Mnemosyne – naddy

MNEMOSYNE’S SCENT: FINAL SUBMISSION

The four scents that my partner and I had were lemongrass aromatherapy, my mother’s perfume, star anise and seawater. While brainstorming, all these scents have a common ground to it which is something that is beach-y and have the possibility of being something traditional as well. As a fan of the island Bali and a fan of massages, I could link all these four scents to a Balinese spa and massage spot that is right next to Kuta Beach in Bali.

This then inspired our choice of materials and the accessories that we were going to make. We decided to create a cape as a representation of how someone would feel after getting a massage – invincible, just like a superhero. We also made a forearm accessory which is our modern take on the Balinese dancers’ bangles.

Our Full Material List

Cape:

Batik Cloth

Complimentary Light Grey Cloth

Aluminium Plate

Wire Mesh

Mounting Board

Arm Piece:

Balsa Wood

20 Gauge Wire

Twines

Candle Wax

Star Anise

Starting with the shoulder pads first, we drew out the shape or planar that we desire before cutting it out. The right shoulder pad is shaped with a very pointed tip and is hammered to give it a bumpy texture, just like how my trip to attain my mother’s perfume is. The left shoulder pad is a simple curve that was sanded all over to give it a smooth texture. The sides of the right shoulder pad was sanded too so as to not injure and poke the model as well as anyone who touches it.

I have inserted a wire mesh as well as a bended mounting board so as to create a “suspended” planar for the cape. The mounting board and mesh were inserted and heated up so that the mesh and board could bend and be slightly more malleable. The entire cape is done by hand-stitch for better accuracy and it can also yield the cloth from any open holes. I also sewed a few strands into the board and mesh to ensure that it doesn’t shift about.

The complimentary grey cloth is pleated in the middle to give sort of a drape-y feeling as compared to the batik which is stiff, rigid and sharp as it is pointing upwards. Once both pieces of cloth are done being sewn, I then started to piece them both together with the shoulder pads.

The arm piece is made out off 20 gauge wires, twines and balsa wood. The balsa wood is the main or dominant piece and it is a broken plane. The twines were braided so it had more support and would be able to tie the pieces securely. Once we have pieced together the balsa wood and twines, we then burnt candle wax and star anise, to create my partner’s unpleasant scent.

Final Model

The final cape model clearly showed the pleasant and unpleasant elements in both the fabric portion and also the shoulder pad portion. The batik fabric is suspended in the air, feels very stiff and has a sharp pointy edge representing the unpleasant scents. Whereas the grey complimentary fabric is very flowy, drape-y and has a lot of curves, representing how calming and relaxing the pleasant scents were.

My final thoughts

This project really thought me how to handle different materials and using it to have a particular outcome. It also taught me how to troubleshoot problems or glitches almost immediately especially when working in a tight deadline. I faced with problems such as not being able to have my fabric suspend in the air with just the wire mesh so I instantly thought of using a mounting board which proves to be able to support the heavy fabric.

In addition, I realized how for every portion of both the accessories we made, I tend to always have the conscious effort and thought to include planars the best that I can and it kinda have been ingrained in the designer part me now so I in the future I think I’ll always include planars HAHA.

MNEMOSYNE’S SCENT: PROCESS

This week, we have been tasked to do 3 planar models as well as a “one-piece” model in A2 size art card. I have tried combining my two scents into all these 3 models, varying its style and rationale yet still keeping in mind the initial form and what I have written in my mind map/diagram for both scents.

Model 1

Dominant: Broken

Sub-Dominant: Twisted

Sub-Ordinate: Complex

For this model, the Dominant serves as the plane that describes the unpleasant scent as it is broken in 2 parts so as to show how it is a “step” for me to smuggle the scent out of the country and into another country. The Sub-Dominant is the pleasant scent where it is a smooth and flowy piece which gives me calmness. Whereas for the Sub-Ordinate piece, it is in a complex shape as when these 2 scents combined, it gives me an overwhelming sense of emotion.

Model 2

Dominant: Twisted

Sub-Dominant: Broken

Sub-Ordinate: Straight

In this model, the Dominant piece is resembling my pleasant scent where the flowiness and calmness is more present and overthrows the unpleasant smell. My Sub-Dominant piece is resembling the unpleasant scent as it shows the struggle I had to take and step up to as shown in the broken plane and it also appears as if wanting to overshadow the Dominant piece. Whereas the Sub-Ordinate is a straight axis as it is to compliment the two very distinctive planes.

Model 3

Dominant: Broken

Sub-Dominant: Curved

Sub-Ordinate: Straight

In this model, the Dominant piece is the unpleasant scent that is overpowering the pleasant scent as it sits on top on the Sub-Dominant piece, wedged. The Sub-Dominant piece is the pleasant scent that is struggling to break from the unpleasant scent. The Sub-Ordinate is wedged onto the Sub-Dominant so as to “support” it and balance it out against the Dominant piece.

Class Activity Model

This is a very complex model that includes broken, twisted, curved, complex and straight axises in which resembles both my unpleasant scent very well. This piece showcases how I feel when I smell the scent and how I feel as I experience getting the scent every single time. There are many sharp edges in this model, staying true to the form I had in mind when mind-mapping my scents in the previous week.

Plastic Model

The plastic model is a combination of both my pleasant and unpleasant scent. The sharp edges, broken plane as well as the disgusting holes represent how unsettling the scent is to me, which relates back to mind map where I talked about associating sharp jaggered lines to unpleasant scents. The wavier and curvier plane is representing the pleasant scent as there is a continuous and peaceful flow, which was what I felt when trying to associate the scent.

MNEMOSYNE’S SCENT: RESEARCH

Who is Mnemosyne?

Mnemosyne is the goddess of memory and the mother of artistic inspiration. She was a female titan who had children with Zeus, the God of thunder and sky. She was an important figure to the Greeks that there were rivers and fountains dedicated to her or had her name on it.

In addition, the Greeks also placed a great significance on memory as a fundamental gift which differentiated man from animals. To them, memory served not only to remember, but to also reason and draw or foresee the future, based on the experience of the memory.

Examples of Mnemonic Devices

Mnemonic devices are actually techniques a person can use to help them improve their ability to remember something. In other words, it’s a memory technique to help our brain better encode and recall important information. To put it simply, it is a shortcut that helps us associate the information we want to remember with an image, a sentence, or a word.

The first technique would be acronyms. Acronyms are created from the first letters or groups of letters in a name or phrase. These can be used as mnemonic devices by taking the first letters of words or names that need to be remembered and developing an acronym or acrostic. An example of an acronym would be LOL which translates to Laugh Out Loud.

The next technique would be The Method of Loci. It is a mnemonic device that dates back to Ancient Greek times, making it one of the oldest ways of memorising. Using the Method of Loci is relatively easy. First, users would need to imagine a place with which they are familiar. For instance, if they use their house, the rooms in their house become the objects of information they would need to memorise.

Another example is to use the route to work or school, with landmarks along the way becoming the information needed to memorise. To summarise The Method of Loci, it is to go through a list of words or concepts needing memorisation and associate each word with one of the locations. Proceed in order so that retrieving of all of the information in the future would be easier.

The third device would be rhymes. A rhyme is a saying that has similar terminal sounds at the end of each line. Rhymes are easier to remember because they can be stored by acoustic encoding in our brains. For example, a personal favourite of mine:

Roses are red,

Violets are blue,

They way that you kiss me,

WHEW!

The next device would be Chunking & Organization. Chunking is simply a way of breaking down larger pieces of information into smaller, organised “chunks” of more easily-managed information. For instance in Singaporean telephone numbers – 8 digits are broken down into 2 parts, with 4 digits each. As such, placing larger quantities of information into smaller containers helps our brains remember more, and more easily.

Organising information into either objective or subjective categories also helps. Objective organization is placing information into well-recognized, logical categories. Trees and grass are plants whereas a cricket is an insect. Subjective organization is categorising seemingly unrelated items in a way that helps you recall the items later. This can also be useful because it breaks down the amount of information to learn.

Visual imagery is the last device and is great way to help memorise items for some people. For instance, it’s often used to memorise pairs of words such as green grass, yellow sun, blue water, etc. The Method of Loci, mentioned above, is a form of using imagery for memorisation. By recalling specific imagery, it can help us recall information we associated with that imagery.

My 2 Scents ( unpleasant & pleasant memory)

The scent that evokes an unpleasant memory would be my mother’s perfume. This is because getting that particular perfume takes a lot of effort. This is because to get the perfume, my mother and I would have to travel back to Indonesia back to our perfumist to get at least 30 bottles to bring it back to Singapore. It is a hassle because I would always have to carry half of the bulk items into my luggage as well. Often times, it is pure luck that we get through Singapore’s immigration but often times, we find ourselves talking our way through “smuggling” the items in.

The scent that evokes a pleasant memory would be my lemongrass aromatherapy roll-on. This is a pleasant memory as I got a really awesome massage in Bandung and my whole body smelled like the roll-on liquid. In addition, after the massage, my mother and I ended up purchasing a few boxes of the roll-on to bring home to Singapore. Till this day, we regularly have these boxes mailed to out home solely because we love the scent and experience we had from it.

A rough form of the scents

Mother’s Perfume

– Sharp edges, spiky, bendy

Lemongrass Aromatherapy

– Wavy, grounded, thicc

Recycled Plastic Art.

Recycled plastic art are created using recyclable plastic bottles, Tupperware as well as many other containers made out of plastics. They are then cut and carved into sculptures and can also be shaped to take new forms such as that of plants, flowers and other decorative items.

Another form of reusing plastic wastes would be to turn it into a hot air balloon. Argentinian creator Tomas Saraceno created an art installation that features the ubiquitous plastic bag, generally made from low-density or high density polyethylene. The giant recycled plastic exhibition is essentially an enormous hot air balloon made of used plastic bags. Titled “Becoming Aerosolar”, the balloon is functional, in theory, and solar powered when heated by the rays of sun, the plastic bags float upwards.

Another way of utilizing plastic waste would be paintings. African artist Mbongeni Buthelezi specializes in an unconventional medium. He is known for transforming everyday, unassuming plastic wastes into sought-after works of art. He heats up pieces of plastic with a heat gun, then applies the melted form onto a black plastic background that doubles as a canvas. By layering and positioning bits or recycled plastic, he is able to create incredible portraits and mosaics that almost resembles oil paintings.

Final thoughts on starting this project.

I am curious as to finding out how I am suppose to manoeuvre different types of plastics and I would like to know how malleable different types of plastics are and how well are they able to retain the form that I have given them, I am also interested and excited to see which of the mnemonic devices I can apply for my final works!