstor.org.ezlibproxy1.ntu.edu.sg/tc/verify?origin=%2Fstable%2Fpdf%2Fj.ctt13x1kh0.6.pdf

E. Guth, Christine. “Hokusai’s Great Waves in Nineteeth-Century Japanese Visual Culture.” The Art Bulletin Vol. 93, No. 4 (2011): 468-485. Accessed 3 March 2016. http://www.jstor.org.ezlibproxy1.ntu.edu.sg/tc/verify?origin=%2Fstable%2Fpdf%2F23208270.pdf

 

Guo Xi

Vanderstappen, Harrie. The Landscape Painting of China: Musings of a Journeyman. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2014.

Foong, Ping. “Guo Xi’s Intimate Landscapes and the Case of “Old Trees, Level Distance” Metropolitan Museum Journal Vol. 35 (2000):            87-115. Accessed March 3, 2016. http://www.jstor.org.ezlibproxy1.ntu.edu.sg/stable/pdf/1513027.pdf

Jang, Scarlett. “Realm of the Immortals: Paintings Decorating the Jade Hall of the Northern Song.” Ars Orientalis Vol. 22 (1992): 81-96. Accessed March 3, 2016. http://www.jstor.org.ezlibproxy1.ntu.edu.sg/stable/pdf/4629426.pdf

Lawton, Mary. “Guo Xi [Kuo His; zi Shunfu]” Oxford Art Online. January 30, 2002. http://www.oxfordartonline.com.ezlibproxy1.ntu.edu.sg/subscriber/article/grove/art/T035701?type=biography&type=article&search=quick&q=Guo+Xi&pos=1&_start=1#firsthit