Pages from the Tibetan Encyclopedia that I scanned on my recent trip to the ADM Library while searching for references (both visual and conceptual).
Murakami On Time
“Time could become deformed as it moved forward. Time itself was uniform in composition, but once consumed, it took on a deformed shape. One period of time might be terribly heavy and long, while another could be light and short. Occasionally the order of things could be reversed, and in the worst cases order itself could vanish entirely. Sometimes things that should not be there at all might be added onto time. By adjusting time this way to suit their own purposes, people probably adjusted the meaning of their existences. In other words, by adding such operations to time, they were able—but just barely—to preserve their own sanity. Surely, if a person had to accept the time through which he had just passed uniformly in the given order, his nerves could not bear the strain…”
– Haruki Murakami, 1Q84
Tattooed Seniors
Senior Citizens Reveal What Tattoos Look Like on Aging Skin – My Modern Met
I’ve always, always been interested in tattoos (mostly from an artistic perspective). As a point of relevance to how we’re looking at time, I like seeing how all these tattoos these people have accumulated remain a constant on their skin while also changing along with them (i.e. fading due to exposure to sunlight, distorting due to the changing elasticity of their skin). There’s that same tension there (to me) as there is in the Castor/Pollux mortal/immortal dichotomy I’m looking into. Not to mention these photographs are quite stunning in themselves.
Time map
My mind map depicting my thoughts on the topic at hand. I’ve highlighted the areas that are of more interest to me; from the word and idea clusters I’ve been using I can already tell which areas under the main umbrella categories are of the greatest interest to me and my project.
I have a personal interest in astrology, horoscopes and mythology that stems from an early age – my mother encouraged me to read widely and my favourite stories were always the Greek myths, including those concerning the constellations. So I’ve decided to develop this interest alongside my project so as to be able to work on ideas that have more personal significance to me.
Dotwork documentation video
One of my friends tagged me in this video featuring a dotwork illustration process. I was thinking that this could be a good idea for me to show how therapeutic dotwork is for me. It may also be a good time-based documentation log, so perhaps I could produce my own kind of process video as one of my final three outcomes in my project.
Dotwork is personally really important to me because I got into the style when I was in a very sad headspace. The process of dotting helped me overcome my sadness and negativity and has now become something that I really enjoy regardless of mood.
Gnoli’s Modern Bestiary
Giornale Nuovo: Gnoli’s ‘Modern Bestiary’
I love the details and surreal quality of these images. I’m using them as visual inspiration for the kind of images I want to produce with regard to my own project. I’d also like to incorporate the juxtaposition of the natural and the bizarre which is what I do already in my own personal illustration work.
From Something To Nothing
Francis Alÿs’s Sometimes Making Something Leads to Nothing.
Oddly poetic. I like the idea of all the elements of this project being transient/time-based with the video documentation and the absence of a tangible product of the project.
Sun/Moon Illustration
The Zodiac Man
I love the visuals and the circular, mandala-like images to do with the Zodiac Man.
Where am I?
I’m looking at the myth of Castor and Pollux, the twins that make up the constellation of Gemini. Castor was mortal, and when he died the immortal Pollux begged Zeus to grant his twin eternal life, which is the origin story behind the constellation of the twins.
I did this drawing as a starting point into my project, which will be more illustration-based and explore the mortal/immortal divide as well as astrology and myth which is what I’m specifically looking at with regard to time. I used coloured Micron pens for a change (I usually do black and white dotwork). I am a Gemini myself so this would explain my choice of focus.