Gaia’s Ikebana + Halloween

So I had a branch, which I picked up somewhere when I was on the way home. When I try putting the branch into my models, I feel like it does not fit into my models. Hence I decided to make another model.

Model 1 & 2
Model 3

So for Model 3, I decided to make a vase(cylinder) for the branch to sit in. The cylinder is the dominant, the cone is sub-dominant and the sphere is sub-ordinate.

When I was doing the Model 3, I also thought of representational object for the cylinder, cone and sphere. So the cylinder will be a transparent vase where there will be candies in it. Cone with be the witch hat and sphere will be a small pumpkin.

Final Outcome
Lighted version

In my previous post, I mention I wanted to add light to my final model. TA-DAAA! So here it is! I like how the yellow light shows the spookiness of the branches.

Refection

Overall I was not satisfied with my work as I feel that I could do better;

  • pay more attention to the compositions of curvilinear volumes – to create interesting composition with the theory that I learnt
  • decorate a bit more for my model such as hanging the cones on the branches
  • research more on  Ikebana – so that I would understand and know where & how to put my branches
  • workmanship – in my previous assignment, I mention that I would want to improve on my workmanship. However, I don’t think I have achieve that.

However, my classmate works inspired me the most! They came up with interesting composition, concept and ideation. My personal favourite will be Xuan Wei’s work (winter season), where she uses Randolph as her concept and the choice of material that she use makes me feel cool (not sure what is the material, but its like a cloth). And also the composition that she did and the use of void *thumbs up*.  Another favourite of mine would be Qistina’s spring ikebana.

Autumnnnnn

My chosen season is Autumn.

Actually I was hoping for Spring as I like when the flowers are blooming and the colour pink too. 

So I start by  researching about Autumn (mostly in Japan, because of Ikebana). There are a few things that interest me:

  • When the leaves are falling – it gives a slow and graceful movement to it
  • Halloween – something that I always wanted to try it (although I am scary cat)
  • Scattering of autumn leaves – like the use of colours.
Mindmap of Autumn

At first I wanted to do on the movement of falling leaves, but I could not visualise how it will look with ikebana. Hence I decided to move on with Halloween.

Halloween Moodboard

So for my Halloween concept, I wanted it to be targeted to children! So it will be something like ‘trick and treat’ where the vase will be filled with candies. I also intended to use lighting to show the spookiness of Halloween. There will be no leaves on the branches, and I might want to make the branch black.

My next post will be on the development of Halloween and Ikebana together.

Cone, Sphere, Cylinder

So on the first lesson of curvilinear volumes, I experimented and explored cones, spheres and cylinders using foams, papers, plasticine and more. With that I created 2 models of curvilinear volumes.

Model 1
Model 1 – top & bottom view


I like this model because there is a distinguish size between the cone and cylinder. However the cylinder and sphere has similar volume when it is look at the bottom view.

Model 2
Model 2 – bottom view, front view, back view

As compared to Model 1, I prefer this a bit more because of cone and flat cylinder where I pierce it together. However, similarly to the Model 1, Model 2 has cluster of similar volume. And in Model 2, I did not put in much thoughts about the things I had learnt for the previous mistakes.

Overall, as a start, it was quite challenging. Firstly, cutting the cone was one of a challenge, hence I decided to use paper for it. But I manage to cut cylinder and sphere. (I dont have the documentation of this)

Secondly, this assignment is quite challenging as compared to the previous assignment. In this assignment, it requires the curvilinear volumes to be at different angles. Hence I had to keep thinking and trying which object should be the base to support everything. I tried to avoid the tip of the cone to touch the base or any other object, as the tip is an interesting feature in the cone.

My line is Emo

Helloooooo! So my story for this project is about my driving lesson (which I took for quite some time, in fact very long to pass my practical test *sobs*).  And throughout  all of the emotions, I use the deconstructing method to create it. Like I will think about the things relating to the emotion or what causes me to feel that emotion. So lets startttttt!

Last few years, when I just turned 18 years old, I wanted to register for my driving lesson badly. Some of the reasons:

  1. When my older brother turned 18, my parents bought him to Bukit Batok Driving Centre to apply for his driving lesson. So I was hopping my parents would do the same.
  2. So of my friends (same age) are learning or have passed their driving licence. So I wish I could be like them too.
Jealous

This is why I use an aluminium foil to interpret jealousy. It is like what I see in them, I also want to be like them. So it’s like a reflection. And the lines depicts the jealousy that starts to grow and spreading along the aluminium foil.

Then one fine beautiful day, my parents give me the green light to apply for my driving lesson. Bu they told me to take manual licence  because when you have manual, you can drive manual and auto cars. That was the reason they gave me, so I said okay whiteout much thoughts in it as I was excited to apply for it.

On my first lesson, I was like a blur sotong who does not have knowledge in cars. So I was like why do they have gears, why need to change gear according to the speed, how does this clutch pedal works etc.

Curiosity

When I was doing this emotion, I did not visually think of the outcome. I just did layers of transparency freely. This is for me to raise curiosity about the outcome if it.

So I used marker on transparency. The 1st layer, which is at the bottom represent clutch. 2nd layer represent the gear manual. And the third layer, at the top represent clutch pedal.

As a beginner in driving, I didn’t know much stuff about driving and all the manual stuff. So it was very difficult for me to drive the car. And as a learner, I can’t escape from doing mistakes because mistakes are stepping stones to improve ourselves.

Panic

So when I was driving on the road (because I took private classes), I did a lot of mistakes while driving. When that happens, I start to panic and my mind will go haywire. This represents the bus strokes. But as a driver, when you panic, you need to quickly recover from it. Hence you need to relax and calm down which represent the weaving technique.

When I was learning, I keep repeating the same mistakes which makes me frustrated with myself. Like why can’t I learn from my mistakes and improve on my driving – I ask myself this a lot of times.

Frustration

So I used different types of sand paper to show roughness and the different layers of frustrations. At the last/bottom layer,  it has white marks in it. This is to show that I tend not to show that frustrated until it reaches the maximum level. Why did I cut out those shape? it is because when I get frustrated, my brows will automatic frown and my voice will rise (it is a physiology fact actually). Hence using that, I deconstruct it and it creates that shape. (More in my journal)

During my first driving test, I took it as a trail as I know that I was going to fail. So I didn’t have hopes and expectations to pass. But after that test, I practice as hard as I could, hopping that I could pass my second test. But I failed again.

Disappointed

I was so disappointed with myself, as I already set an expectation of myself. When I reach home, I can feel that my parents and siblings are disappointed too, but they did not show it. Instead they say it’s ok, you can try again.

The paper cut represent that they are disappointed, but they did not show it. However, I could feel that they are disappointed. Behind the paper cut is the disappointment and hope that have on me. It is all crashed silently into pieces.

One day, my mum took out her driving license results. Similarly to me, she did not pass her driving on her first & second test. Instead she took her third test and pass it. When we were both looking at our result, we found out that we had similar mistakes which causes us to fail.

Hope

Hence, my mum was my hope not give up. In this emotion, there are 2 figure and the lines are from thin to thick. The thinner lines represent me getting knowledge and experience through my mum which is the thicker line.

So eventually, I pass my driving licence after all the hardships and challenges.

Red lines depicts a car

All the emotions are linked with a black strings. All the emotions happened in the past, and the black strings represent my future.

The strings are connected with black pins which represents my step by step goals to achieve what I want in the future. It depicts a car, to be specific, I wanted a Mini Cooper car as it its my dream car. You can see how I deconstruct a Mini Cooper into 8 pins and a strings.

Overall view of all the 6 emotions

Last Lap for Cantilever

Ok, this is my last lap/post of my cantilever. So I will upload all my final stuff in this post.

Final model of Cantilever

This is my final model for cantilever. Using wires for D, metal sheet for SD and cement for SO. The cubes in the wires are representation of D, SD & SO, by using different opacity for each of the cubes.

2D analysis

In my 2D analysis, I added a small section called ‘Add’. The ‘Add’ represent the improvement that can be made so that all the sides can see D, SD & SO.

Small application: Stationary Box
Small application superimpose

For the small application, I use the top view to make a stationary box made out of wood and magnet. The unique thing about this is the magnet where we can put our paper clips and post it on it.

Big Application: Light Installation

For the big application, I thought of using it as a light installation. It is made out of different transparency for the outer surface. The cube will produce light during the night time and it will automatically take turns to on the light among the 3 cubes.

Reflection

Overall this project has taught me a lot of things, that I didn’t learn in my previous institution. Some of the things are the terms: Dominant, Sub-dominant & sub-ordinate, the piercing and wedging etc and not forgetting the word, ‘Cantilever’. (Cantilever is a new word in my dictionary now)

For this first project, I can see that my workmanship is not very good. So my aim for the next upcoming projects is to improve and pay more attention to my workmanship.

One of my take away from this project is to keep it simple. As previously when I was doing my final model, I was a bit too ambitious with the materials. Maybe with lesser materials, I can focus more on my workmanship.

So yeah, that’s all I have for my last post in cantilever.

The Making of Cantilever

In my previous post, I mention about the materials that I wanted to use for my cantilever. So here are some of the process image I took:

For the SO, I use this to make it (not sure what it is called)
Firstly, I make a mould then add the substance then wait until it is dry
This is how it look after it is dry
For SD, I use a metal sheet. But before that, I make a template using paper then transfer to metal sheet
This is how it look from foam to paper to metal sheet
For the dominant part, I wanted to use wire and coil it similarly to my artist reference. But it was a failure ):
Artist reference: Alexander Milov features two adult bodies each with their illuminated inner child.
Hence I decided to use my this wire frame that it is used for my cat. The difficult part is connected the parts together as the wires was not very stable to make the corners
The outcome of the dominant part
To enhance my model, I added in different sizes if cubes with different opacity, to differentiate D, SD & SO
So, firstly I use paper to create the cube sizes to estimate how much space will it take
Then I use black paper for the biggest cube, translucent paper for the medium cube and transparency for the smallest cube
My outcome of Cantilever

Reflection

I realise that my workmanship is not good, maybe because I don’t like to do mechanism things. And maybe because I was not sure how to piece certain materials together. While I was making this, I questioned this a lot to myself, “Do I use double sided tape or glue gun for this material?” & “How do I make them stick together?”.

I think that my model has too many materials (a bit too ambitious, I guess).  Maybe this is because I follow closely on my moodboard and I did not think of other alternative ways to make my model stand out with the use of lesser materials.

Materials & Moodboard for Cantilever

So I went out to Artfriend & Daiso to find the materials for my final model. The materials that I had in mind, before going to Artfriend, was Metal, wire and concrete. So here are the materials I found that can be used form my final model:

silver paper to show metallic effect
Shades of colour that I intend to go for – Monochrome
Metal rod
Glass rod

 

Found something similar to Chicken Wire, but a bit smaller to fit my model
Fish wire/fish line (I don’t know what it’s called)
Similar to Chicken wire

More glass rod
Metal sheet
Wires with different thickness
Coloured wires
Shrink plastic
At home, I have this fence for my cat

However after I went to Artfriend, I went home and did some research on the materials that I saw. And I’m interested to explore more on the wires. Like using the empty space of the cuboid to create something.

My inspiration came from this:

This sculpture titled ‘Love’ by Ukrainian artist Alexander Milov

“This sculpture consists of a black wire man and a woman who are sitting down and facing away from one another in anger. Inside the black wire frames are two inner sculptures depicting children who are looking towards one another and embracing each other through the metal wires. 

At night, the two children in this wire art sculpture actually become brightly illuminated and create a powerful image that contrasts between inner human nature and what we actually project outward. Although the inner child appears to be trapped within the outer self, there still appears to be hope that can break through.”

Quoted from: https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/wire-art-sculpture

I like how the sculpture conveys the story. And the fact that the artist inserted another figure inside the wire sculpture instead of making it empty.

Moodboard

So this is the moodboard that I intend to go for. Using wires and concrete. Simple, clean lines for wire framing. Playing around with opacity using cubes. And the colours that I’m going for is monochrome with a touch or neutral colours.

My Cantilever Model

As I was taking picture of my model, turning it around, I realise that my SD changed to D at a view. So here are my mistakes, and how I can refine it.

Just by the front view, D, SD & SO looks ok.

When I turn to the top view, my D (which is my red box) changed to SD. Hence, Syadza, my classmate, suggest that I cut the foam to make it thinner.

Below are images of my final model using foam. I didn’t reuse the red box because I wanted to pierce my SD into it and the red box stinks for some reasons.

Front view
Side view 1
Side view 2
2D analysis drawing

Next, I’m going to do a moodboard of the material/look & feel of my model. Then go down to Art Friend or Daiso (because cheaper) to find for material.

Going out to find Inspirations

Last few Saturday, I can’t remember when, I went out to do some observations  for my other project. At the same time, I went to look for references and inspirations for this project called, My line is EMO.

Firstly, I went to the library cause it is one of my favourite place to find for inspirations. And this is what I’ve found:

I like how the artist uses lines, spaces, negative spaces and its doodle
The way the artist uses strokes to create the effect. However for this project, we are not require to do colour. Hence, it will be difficult to achieve something like this in black & white

Next place is Changi Airport, as it was my main objective to go out and do my other project.

While I was walking towards the MRT station, I saw a poster that had a nice and neat texture. So I told myself, “Hey, why not I do something similar to this.”

Poster I saw while I was walking

When I reached Changi Airport, I remember Mimi (my 2D lecturer) said that Changi has this colouring thingy for children. So I went there and try it out.

My outcome

Colouring it was easy but to be able to see the details, I had to put more pressure on it while colouring.

Hence, I had fun and get new inspirations when I’m out. Although it was a long and tiring day, as I had to travel from west to east, it was productive as I managed to kill two birds with 1 stone.

What is CANTILEVER?

The word that I received was Cantilever. At first, I didn’t know the meaning of cantilever, so I had to googled it.

Definition of Cantilever: a long projecting beam or grinder fixed at only one end, used in bridge construction.

So my visualisation about cantilever is mostly about a pole supporting something, or connecting two poles similarly to a bridge. Since we are subjected to use 3 boxes for each sculptor (I don’t know how to call it), I focused on the a single pole supporting something.

First try to express cantilever using boxes

From my understanding about cantilever, this is my first try. During this try, I was still unsure about the meaning of cantilever. Hence this is what I came up with my lack of knowledge about cantilever.

Feedback given about my first box:

1.  Item seems too long

2. Try to make SO more obvious

The first box refinement was done at home, I just removed a box and add in SO. The meaning behind it is still the same – direct and simplified meaning of cantilever.

After much exploration and experimenting, I wanted to come up with something that has more dimension using the rule of third. So I keep trying and trying until I get something that I am please with, within the time I have in class, which is the image shown below.

First Try for the 2nd box

However, the biggest mistakes that I made was using boxes that had similar cluster. So I went home and did some refinement.

When I was doing the refinement for this box, I get annoyed that the boxes are not proportional. It just makes me feel like cutting the boxes or adding length to some boxes so that I can use the rule of third. But it’s ok, since we are going to use foam. *thumbs up*

Reflection

During the theory lesson, it was easy to understand and identify about D, SD and SO. But when I try putting the theory into practical, it was a bit tricky. The solution to this was to identify which box belongs to D, SD and SO. Then, mix and match the boxes.

Another challenge was all sided had to have the same  D, SD and SO. This was the most tricky part as I had to keep turning and turning the whole boxes.

The last challenge was the x-axis has to be perpendicular to each other, which I had to keep trying, changing the boxes and putting the boxes in different position.