final outcome

Foundation 4D Project: Sound Installations

Sounds of the Toilet

Artists: Calista Lee, Claudia Tan, Lydia Lui, Sammi Neo, Vanessa Ang

Artists’ Statement
Toilets are a shared space amongst people from all walks of life; and within these space are more often than not, unspoken rules for people to follow. Flush the toilet after using, use only what you must. ‘Toilets: Our Shared Space’ explores the nature of getting people together, and with a set of simple but open instructions, to create a piece of music together; and enjoy the symphony of the space as itself.

Research and Preliminary Ideas
Refer to Calista’s post here and my previous post here.

Final Outcome

Foundation 3D: All Works and Assignments

Assignment 1: A Gift

My client was Cassandra, and based on the following factors and traits (found in the link to my presentation slides here) , I made the finished product – the Caged Penguin.

Materials used:
– cotton
– felt
– metal wires
– scarf from daiso

The Caged Penguin

Penguins are cute creatures. They enjoy being together, and are very sociable animals. They keep their children in a creche, which consists of a group of young penguins, all taken care of by numerous adults. But they do have a dark side to them — due to the high levels of Parenting Hormones in their bodies, they have a huge tendency to abandon their child and adopt one that has been abandoned by another. There is also another fact in which the parents take turns to take of their child; each “shift” consists of starving for 22 days, being at their child’s side at all times. However, if their partner does not make it back in time after the 22 days are up, the child is then abandoned by the parent who goes off in search of food.

Taking into account Cassandra’s personality traits — sociable, outgoing and a lively person, her liking a penguin definitely suits her. I feel that this project, no matter how dark, serves as a reminder to always be happy and keep doing whatever that brings joy to her life.

Assignment 2: Identity

I was given the topic on identity. I was inspired by the thumbprint on my IC, and also felt the urge to blow something up…. but I settled with dissolving something.

Materials used:
Tub
Black Strings

Recipe for Bath Bombs:
– 1 cup baking powder
– 1/2 cup citric acid
– 1/2 espom salts (substituted with table salt)
– 4 drops of food dye (colors used for mixing: cherry red, lemon yellow and blueberry blue)
– 3 tablespoons olive oil (also used canola oil)
– 1 tablespoon water

Second attempt, unable to hold its shape/ dry up

Identity

This performance art aims to pose a challenge to the viewers and the norm of the general public: what exactly is identity? Isn’t what you like, which gender you associate with, your personality just self-image?

The art brings up the topic of identity being something you cannot change of a human; the place where they were born, the imprints of their thumbprints, their gender they were born with– all these cannot be changed, and thus are part of your identity.

The art consists of different colored bath bombs, with a black string embedded in them, arranged in a cropped visualization of a thumbprint. The different colors represent the different traits, principles and objects that humans associate themselves with. In the bath bombs, the black string mimicks the idea of DNA strands. Once water is added to the tub, everything dissolves except for the black strings, which is the real definition of identity. Everything else gets mixed to become a dirty brown.

Assignment 3: CDL Competition Zero Waste

Please refer to the competition brief about this project.

Materials used:
Aluminum foil
Wood branches
Colored paper (green, orange)
Metal wires
Wood board

The Pillars of Progress

This sculpture acknowledges the fact that singapore, as a young, growing nation, cannot progress without producing waste. This sculpture as a whole represents Singapore fighting against the downward spiral of producing more and more waste.

The height of the pillars mimicks the tall skyscrapers of singapore, and the three pillars represent the foundations of SSA, on the 3P (people, public and private).

As the SSA aims to promote a low carbon economy and (vision), wood is used for the straight part of the pillars, and the spirals will be made out of steel. A small thin piece of steel will hold the pillar straight upwards, and connect the spirals to the wooden part of the pillar. The plant used here is the bauhinia kockiana, which is a sturdy creeper plant. The plant brings both wooden and steel parts together, accentuating that the nation will strive
towards progress with the use of green ways. Over time the plant will grow and flourish, forming a nice green canopy (Singapore’s progress).

(did not submit for competition, too tired)

Ego

Reserved + Uncomfortable Social Situations = Suffocation

Nature-lover + Surrounded by Nature = Zen

Head in the Clouds + Fantasy Fiction = Triumph

Go with the Flow + Disruption = Anxiety

Forrest Gump

My Line is Emo

Project 03 – Ego

Hello!

At the start of this project, I wrote down on how I should go about with my thought processes as shown below:

…Something like that.

Well then, let’s get started.

Personality Traits

I took the 16 Personalities Test (also known as the Myer-Briggs’ Test) and thought about my personality for quite a while.

I am an INFJ-Advocate:

Some key personality traits (that I’m very conscious of):

Reserved
Emotionally stable
Detached
Daydreamer/ head in the clouds
Nature-lover
Goes with the flow

I like happy things, and I enjoy being happy!

Personal Symbolism and Image References

Nature-lover + Surrounded by Nature = Zen

Wisteria – A Calming Sight

One of my favorite flowers is the wisteria; From the many pictures I’ve seen on the net, I’ve always imagined myself in the picture itself, surrounded by the wisteria.
Just imagining it gives me peace. I love nature very dearly.

Reserved + Uncomfortable Social Situations = Suffocation

The Great Egret – Observation and Judgement

I often alight at Marymount station and walk along the canal to get home. I see an egret (sometimes a small gray one) from time to time, perched on the opposite of the canal (where no humans can get to them). They’ll look at me as I walk past, and I’ll stare back at them (because I find them pretty and interesting). If I stare for too long, they’d feel threatened and fly away into the trees.
Funny enough, I feel the same way during social events – reserved.
Observing people before I act. Making the correct judgement in forging new relationships. I don’t “hate” anyone, but if I get a feeling that someone doesn’t seem to like me, I’ll stay away from them.

Goldfish – A symbol of death.

When I was young, I used to keep fishes as pets together with my father. We would take care of them splendidly well — providing the correct minerals and pH levels in the tank, cleaning the tank regularly, properly introducing the new fishes by adjusting the water temperature…
But the only fish that we could not keep alive for long was always the goldfish. It’s eerie, but I’ve always associated goldfishes as pets that would not live for a long time.

Go with the Flow + Disruption = Anxiety

Water – Flow

Water, in literature, is a symbol of cleansing, life and freedom. It has many other meanings, but I feel that these three are the best meanings of water that I can relate to.

Skeletons and Ribcages – Death

Skeletons remind me of death. It is a very common symbolism among many.

Head in the Clouds + Fantasy Fiction = Triumph

Video Games – An interactive storybook

The video games I play are usually under the genre of RPG (role-playing games), and it’s something I grew with. I enjoyed the video games that I played very much as they had stories to tell; characters to relate to, environments that helped establish the story.
I feel that video games are what gave me most of my imagination as a person; I would say that without growing up with video games, I probably wouldn’t be in art school at this point of my life.

Color Analysis

I first picked color schemes that I liked via colourco.de ; This is a website that I use when I want to play around with colors.

Here is my chart of color schemes:

I didn’t go with mood boards because it’s rather distressing; I’d come up with too many color schemes. Listing the colors I found appealing would be better in terms of organization.

I grouped the numerous color schemes according to their similarity and got 4 distinct groups of colors. [C – complementary, M – monochrome, A – analogous]

Afterwards, I added a few more color schemes in order to balance my colors (after the lineart)

The Color Decision

Analogous Colors – Personality Trait (First Row)

I personally feel that my character traits are strong and weak at different times – I react differently in different settings. Analogous colors hence represent this fact; my personality is not toned in one color, but similar colors/colors side by side.

Monochrome Colors – Setting (Second Row)

An environment or situation, to me, is dyed in one color, but of different tones.

Complementary Colors – Outcome of Me (Third Row)

Settings influence my behavior, and how I react to people’s actions and the stimuli around me; that’s why I see it as not just one color, but different colors.

Sketches

After pinning down the settings, symbolism and colors, I put them together:

Head in the Clouds + Fantasy Fiction = Triumph

Reserved + Uncomfortable Social Events = Suffocation

Go with the Flow + Disruption = Anxiety

Nature-lover + Nature = Zen

Final Outcome

Head in the Clouds + Fantasy Fiction = Triumph

Head in the Clouds

Fantasy Fiction

Triumph

Personally…

I’m always told by people that I’m “in my own world” and things like that; and I agree wholeheartedly. If you catch me staring into space, I’m probably thinking about fantasy fiction and very often, video games.

Triumph is a depiction of what I feel after I play a video game/read a book — I feel that I’ve won and conquered; I have control over the character in video game, and when I win a battle, it of course feels triumphant.

With regards to colors…

I chose the pastel pink color scheme group for this equation as it best represents fantasy to me; it brings out a very pixie feel to it.

Go with the Flow + Disruption = Anxiety

Go with the Flow

Disruption

Anxiety

Personally…

I am a person who is very easy-going, and people do say that I’m accepting and very open to other’s opinions. But when others come into conflict with my moral values/ actions, I tend to get very perturbed and then, anxious. (I have no idea why, it maybe the consequences of being an INFJ-A).

With regards to colors…

I chose the deep blue and red color scheme group for the equation. Red and blue are my favorite colors, and the dark tones of the blue and red really bring out the melancholy of the “Outcome” panel. Deep red is the color of blood, and the analogous blue-green colors have this calming feeling to it.

Nature-lover + Surrounded by Nature = Zen

Nature-lover

Surrounded by Nature

Zen

Personally…

As a christian, I really appreciate the people around me, and especially nature. I love flowers, trees, and animals! I feel a huge sense of peace within when I’m surrounded by nature.

With regards to colors…

This time round, I went with realism over the choice of colors – green and blue for leaves and flower colors respectively and the color of purple for the wisteria flowers.

Reserved + Uncomfortable Social Situations = Suffocation

Reserved

Uncomfortable Social Situations

Suffocation

Personally…

As an introvert, I dislike being in uncomfortable situations. I’d feel very suffocated if I was forced to speak to a crowd that I’m not familiar with.

With regards to colors…

I wanted to bring out the white colors of the great egret, so I selected a color scheme group that would allow for the whiteness of the egret’s feathers. One of the color white’s symbols is safety, which also brings out the idea of being “reserved”; being careful and cautious.

Final Presentation and Mounting

Reflections

This project was… even more tiring than the last. I had fun exploring color schemes, but it was tough trying to analyse myself and thinking about life. I did have fun doing something that I was familiar with; to be honest, it takes a lot of courage to print out my own digital art and even present it to the whole class. I’m glad that this project gave me the opportunity to step out of my comfort zone and show what I love to do to the class.

Artist Inspirations

Toi8

Toi8’s a Japanese artist which I’ve been inspired by for a very long time. He mainly does art for games, manga and animation. I love the colors he uses for his compositions, and I especially love his lineart.

Loika

Website: http://www.3daysmarch.net/

Loika’s natural compositions are beautiful, and the colors Loika chooses are very natural; which I enjoy very much!

Amei Zhao

Website: http://seventypercentethanol.tumblr.com/

Amei’s series of original art, The Nameless and the Scientist, is a favorite of mine. Amei does many beautiful concept and environmental art.

3D Final Project

I worked with Audrelia on the final 3D project of this semester!

For a recap, here’s a look at my modular construction:

PROCESS

TOOLS USED: Tracing paper, Daiso silver and gold party metal wrapper fasteners, nice looking paper from POPULAR

We wanted the sculptures to emit a warm glow and something that you would place in your bedroom. So, we used tracing paper for the base of our sculpture as tracing paper is a translucent material (and it would cover up some of the light such that it would not be too hard on the eyes).

We made each individual piece to have an oculus, so that there will be light emitting from the top. People will then be able to see and read in their bedrooms.

First, we blew up balloons and did paper mache using tracing paper. Afterwards, we popped the balloons and got some very nice material that emitted a nice glow with the lights we wanted to use.

Afterwards, we rolled the wrapper fasteners into cones using the sharp tip of a pencil. I glued them to two of the tracing paper moulds using hot glue guns.