Mnemosyne Assignment 3

Mnemosyne Scent

According to BBC, smell is the oldest sense that existed way before sight, hearing or touch. Having its origins in the rudimentary senses for chemicals in air and water, creatures evolved to respond to chemicals around them.

This could be why the slightest of scent can trigger forgotten memory, an instinct which time cannot dull.

Revisiting memories with scent 

 

 

 

 

Plastic Model

The curved branching top part of the sculpture represents the scent with a pleasant memory. It has a concentrated core which eventually branches out like the scent of shampoo, and has an enveloping effect which reminds me of the comfort of my grandparent’s house.

The bottom half of the sculpture represents the scent with an unpleasant memory. The smooth transparent part depicts the smooth smell of cream, while the pierced blue part portrays the piercing feeling of itch.

The 2 parts which represents pleasant and unpleasant memories of scent creates a simple composition when combined together. However, the bottom half does not seem to convey the feeling of itch as well and can perhaps be sanded to create texture.

Improved Model

The blue part was cut into a triangle shape for a sharp effect and made smaller to become more like an SO.

 

The part where the SO pierces the D was sanded to create texture and focus onto the pierced area.

3D Planes

Sketch Model 1 

     

Issues with this sketch model includes placing the D in the centre mark, and the placement of the SD being a little awkward.

Sketch Model 1 Revised

  

Improvements made from original sketch model – moving D away from 1/2 mark.

 

Sketch Model 2

D- Yellow, SD – Red, SO – Blue

Sketch Model 2 needed improvement in how the D,SD and SO interacts and it is very cluttered. The D is also not clear and needs to be larger.

Sketch Model 2 Revised

D – Yellow, SD – Red, SO – Blue

     

Interaction of D,SD and SO occurs around 1/3 mark of the base

The sketch model became more dynamic by extending the D and placing it in an ascending height. It contrasts nicely with the interaction of S, SD and SO.

 

Assignment 2 Process

Process & Research

Inspiration

from https://bffsbookingscheme.files.wordpress.com/2013/07/himizu1.jpg

Sono Sion is the director I referenced for this project. His films are very expressive and always presents raw human emotions as it is. In scenes where the main character breaks down and screams, the screaming cannot be heard as it is drowned by a deafening and unnatural sound. The sounds he use are often metaphorical and reflect the human condition rather than the environment.

For this project, I wish to do the same by manipulating sound to express a psychological state rather than a literal sound.

Story 

I decided to not complicate the story with details like diabetes or meeting a long lost friend as I wanted to experiment with emotive sounds and playing with flashbacks and flash forwards. I chose to interpret our group’s photos as a story of a boy who met with an accidents and tries his best to cope with losing his legs while reminiscing of days when he was not handicapped.

Motifs to link different time frames

 

 

 

 

 

Beer cans and the skateboard were motifs that represent the bond between the 2 friends, but they were also motifs that link the past and present, as well as portray the attempt of the protagonist to try his best to live the way he did before the accident.

 

 

Flash Forward Scenes 

Depicting the disruptive nature of the accident: I added predictive scenes of the accident to interrupt the flow of the narration of the protagonist’s initial ordinary life. This disruptive nature would portray how the accident dramatically and suddenly changed the protagonist’s life.

Sound: To increase the effect of a looming tragedy, I added an uncomfortable static sound to confuse and disorientate the viewer. To ensure that the flash forward scenes are effective, I added the same skateboard sound effect for the scenes preceding and succeeding the flash forward.

Accident Scene

Intensifying the impact of the accident: I gave a personifying sound effect each to the incoming car and the protagonist. For the car, the sound is characterised by a loud muffled booming sound which is not a literal depiction of the sound effect of a car but a psychologically exasperating sound. The scenes involving the protagonist includes a gradually quickening clicking sound with a single tone sound. By having 2 separate sounds to characterise the car and protagonist, and quickly switching scenes between the two, a tempo is established. Having 2 contrasting sounds switching between each other also intensifies the impact as the sounds become a wreck when they intersect.

Assignment 2: Story from Stills

Of the Blue

Of the Blue tells the story of a young man who used to lead a normal, mundane life, until an accident changes it all. He meets a close friend to reminisce the past, open up about the accident, and to cope with the obstacle that life threw at him out of the blue, by seeking refuge in the comfort of a friend. 

 

Forrest Gump – Final

Project 2 Final 

“There’s always going to be a part of me that’s sloppy and dirty, but I like that, with all the other parts of myself.” – Silver Linings Playbook

The eye, nose and head is a physical representation of “other parts of myself.” Sloppiness is portrayed by the hand of the sloth, and dirtiness is expressed using the big acrylic brushstroke which mimics a stain. Since the quote is about learning to love and be proud of our flaws, an eye and the mouth is removed from the face to depict incompleteness of self and the random line scribble of the head is part of being imperfect. This piece creates an aesthetically pleasing composition using components which express flaws, which I feel reflects the quote on being only human.

Principles of Design

Texture: Implied texture exists on the large black brushstrokes and the smaller marks around it.

Contrast: The extremely thin white line contrasts the huge black brushstroke to create a dynamic composition. The simple abstract shapes from brushstrokes and lines in the composition also contrasts with the realistic eyes and nose.

Balance: The distribution of visual weight in this composition creates asymmetric balance and makes it visually pleasing and interesting.

 

 

 

“Sometimes I would buy ‘Vogue’ instead of dinner. I felt it fed me more.” – Sex and the City

This composition is about prioritising interest in fashion over necessities like meals. The 2 illustrations of models are facing different directions to compliment each other and create dynamism, while being much larger in size as compared to the bottles have emphasis. The intersection of the 4 components is placed according to the rule of thirds to create a visually pleasing composition.

Principles of Design

Perspective: The bottles are warped and slanted to create perspective, and is inspired by long fashion runways.

Rhythm: There is a sense of rhythm from the women facing in different directions and placed at different heights.

 

 

“Laws don’t apply to pigs.” – Porco Rosso

This work combines various representations of “law”. The cone represents traffic laws, symbols in the background represent mathematical and scientific laws and the scribbles depict the process of creating these laws. The woman floats to defy the law of gravity, reflecting my interpretation of the quote where the law can only control those who choose to be controlled by it. The horizontal lines at the bottom implies a ground to create the effect of the woman floating.

Principles of Design

Variety: There are varying textures, tones, and size of the scribbles in the background.

Contrast: The horizontal lines which suggest height contrasts the horizontal lines at the bottom which suggest a ground.

 

 

 

“Do dreams and effort make a flower bloom?” – Himizu

This quote is about wishing to be ordinary, and seeing no point in having aspirations and working hard towards the goal. The women are climbing ladder which represent climbing up the social status, only to find that the ladders lead to nothingness and the patch on top, which encapsulates hopes and dreams, is unreachable.

Principles of Design

Unity & Variety: The women and ladder are the same design but in different sizes. Using the same woman and replicating her expresses being ordinary, and the same as everyone, while making them in different sizes makes an interesting composition which does not become too repetitive.

Emphasis: Emphasis is placed on the women climbing ladder by adding the watercolour background patch, and by varying the sizes.

Movement: The water colour patch also implies movement to direct the viewer’s eyes in the composition.

Rhythm: Rhythm is created from the lines of the ladder and placing the women at various height.

 

Silk Screen Outcome

On Newsprint

 

On Newsprint

 

On tote bag

Forrest Gump – Process

Project 2 Process

Silver Linings Playbook 

This sentence is about embracing our flaws, imperfections and incompleteness.

Large, black acrylic patch

 

Sloth: This animal is a representation of “sloppy” due to its slow pace. However to make it less literal, I decided to only use the arm of the sloth which fits nicely to the quote (“parts of myself”)

Eyes/Nose:  Body parts to express “parts of myself”. Though the quote meant parts of a person’s personality, I chose to not be literal and instead use physical body parts to represent self.

Acrylic patch: A black patch that mimics a stain to express the imperfection implied in the quote.

I worked by instincts for this composition, to embrace spontaneity. It is my favourite composition, thus I chose not to experiment with other possible composition to this piece. 

The acrylic patch is the largest component to make ‘imperfection’ the most obvious focus, because Jennifer Lawrence unashamedly acknowledges her flaws in the quote. The abstract face is a spontaneous scribble I drew which shows character and uniqueness. The right eye and mouth has been omitted to portray incompleteness of a person.

Sex and the City

Image result for sex and the city sometime i would buy vogue

The quote is about love for fashion which overpowers one’s hunger/ the need to survive with food.

Fashion Illustration by Andrew Voss
Fashion illustration by Zoya Smirnova

 

from Chanel Collection AW 2014

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fashion Illustrations: I used illustrations to represent Vogue as I personally love fashion illustrations in particular.

Bottles: Rather than using food, I chose bottles as it is a little less literal representation of dinner.

Basket Bag: I chose this piece as I wanted a link between fashion and food, and this basket was designed for Chanel’s runway but has the function of carrying groceries.

Composition 1
Composition 2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Composition 1 & 2 differ by the paprika. However I prefer not having the paprika and it looks out of place. The nutrition facts is a representation of fashion being a source of energy to some people the way food is a source of energy. However this was removed from the final design as it is a literal representation. Lastly, the bottles on the right are warped to create perspective, mimicking long fashion runways.

The bottles recede to the back and is of a smaller size as the quote states that fashion is of more importance to the character rather than dinner.

 

Porco Rosso

Image result for porco rosso quotes

My interpretation of this quote is that the law only controls those who choose to be controlled, regardless of whether you are a pig or a human.

Taken from Ader Error
Taken from Ader Error

People in unnatural poses/ stance: This is the imagery I have of defying laws or rules. The people in the above photos seem to defy laws of gravity/ defy the ways of human structure.  To not be literal, I used a person rather than an animal or pig to show that laws may not apply to people too.

Symbols/ scribbles: Symbols, like arrows, are a representation of mathematical or scientific laws. Scribbles portray the process of creating those laws, which involve trials and errors.

Composition option 1

The background for composition 1 is a large mark which I chose because of the contrast between the darkest area and the white area. However I chose not to use this background for the final as the line that separates the white and black cuts in the middle of the composition which spoils it. I tried using varying sizes to create perspective and placed the woman on the top to make it seem like she was floating, defying gravity.

 

Composition option 2

 

I retained the floating woman and omitted the man at the bottom as the composition was too crowded. I added a cone which is an indication of abiding to traffic rules and changed the background to one with scribbles and symbols and has no centre. Since my other compositions do not play with negative images, I chose a black background and made the women in negative colour.

 

 

 

Himizu (2011)

To put the quote in context, the homeroom teacher told his students that everyone is a flower. He made them repeat after him,  “I’m a flower, one of a kind and I have a dream.” I interpret this quote as a statement that encourages being ordinary, and that having aspirations does not necessarily make a person better than another.

Illustration by Camilla Engstrom

 

 

 

 

Expressive strokes: Representation of outburst of personality.

Ladder: Symbolises climbing up  social status, an expectation of being successful.

Naked woman: I like the anonymity of the character. No clothes to make her stand out, hidden face, and stripped down to the show the body on its own.

Composition option 1

Since the quote is about being ordinary, I used the same character 5 times to show that none of them stand out. All of them are climbing up the ladder to success but the highest point still separates them from success, which is represented by the expressive stroke on the top. I like the composition of the women and ladder but thought that it needed a little more texture.

Composition option 2

Next I added tree trunks in the background to add texture to the composition. However the trunks had too much details and made the composition too noisy and distracting.

Composition option 3

I tried using another watercolour patch to compliment the expressive brush strokes to portray success in a more vibrant manner, but the two components drown each other out.

Silk Screen Printing Process

The left design was my first choice to screen print as it is my favourite composition however it was risky due to the thin white line and very black stroke. Thus I tried 2 designs in case the first one does not work out.

 

Newsprint

The print turned out okay but not the best as details of the texture of the large black stroke was lost. Part of the white line also disappeared possibly due the misalignment of the 2 transparency.

 

 

 

 

This composition was better than the first as a screen print. The details are not lost and has a clean outcome.

 

 

 

 

Tote Bag

Due to the different material, the left design cannot be printed well. Thus I chose the right design for the final tote bag. It was printed on the bag as nicely as on the newsprint.

Gaia’s Ikebana: Winter

Japanese Aesthetics and Ikebana

Practiced since the 7th century, Ikebana is an art form of arranging flowers. It incorporates design principles (line, shape, form) in its execution. The artist’s intention behind each arrangement is shown through a piece’s colour combinations, natural shapes, graceful lines, and the implied meaning of the arrangement.

Japanese aesthetics which is usually incorporated in Ikebana includes minimalism and “ma”, otherwise known as the void. By the employment of both techniques, emphasis can be placed within the composition which adds a point of interest.

Sketch Model 1

Front view
Side 1 View
Back view
SIde 2 view

 

Improvements to be made

The SD sphere was to huge and makes the dominant ambiguous, thus it needs to be of a smaller size. To make a more interesting composition, the connection between the D, SD and SO can be changed by wedging or piercing.

Sketch Model 2

Front view
Back View
Side View

 

Improvements to be made

To make the SD more obvious as an SD, the radius of the cylinder should be reduced to about 1/2 the size. This is also to avoid being of a similar diameter with the SO sphere.

Sketch Model 1 (Improved)

Front View
Back View
Side 1 View
Side 2 View

The D is pierced into about 1/3 of the SD.

Sketch Model 2 (Improved)

Front View
Side 1 View
Back View

Winter

 

 

 

 

 

 

Above are photos taken in Japan during winter. Personally my favourite part of winter is how the air is clear and crisp unlike summer air which makes it comfortable. The trees also become empty with no leaves on them. There is a sense of stillness and serenity in winter which I enjoy and would like to express in my final model.

Final Model

Branch (Cone) : SO, Clear plastic (cylinder): SD, Stone (Sphere): D.

*Note: This model is an adaptation of Sketch Model 1. The sphere was initially meant to be the SD however I did not like the overall look when I used a smaller SD rock, hence I chose to change the sphere into the D with a larger rock.

I chose to use a small branch as the SO to express the impending potential of growth of nature in winter season. The SD cylinder is a void essential to Japanese aesthetics, and depicts the emptiness of winter when the earth becomes voided of life. Personally, I like the crisp and clear air quality of winter season (in contrast to the humid air of summer) which I thought is expressed through the plastic material as well. The stone contrast the SO in its mass and contrasts the SD with its colour. The overall monotone colour palette of the model adheres to the colour of winter. The blue base is a reflection of the clear winter sky shown in the picture.

Revised Model

In this improved version, the base is extended to give more breathing space for the model.