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4d: Research and CHANGES

So my initial idea was to film malik cooking roti john as I narrate in the background. However, things took a turn when he told me his stall is undergoing renovation and will not be operating the whole week. (the week I was supposed to film)

I asked him if he would still be there after the renovation as I was worried about my roti john, and he said no and that he will be leaving as soon as his father has found a new place. I felt so sad and disheartened and what more a mental breakdown as I have an assignment to complete.

I thought of ways I could make the story work.

film a time-lapse of the renovation
film malik cooking at my house

and these were all I could come up with. My boyfriend then offered that he could act as Malik and cook the roti john at my place. I did not like the “acting” idea as it was not genuine.

However, I did agree on him cooking the roti john, just that he is not “acting”. He is just him. That way it would make sense why the stall is under renovation and why someone else had to cook it for me and will it taste nice? who knows? The story seemed very real and very genuine as I have wanted it to be in the beginning. It showed the realness of the situation where the shop is no longer operating. It showed my desperation. And it showed a reason for me, almost a tribute, to do this video of the roti john story.

This is the final script:

*Comfort food:

noun

noun: comfort food; plural noun: comfort foods

food that provides consolation or a feeling of well-being, typically having a high sugar or carbohydrate content and associated with childhood or home cooking.*

*Blank*

(Nadia.. What do you want to eat?

umm roti johnnnn?

roti john? again? where? AL-MALIK?

yeah…….)

*Renovation Scene*

(LOUD KNIFE CHOP)

*Cooking scene*

Me and Malik are friends. Because of Roti John. The food that has brought happiness and comfort on tough, sad and especially no appetite sick days. It’s my go-to food- love at first taste. it never failed to do so every time i buy it. Malik makes my roti john and we are good friends.

The stall Al-Malik was named after him. It was the first stall Malik’s father had started up where Malik had suggested to include roti john into the menu.

Malik had been working in this industry since he was only primary 5 at his relative’s shop where had met lots of people. A Brazilian pilot for example had given Malik his contact so that when he graduates, he would come work for him. Another encounter was when he met upon middle aged identical twin sisters. He was quite shocked when they told him that they do not speak a common language. One was brought up by a malay family and the other, a chinese family. And of course, Malik would not have met me.

Malik started off by learning how to cook on the job. He says he prepares the food as and how he would prepare it for himself. He tells me, ”It is extremely satisfying when a customer praises the food I have cooked for them. Putting love into the dishes you prepare works like a salt. No matter how much ingredients of quality you put in, it is going to be tasteless without salt.

Working in this industry for such a long time, Malik had managed to pick up a couple of different languages. Just by taking orders from customers, in time, Malik is able start a basic conversation with the Malays. “nasi goreng satu pedas giler” “roti john satu bungkus”

And as for mandarin, Malik had picked up this language growing up in chinatown; his home at that time when his father was working there.

Planes and its operating principles interests Malik. He had been always curious to know how a massive piece of metal could takeoff effortlessly into the air. This love for aviation led to his dream to be an aircraft engineer for SIA. Their requirements to be one was a diploma. However when he graduated from SP, with a diploma in aeronautical engineering, they required a degree instead.

Currently Malik is doing his part time degree at ntu studying mechanical engineering in hopes of becoming an aircraft engineer for SIA.

If all else fails Malik would want to open up his own restaurant and sell various roti johns.

I asked Malik, how bout both?

He replied, “insyaAllah(with god’s will) if i have enough manpower and capital, i surely will – to serve you the best roti john possible”

Malik tells me getting extremely tired is very normal. I quote, “sweat gives you the money.” Sometimes the number of orders get so overwhelming that Malik does not look at the customers but instead focuses on writing down the orders. He feels that the workforce will teach us a lot more that we cant find in a textbook. We can practice communication skills, problem solving skills and many more that we need to deal with people of different background.

As for his friends, they are very impressed when they get to know that he can prepare such types of food. They also praise him for his hard work and perseverance in juggling both work and study

He makes sure that his studies are never compromised. He gives greater priority to his studies.

Malik always feels tired but never feels like giving up. He says,”These are part and parcel of life. As the saying goes, ‘Life is not a bed of roses’. Diamonds are created under the worst of all pressures. I see life in a similar way”

*Renovation Scene*

Malik is leaving me. He has to move out soon to a new rented place with his family as they are not singaporean. And so the Al-Malik I once knew is no more. I did not have a last good look. A goodbye. A mental preparation to face what is in front of me. The last time I ordered roti john was a few weeks ago. The space feels extremely different.

My friendship with Malik will last as I continue to long for my beloved roti john. I had made Malik promise to give me the new addresses to his new stalls in the future as he shifts from place to place. And the next time I order for a roti john it will be from Malik and I’ll always be the “roti john girl”

*Serving scene*

As for filming wise, I had took the recipe from google as I did not want to ask Malik for family secret reasons. I wanted to show the deliciousness of the food, how the food transforms from individual ingredients and the end product.

My reference, Peaceful Cuisine, on youtube was my main inspirations for the shot angles and style. It helped me a lot with my storyboarding and visualising.

For this project, I took a dumpling video as reference.

So I literally took all the compositions of each shot to analyse how they frame their shots.

AND THIS IS MY STORY BOARD:

PROBLEMS FACED:

Lighting changed from light to dark throughout the day (rain)

It worked to my advantage as it showed the mood in the outdoor scene when I was trying to say that Malik is leaving me. But it did not help in the indoor scene as the lighting was bad and I had to use my iPhone lighting which looks really ugly.

Shaky shots

I had a hard time taking the top down shots as I was struggling to balance the tripod but I tried to solve with the stabiliser in iMovie.

Weird audio pauses
The proof of my relationship with Malik. Does he exist?

I didn’t managed to take much behind the scenes but I do have this photo and video in my kitchen.

2D: Typography And Their Traits & Personality

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My four childhood ambitions are: Police, Fashion Designer, Chef and Zookeeper

Here are some keywords I could come up with when I think about these jobs.

Police: gun, blue, handcuffs, police cap, order, authority, law, strong, protection, always on guard, sirens, police car

Zookeeper: animals, nature, earth, boots, poop, warmth, rugged, a humble job, loving, care,

Fashion Designer: fabric, body, mannequin, model, runway, extravagant outfits, sewing, needles, thread, stylish, different, daring, beauty, elegance, bold statement

Chef: food, warmth, comfort food, knives, meat, vegetables, steam, oven, pans, spoons, dessert, ice cream, delicious

I then proceeded to attempt to start my sketches but felt handicapped. Then I realised I should do some research on typography.

RESEARCH

One of the easiest ways to affect the design of a web page is with the fonts that you use. But many beginning web designersoften go crazy changing fonts every couple words and experimenting with fonts that are virtually unreadable, just because they are “cool.” This article will help you find the font family that works best for your situation.

Some Rules-of-Thumb

Don’t use more than 3–four fonts on any one page.
Don’t change the font in mid sentence unless you have a very good reason.
Use sans serif fonts for online body text and serif fonts for headlines and print.
Use monospace fonts for typewriter text and code blocks.
Use script and fantasy fonts for accents.

Remember that these are all suggestions, not hard and fast rules. But if you’re going to do something different then you should do it with intention, not by accident. For example, it’s fine to use a serif font as your body text (as many sites do) as long as you’re aware of the possible legibility problems.

http://webdesign.about.com/od/fonts/a/aa080204.htm

Types of Typefaces

SERIF

Serif typefaces are defined by their “feet,” which are yes, technically called feet. They’re the little lines that poke out at the edges of letters.

Serifs are super easy to read because those little feet create a subtle visual connection between the letters. This readability makes them great for paragraphs of text – you’ll see them on everything from blogs to newspapers to ebooks.

Slab serif typefaces, which have thick blocky serifs, are super popular right now.

SANS SERIF

Sans Serif typefaces are like Serif typefaces minus the feet (sans means without).

Sans Serifs are usually clean and geometric, which makes them easiest to read when they are either really LARGE or really small. You will see sans serifs often used for headlines, captions, and short descriptive texts.

DISPLAY

Display typefaces have A LOT of personality.

We are talking about the kind of typeface that is always dressed up in western gear or techy robot suits. Display typefaces are best used when you need a little bit of flair in your design.

You wouldn’t want to read a paragraph set in a Wild West typeface, but they’re great as attention-getter headlines.

SCRIPT

When you are looking for a fancy font with a lot of style a Script typeface is your lady.

These typefaces have lots of swoops and curls and sometimes even look handwritten. Script typefaces look awesome for logos, large headlines, and for little details to give something a nice handmade touch.

SYMBOLS & DINGBATS

Sometimes a picture can say a thousand words. That’s when you cue up a Symbol or Dingbat typeface.

Who wants to write out love when a ♥ says it all?

https://skillcrush.com/2012/04/13/types-of-typefaces/

A more detailed classification: https://www.fonts.com/content/learning/fontology/level-1/type-anatomy/type-classifications

In the above link, they further classify the typefaces into:

Serif

Old Style
Transitional
Neoclassical & Didone
Slab
Clarendon
Glyphic

Sans Serif

Grotesque
Square
Humanistic
Geometric

Script

Formal
Casual
Calligraphic
Blackletter & Lombardic

Display/Dingbats

Grunge
Psychedelic
Graffiti

The “voice” in Typefaces

I found the bottom link to be quite cool as the voice of a typeface is subconsciously influencing us to link them to a certain meaning or personality of a word.

https://speakerdeck.com/player/04ca22e090f60131a0563ef48a8c875d#

Tip #1: Think in adjectives rather than in typographic terms

In Gary Huswit’s film Helvetica Jonathan Hoefler talks about this issue. He says “There is no way to describe the qualitative aspect of a typeface without resorting to things that are fully outside it.” When thinking about a typeface’s voice, its categorization/classification is not important. Instead, we need to know if the type is cheerful or dour. Is it relaxed or in a hurry? Is the type serious or frivolous? Luxurious or downmarket? Young or old? Fragile or robust?

If a type seems cotton-y, serpentine or fruity to you, that’s all okay. In a recent design crit of the US FDA’s nutrition label redesign, Tobias Frere-Jones described Helvetica as “[tasting] like authority, like confirmed fact.” All kinds of characteristics may suggest themselves to you. Go with it.

Tip #2: Use familiarity strategically

Familiar forms are usually easier to read. However familiarity isn’t merely functional. It’s a spectrum that can also impart a feeling.

A type design that is slightly unfamiliar looking can feel more fresh, interesting, or playful. A face that’s less familiar may surprise or challenge or create tension in a reader. Even less familiar and it may eventually become unpleasant.

On the other end of the spectrum, a familiar looking typeface can feel comfortable or reliable. But further up the scale, a typeface that is extremely familiar can seem boring in some contexts. It’s worth asking yourself what degree of familiarity will give the feeling you want. Do you want to surprise or reassure? Stand out or blend in? What is most appropriate and beneficial to your use of the type?

http://typecast.com/blog/the-voices-of-type

Recognising fonts and their personality:

https://speakerdeck.com/player/c2944350927b01312a453e6f65fbe210#

This makes me want to go research on certain brands linking to my jobs to see and study what kind of font they use to communicate their ideas.

2d: Revised Ideas + Research on Techniques

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REVISED IDEAS:

SHY + TALKING TO STRANGERS = DREADFULNESS

SHORT ATTENTION SPAN + MESSY ROOM WITH PILED HOMEWORK = LONG HOURS OF NETFLIX

PROCRASTINATION + ME DISTRACTED IN MY ROOM = LATE SLEEPING TIMES

HUNGER/LIKES TO EAT + BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION = PREGNANT TUMMY

Are my ideas too predictable?

Techniques:

From my last post, I referenced Januz Miralles. I found that his artwork showed lots of emotion in a literal as well as metaphorical way.

The swooping action of paint and the body language of the characters interacting with this made up element were the reason I felt much emotion of his paintings even there was so little play with colour.

Along with Januz, I found similar artists that used this method.

Seung-Hwan Oh

An experimental photographer and microbiologist working in Seoul, South Korea. In his recent series, Impermanence, “…he cultivates fungus that he applies to his film. Through this process, the microorganisms slowly devour the film…the intended result is what appears through disappearance…”. Having worked on this series for over 3 years, Hwan Oh has been able to carefully control the fungus specimens as they eat away at the film, the images are at once magical and frightening, as the deep blues and striking silvers gnaw away and fracture human figures and faces. Within the decay appears a certain sense of majesty as art and science intersect to create some seriously stunning and psychedelic pieces.

2. Drømsjel

Berlin based artist Pierre Schmidt aka Drømsjel’s mind or better yet, face altering work is almost like walking through a garden in the 1960s but instead you are the garden possibly going through a little psychedelic experience.

3. Januz Miralles

(REFERENCE from my last post)

The next few artists got me interested in the play with light.

I could shine a light from behind and allow these substances to show its beauty naturally.

I thought that this could be incorporated in my digital design.

It could emphasise the emotion in the graphic element of my design.

4. Sven Meyer & Kim Pörksen

Sticking the bottle cap filled with water on the loud speaker, the artists managed to translate water into a 3 dimensional sculptural mass from sound.

5. Benjamin Muezzin

With this project I wanted to explore the notion of the third dimension, with the desire to try to get out of the usual frame of a flat screen. For this, my work mainly consisted in exploring and experimenting a different device for displaying images, trying to give animations volume in space. The resulting machine works with the rotation of two screens placed back to back, creating a three-dimensional animated sequence that can be seen at 360 degrees. Due to the persistence of vision, the shapes that appear on the screen turn into kinetic light sculptures.

6. Nicky Assman

SOLACE is a cinematic installation that investigates the mental process and physical activity of seeing. At regular intervals a handcrafted apparatus creates a soap film as a spatial intervention. Through precise lighting the inner movement of the soap film is revealed, showing a turbulent choreography of iridescent color and fluid motion. As gravity slowly gets a hold of the membrane the viewer can be fascinated with the phenomenon, until inevitably the fragile film bursts.

2d: Artist Research + Ideas

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COLOUR

There are four main colour schemes I can go with:

Monochromes Harmony

Analogous Harmony Warm and Cool

Complementary Hues

Split Complementary

I wasn’t sure about what each term meant so I decided to do some self learning. I found very useful videos explaining what they are, how to use them, the pros and cons.

Below is the link to the playlist but the ones related are videos 6-8.

Video 6: Monochrome

Video 7: Analogous (Warm and Cool)

Video 8: Complementary and Split Complementary

I can’t decide between Analogous and Split Complementary.

First, Analogous Colours. As it was mentioned in the video that they are very naturally pleasant to the eye. This is because analogous colours appear in nature – for example, the trees (greens, yellows), the ocean (blue, bluish-greens, bluish-purple)

Depending on the intended mood of my design, I am planning to switch between warm and cool accordingly to get my message across.

I could also use the meaning of each colour to further help me bring my idea across better. For example, yellow could mean happiness, pink could mean love etc

Here are examples of Analogous I found:

Tomer Hanuka

2. Gustavo Peña

3. Redd Walitzki

4. Pedro Covo

I could find less cool toned analogous than warm ones. I like that it creates a certain distinct look with using this method. Creates a strong mood/atmosphere with the colours.

However some artists have works with split complementary colours. They seem to be analogous and they use the the one of the split complementary colour to highlight something in the picture. This could be a technique I could use in my work.

Tomer Hanuka

2. Josan Gonzalez

These illustrations are more complicated and more dynamic than analogous. However, they bring a strong sense of where we should focus in because of the complimentary colours.

TECHNIQUE

As for the technique, I was thinking of doing manipulating of photos as I am not good at illustrations.

Here is

my inspiration:

Januz Miralles

A filipino photo-manipulator who approaches his body of work with a painter’s state of mind by digitally smearing, blending, and forming elements with his virtual palette knife.

I feel that using this technique would show my strengths. I can also envision my ideas using this technique plus added analogous or split complimentary, I think it would look interesting.

IDEAS

Here are some I came up with:

SHY + TALKING TO STRANGERS = DREADFULNESS

SHORT ATTENTION SPAN + HOMEWORK = LONG HOURS OF NETFLIX

PROCRASTINATION + NETFLIX = LATE SLEEPING TIMES

HUNGER/LIKES TO EAT + FOOD = PREGNANT TUMMY

MONEY CONSCIOUS + BIRTHDAY = LONG BIRTHDAY WISHLIST

4d: Research + Idea

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Thursday Afternoon

Andrew Johnson

Thursday Afternoon is a video work that explores the passage from Youth to Maturity where a dramatic and unsettling alteration is nevertheless, gradually and even almost invisibly realised.

Silent Sight

Zineb Sedira

In the artist’s work, women answer the gazes to which they are subjected by others. Sedira uses the voice-over in Silent Sight to talk about veiling and the impact of her mother’s veil on little Zineb, all the while looking at the spectator. This slow form of witness effectively creates a space of ‘intimate unrest’ between the onlooker and herself. Sedira reflects and returns the gaze.

50 words

The video shows us a series of isolated viewpoints that indirectly imply a sense of closeness, warmth & coziness. Accompanied by sounds of nature, which represent the calmness and unspoken joy, the video demonstrates selective observation of someone in love.

2d: MORE research

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As I was doing my work, I realised I needed more inspiration and guidance to help me get the right look. For the last research I did in my first post didn’t really provide good design reference. For now, I think I’m okay with achieving the vintage/historical look but I need my designs to be more graphical and exciting.

RANDY MORA

Here, I can see that the artist plays a lot with proportion to create a fantasy world. What is meant to be small is big and vice versa.

He also puts repeating lines if he wants to bring focus to somethings. Either that, or the biggest object in the picture is where we’ll look at first. There is great balance and flow to how we look at these images even though there are a lot of things to look at.

That’s what excites me the most about collage. When I face a work made out of diverse elements, I have the urge to get closer and just touch it. While a painting requires a certain distance and a contemplative posture, collage on the other hand, is more an intimate experience, less ceremonial.

2. DAEHYUN KIM

There is some sort of a storytelling through these pictures. He uses very simple shapes and almost no textures here. Unlike Randy Mora, the design here is very minimalistic. There are disproportion, repetitive lines etc. However, the communication remains clear using composition and negative space. Also, he uses the same character in all the designs.

3. KACIE MILLS

4. MALIKA FAVRE

Actually these are snapshots taken from a video.

I find that the play of lines and negative spaces are endless. You could create illusions and tell a story in such simple technique.

5. LUCIE HARD’IE

In Lucie’s work there is surrealism. The hair of the lady forms the hills. The hair from other lady are the seaweed/coral to form an underwater scene with someone floating in it. The last picture had symmetry although the two ladies are not the same person.

4d Assign 2: Research, Ideas & Approach

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IDEA

For this assignment I want to continue on my topic of “couples”. In my last assignment I talked about how LOVE IS UNIVERSAL.

In this topic, I want to go deeper in the term “UNIVERSAL” and say that Love knows no boundaries. Boundaries in terms of age or gender and even in time.

Even little children know what is the meaning of bring romantically in love even if they may not have the full and true meaning of it.

PHOTOMONTAGE

So I decided to use found images of old and young couples and mismatch them buy doing a photomontage or “photo-surgery”

I am inspired by artists who do photomontage like John Stezaker and Jesse Treece. Below is a link to the 10 artists who do photomontage.

http://www.anothermag.com/art-photography/3318/top-10-collage-artists-hannah-hoch-to-man-ray

BOBBY NEEL ADAMS

Another particular artist which I found that is more closely related to my idea is Bobby Neel Adams.

http://www.bobbyneeladams.com/

Using a technique he coined “photo-surgery,” Adams integrates separate images of husband and wife into one, united front.

He documents the regeneration of genes in merged snaps of mothers and daughters. fathers and sons.

Most disconcertingly of all, he fuses snapshots of a subject’s past and present self into one jagged, time-lapsed pictorial.

The photos are an unsettling reminder that there is no escaping your genes or aging.

Family Genes

Age

Couples

My thoughts:

I really like the photomontage on the couples. I think it’s really cool and at the same time disturbing how it shows two different individuals but they look mysteriously similar.

APPROACH

As I’ve said before I am going to do a mismatched photomontage of many couples using old and new photos.

What I mean is that I would use an old photo of a couple and mismatch one of the partners and change it to a photo of lady that is taken in this day and age.

As the 30 photos progress I might want to change it to maybe an old man with a young lady and vice versa, trying to make the photos look really awkward but somehow correct at the same time.

I was inspired by this article by vouge. That compares between the figures of the artist, Lucas Cranach, and the human comedy of today.

http://www.vogue.it/en/people-are-talking-about/that-s-too-much/2011/02/cranach-mismatched-couples#ad-image66742

By further mismatching the couples but somehow making them feel correct, is re-emphasising my point that love knows no boundaries.

2d: Final Progress Before Outcome

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RESEARCH

I felt a little stuck after doing many experiments with no obvious direction. After doing research on 8 artists like Kika Karadi and Kadar Brock, it gave me inspiration and the direction of how I’d like my emotions to look like.

It also gave techniques that I could use in my lines. For example, sublimation (melting of materials), collage, piercing, layering paint and playing with negative space.

Below is a link to my research. More detailed annotations can be found in my Journal.

2d Research Assignment 1-min

TECHNIQUES & EXPERIMENTS

From the research I gathered all the techniques I wanted to try to use in my emotions. And I experiment on them.

Stencil-like compositions – using tape, cardboard. Paints the stencil with black ink and uses it as a stamp(like monoprinting)

INSPIRED BY: Kika Karadi

This technique is sharply felt, puzzling and striking to look at.

Layers of thick paint. Then do scraping, puncturing and slicing. “wiped paint”

INSPIRED BY: Kadar Brock

Curves, Archs, Swirls/Geometry + Negative Space

INSPIRED BY: Davide Balliano & Robert Holyhead

This technique portrays the concept of time and stillness. And the negative space gives a fragmented feeling.

Collaged Elements. For this, I collaged a white net into the painting. I twisted it, painted it black and I added dry shampoo to see what effect is gives.

INSPIRED BY: Molly Zuckerman Hartung

This technique is refreshing to look at.

Sublimation of Elements (Artist used Oil Slick but it was hard to get. So I melted Oil Pastels)

INSPIRED BY: Frank Ammerlaan

This technique is supposed to look psychedelic and magical.

Eroded Swatches of Colour (I painted eroded ink on bandages)

INSPIRED BY: Liam Everett

This technique gives the whole look a very emotive vibe.

DEVELOPMENT

After experimenting and getting to know what works and what doesn’t, I came up with a step by step development on how I arrived at each emotion and why. Here are some of them.

CONCLUSION

I realised I should have done my research from the start of the assignment to give me better direction and for inspiration. I also think that I should be more organized in my process and in presenting my process in my journal because it would be less confusing for me to reflect on in the later part. It would also be easier for me to refer back on to think on what my next steps would be.

As for the assignment itself, I feel that the being abstract is a hard thing to do especially when you have intentions of making the person feel something. What I feel may not be what the other person might be feeling. And both parties might not visually agree on how an emotion would look like.

In this assignment I realised it is not about how different your emotions look from others or being unique. Or coming up with the most unique technique to give off a unique visual. It is all about being relatable. As long as the audience does not relate to your work, it is less likeable and less likely for the person to feel an emotion from your work.

In the end the most relatable work would attract most of us because we all feel something when we see it. And that’s a successful work.

But I think that it is important that we don’t stop from expressing what we feel inside even if it means not being understood at first glance. It just represents who we are inside.

4d Image and Meaning: Ideas, Research and Approach

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Image and Meaning: Ideas, Research and Approach

Project #1: Identify central concerns in my life and develop a body of work

IDEAS

When I saw “central concerns in my life”, I immediately thought of My Religion and My loved ones. It was an easy question to answer as I am naturally a very self-reflecting person. The two I mentioned keeps me in check as person, they help me grow and they are my pillars of support.

Then, the idea of love came to my mind. Love is something we naturally need even as a baby, an adult, till we die, whether we like it or not and whether we admit it or not too.

It reflects on the person we are today. It defines us. It influences our actions and our words. But we don’t notice it. It subconsciously affects us.

In my visual journal, I wrote, that love can be given and received from many places. They are: our family, God, the opposite sex, the same sex, animals, our passions. It may come from a place that I don’t even know an thought of yet, hence, not listed above. The point is love can come from many places and it gives us have a humane quality. Compassion. Empathy. Sympathy.

RESEARCH

After Monday’s class, I felt my topic was too still too broad. In my mind, I had so many ideas of ways I can approach it. It was messy and jumbled up in my head. I need a focus.

I’ve decided to focus on relationships that are romantically involved. It was somehow the most prominent of all ideas. But how do I approach this idea? I wanted something strong. Something that could allow me to tell stories.

These are the artists that I’ve done research on and had given me some inspiration.

#1 Diane Arbus

She’s American Photographer that is famous poignant portraits of individuals on the fringes of society. Fringes of society are unconventional individuals for example street people, transvestites, nudists, carnival performers and many more.

She is controversial with many bizarre and disturbing images that have close distance between photographer and subject that has raw psychological intensity.

There are 3 particular works that I was particularly interested in that might be helpful with this project.

Identical Twins, Roselle, New Jersey 1967

The picture was taken at a Christmas party. The identical twins were obviously dressed identical. However, one is smiling and the other frowning.

This questions the topic of identity. The twins, even tho came in a pair, were individuals at the same time and that created noticeable tension between the two ideas. They have identical clothing but their expressions strongly emphasise their individuality.

2) Teenage Couple on Hudson Street, NYC 1963

This young couple looks oddly middle aged. Their relationship seems intimate from the boy’s arm that was put over his girlfriend’s shoulder. And why are they wearing clothes that are formal and adult looking?

I did some research and found some interpretations. This couple probably grew up on Hudson Street where the photo was taken. During this time many immigrants had settle there after the 2nd World War. It was a disadvantage city. The couple probably were forced to become adults before their time due to the difficult circumstances.

3) A Family on their Lawn one Sunday in Westchester, NY

There are three things to look at. The Mother, the Father and their child. The picture seems symmetrical, with the pair wearing white and lying on chairs. Similar to the first work I mentioned, the pair have different body languages. The Mother seems relaxed and the Father just the opposite.

It could mean different things but the interpretation I saw was that the picture suggests the 60’s society where men would go for work and the women to stay at home to be housewives.

The kid at the back playing alone tells about the relationship between the kid and his parents which was rather distant.

#2 Martin Schoeller

He is among the foremost portrait photographers. He takes stripped down and tightly framed pictures which allows him to get to the heart of his subjects.

“[With] the close-up you’re in this fortunate position of always walking away with something where nothing else but the person matters.”

#3 Gilles Bensimon

He is famous for fashion photography and helped shaped the magazine that it is today. He does not consider himself an artist but recently he made photographs of fresh cut flowers that are submerged in water.

“I realise the flower is something very tragic. When you cut them, they’re dead. But when you put them in water, they start to come alive again. They have a rebirth.”

APPROACH

1a) Diane Arbus gave me an idea to shoot couples on the streets of Singapore.

It could be on the train, in the park, on the bus, at a traffic light. I’d ask them to pose for me.

I could station myself in one place till I find an interesting couple. It’d be portraits of different couples together.

Maybe through their natural body language, their clothing, their expressions and other factors, it would give the photographs character and would suggests stories that the audience can derive on their own terms.

1b) For this approach, I would do in a similar way but online.

Instead of stationing myself, I thought of recruiting interesting people through Instagram or Twitter.

I thought it would be interesting to take tightly framed portraits of coupled with their faces cheek to cheek. Inspired by Martin Schoeller.

However, I would not know where these photos could be taken.

2) This approach would be rather abstract, inspired by Gilles Bensimon.

I would choose a medium so I can represent the complications of love and love itself. I would have to do a mindmap really going in depth of what message I would want to highlight.

Medium is still yet to be thought of.

The quote of Gilles Bensimon saying cut flowers are dead till submerged in water, then they are rebirth, somewhat reminded me of the characteristics of love.

CONCLUSION

For now I am leaning toward approach 1a as it seems to be the strongest. But if there is time, I will try to experiment with the other two. Please do comment on what I should do! 🙂

2d Emo: Mindmaps

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Project brief: Expressing emotions through LINES.

I feel that this project would be a very abstract one and there would be no right or wrong answer but it would be a good way to experiment with different techniques doing with ink.

I have not started on experimenting yet. However, I have settled into my 18 emotions after doing mindmaps in my Visual Journal for 6 main emotions.

At first, I was confused about the 18 emotions. There are so many emotions out there and I have no idea which to choose from. Doing a mindmap helps and I’ve based my emotions on 6 base emotions and branched out 3 from each. I’ve also written down situations in which the secondary/tertiary emotions would exist so as to help think of even more emotions.

They are:

Love – Envious, Longing, Lust
Joy – Closeness, Tickled, Relaxed
Anger – Hungry, Unaccomplished, Disappointment
Sadness – Remorse, Emptiness, Loneliness
Fear – Unstable. Distrust, Anxiety
Surprise – Awe, Blessed, Puzzled

I have already read notes on monoprinting and mark making tools. I have inspiration and ideas in my head. However, I am not feeling confident. I would be researching on artists tomorrow and more on techniques. Maybe then I’d be more confident to start on experimenting.

nadchickenpau

The Pau-er of Art

Tag Archives: research

4d: Research and CHANGES

2D: Typography And Their Traits & Personality

Some Rules-of-Thumb

Types of Typefaces

SERIF

SANS SERIF

DISPLAY

SCRIPT

SYMBOLS & DINGBATS

The “voice” in Typefaces

Tip #1: Think in adjectives rather than in typographic terms

Tip #2: Use familiarity strategically

Recognising fonts and their personality:

2d: Revised Ideas + Research on Techniques

2d: Artist Research + Ideas

4d: Research + Idea

2d: MORE research

4d Assign 2: Research, Ideas & Approach

2d: Final Progress Before Outcome

4d Image and Meaning: Ideas, Research and Approach

2d Emo: Mindmaps