Pandora : Final Model – Hierarchy

Following our second 3D lesson and first consultation, we learned about different ways on how to mount our individual rectilinear boxes together neatly. After a discussion about my first attempt at creating two sketch models, Cheryl advised me on how to further improve them to better represent my term Hirerachy as well as improving the technical qualities. After speaking with her, I thought more carefully about the sizing of my boxes, the relationship between each of the axis, and how the piercing and wedging method could allow me to construct more interesting compositions.

Methods of creating our 3D models

Wedging Method: When two shapes are slotted into each other

Piercing Method: When a volume goes through another

Model 1

Blue Foam Model 1

In order to clearly represent each volume in my sketch models, I color coordinated the boxes for easy reference.

SO: Sub-ordinate (Long and thin)

SD: Sub-dominant (Long with a square cross-section)

D: Dominant (Long with a square cross-section)

After analyzing this sketch model, I realized that although the SD and D varied quite a lot in size, it had very similar properties which tempted me to change the dimensions of either one. However, one advantage of this model is that the subordinate can be seen from all angles.

The dominant volume appears clearly as the largest volume except when the model is viewed from the top and bottom. Perhaps if the SD was slightly thinner, the dominant would seem larger.

Model 2

Blue Foam Model 2

SO: Sub-ordinate (Long and thin)

SD: Sub-dominant (Rectangular)

D: Dominant (Wide and thin)

In this model, since the end of my SO was wedged into the SD and not pierced, it was not visible from the top as well as the back. However, by judging the visual qualities of both models, I actually prefer the second one because the three rectilinear shapes were of greater contrasting volumes compared to those in the first model. I ended up using the second model to create my final Pandora.

Final Model

Hierarchy – Food Pyramid

Front // Back

Side // Bottom

D – Healthiest (wheat bread)
SD – Eat moderately (dairy products)
SO – Consume the least (chocolate and sweets)

Before deciding my final theme (Food Pyramid), the term “hierarchy” generated other ideas in my mind such as:

Transition of materials from old (D) to new (SO)
Transition of materials from matte (D) to shiny (SO)
Characters in a set of playing cards

Eventually, I thought of the idea of incorporating the food pyramid into my choice of materials as there are many food packages I could choose to work with from the pyramid’s various levels.

http://www.safefood.eu/Healthy-Eating/What-is-a-balanced-diet/The-Food-Pyramid.aspx

With reference to this particular food pyramid, I selected food from the first, fourth and fifth tier.

Choice of materials

Dominant

As seen in my final model, I choose to cover my dominant in the plastic package of whole grain bread. The main focus was to include the healthy facts about it as well as the nutrition information chart stated on the packaging.

Since there were areas of the packaging that was transparent, I wrapped my blue foam in some paper to create a white base.

Wrapped blue foam

Sub-dominant & Sub-ordinate

For my selection of dairy products, I chose to use the lid of yogurt cups as well as parts from milk cartons. The yogurt lids created a crinkled texture while the carton was smooth and flat.

Nutrition Fact Label from Milk Carton

Cover blank areas in between the yogurt lids

M&M chocolate bar

Lastly, for my SO, I decided to use the packaging of an M&M chocolate bar. Unfortunately, the size of my SO was very small that there wasn’t much surface area for me to cover with the material. Improvements for this model would be to possibly pierce my SO through the SD so that it could be visible from all angles and also to enlarge my model in order to have enough surface area for the material.

Future Application

For my large application, I thought my model could fit the structure of a shower. With a glass backing and wood covered heater, this shower could belong in an outdoor area.

Shower design:

Glass backing, Wooden Heater, Metal shower head

For my smaller application, I flipped my model upside down and turned it into a small claw machine. With the joystick being subordinate, the support of the machine will be the subdominant and the plastic top containing toys would be the transparent dominant.

Claw Machine:

Exercise 1 : Scale and Framing

For this exercise, I took images of Daphne at different locations in the school. We were to consider which attributes about our partner we found most interesting and convey it through different framing angle and shot scale. Out of the many shots, these are the 3 that I choose!

The first two images were taken in a stairway at level B1 but I kind of cheated for the last one as it was taken outdoors. I really wanted to include a close-up shot and the only one that was captured nicely with nice lighting was the last image.

1. Long shot

After learning more about Daphne after the first 4D project where she spoke about how she tends to be a rather private person, I felt like the space between me as the photographer and her in the first image shows the distance between her and the viewer before she opens up to them.

1. Medium shot

The second picture captures an image of Daphne’s smile which portrays a bubbly side of her personality that the viewer would get to know as they become closer to her.

1. Extreme close up

Lastly, this shot of her close up face and shoulder conveys a more developed relationship that the viewer has with her.

Mark Making ~ Process and Final Documentation

Before the exploration of “My line is emo” began, I did some research on artists that have worked with mark making techniques to give myself more of an idea on what mark making really is. It also helped me to gain inspiration on what I could possibly work towards with experimentation on the second week. My first OSS post inclusive of the artist research can be found here!

Mark Making Journey

The journey of experimenting with different materials and tools started in Week 2 when I began my first attempt at mark making. Since this project was to be done exclusively by hand, our outcomes will only be in black and white. Hence, the medium that we will be working with is blocking printing ink. During this first hands-on lesson, we were taught about the method of mono printing and ways to use the lithography machine as well as the roller.

Lithography Machine

Placing paper over ink under the blanket

Roller

Ink and Paper

In preparation for this lesson, we brought in a variety of materials to explore mark making with. Some other materials I brought included cotton wool, a leaf, plastic bag, chopsticks, bubble wrap and styrofoam.

Straws // Aluminium Foil // Cling Wrap

Attempts at Experimentation

Since my mind had not formulated any ideas at the point in time of our second lesson yet, I took the time to explore the different methods first to get the hang of achieving outcomes that I prefer.

Plastic wrappings under paper over ink Used my hand to put pressure on the paper

Outcome
First Layer

What I learned here is that the method of the first outcome is successful for achieving strongly defined shapes based on how I layered my object over the ink (provided that it did does not absorb the ink).

Second print on the same layer of ink

Since the outcome of the first attempt did not provide much texture, I thought the second outcome looked a lot more interesting as there was a combination of geometric lines and organic lines. The geometric lines are present in the creases that the cling wrap made, contrasting with the organic lines that formed when I dragged the circular tool (shown in the image below) over the paper.

Leaf Attempt but unfortunately the print was lost 🙁

The tool as seen in the image below helps to create different mark making strokes depending on the direction in which I choose to move it in.

Cotton buds // Plastic Bag Aluminium Foil // Bubble wrap

Bunch of Straws

Stamping of straws

Fine prints created by the stamping of straws.

Strokes created through the use of the brush below

Sprinkled Oats

I experimented with instant oats that I had in my hall room by sprinkling them over the ink pad and placing paper over it.

Oats Print

Final “Emo Lines”

Moving on from the experimentation mark making creations that I did not end up choosing for the final series, I will continue on with the final pieces and the process of creating them.

For my series of emotions, I decided to approach it from a more analytical way by looking at the formal qualities of art and design since I did not have a theme/story that ran throughout all the emotions.

Passion
Material: Styrofoam Soup base

Created by stamping a styrofoam container onto the paper, this pattern consists of explosive structure to show excitement and passion that I have for art. While the circles represent the ideas that are churning in my brain, the thinner extended lines surrounding it represent the act of “putting my work out there” and not being afraid to share it. As some of the lines overlap and connect with each other, it shows that my ideas and creations are all connected in some ways due to my identity as a creator.

To achieve this design, I stamped a soup container cover repeatedly over the paper.

Pre-trimming of outer rim

Post-trim

After the trimming of the outer rim, I proceeded to use the roller for even ink application over the surface.

Another attempt created from the same material

I didn’t end up choosing my line from this piece because the smudged patterns reflected an emotion of uncertainty which contradicts with passion.
Relief
Material: Plastic Cover

This line was created by rolling a plastic container over the paper which created a track-like print. Since the amount of ink lessened after every round, I felt like it conveyed the emotion of relief similarly to how one’s shoulders feel lighter when weight is being lifted off it. There is also movement present within this line because of the rolling motion. As the amount of ink decreases, the “track” fades into a lighter gradient.

Bread Cover from Soup Container

Another Attempt

My first attempt at using the plastic cover consisted of multiple tracks laid over each other. Although I really liked how the fading of the ink turned out, I felt like the visuals were too clustered and therefore decided to recreate a simplified version where the tracks faded into emptiness.
Surprise
Material: Cling Wrap

The printing of ink on creased cling wrap created various tones of darkness and geometric shapes in this line. My aim was to express surprise through different tones of ink to represent the initial shock of surprise followed by the aftermath. To achieve this effect, I tore pieces of cling wrap (not too big so that it was easier to handle) and placed it over the ink slightly crinkled in order for the ink to come into contact with certain areas only.

Cling Wrap on Ink

To achieve the different tones of ink, I reapplied the ink onto the cling wrap strategically. The cropping of this line was also tricky because I had to ensure that there was a combination of different gradients.
Frustration
Material: Bread

The smudgy strokes created on this line was achieved by applying pressure onto my half eaten bread and dragging it across the paper. The fast and hard motion created an expressive structure to portray frustration. Normally when I feel frustrated about something that I can’t get right after many tries, the feeling of frustration urges me to tear things apart which explains the torn bread as well as the motion of speed and pressure.

Half Eaten Bread

For my first experimentation with this piece of bread, I placed ink onto the top surface where there are seeds and grains. Since the toppings are rather small, thinner strokes of lines were created. I felt that it did not express a high pressure of strength, therefore I decided to work with the cross section of the bread instead where the texture was more spongy and absorbed more ink to be imprinted onto the paper.

Inking top of bread

Thinner lines created

Thicker strokes in the final piece express greater frustration which conveys impatience.
Disappointment
Material: Wooden Chopstick

Achieved by rolling a wooden chopstick covered in ink over the paper, this line expresses the emotion of disappointment. Often when I get disappointed, the main reason is that I had hope for something to go well in the first place. Hence, I decided to place hope as the cause of disappointment in this line. Following the direction of movement from left to right, the areas of concentrated ink represent the initial hope that I have. As the series of events continues and disappointment arises, this is where the ink fades into a lighter gradient. This cycle repeats throughout the line and disappointment is portrayed where the ink fades. It can also be looked at as a climax and anti-climax.

Wooden Chopstick

Rolling of chopstick with hand

This image shows another attempt of mark making with the same technique but instead of only rolling in one direction, it was rolled in multiple overlapping directions. I did not end up choosing this outcome because the overlapping made the effect less prominent.
Anxiety
Material: Styrofoam Tray

This overlapping pattern present evokes a sense of over thinking and nervousness. Normally when I get anxious about something, often related to public speaking and presenting in front of others, nervous thoughts about the presentation consume my mind for hours before it’s over. I wanted to express this thought of over thinking through multiple overlapping prints. Although the pattern is repeated, the prints are distorted to convey distress.

Styrofoam Tray

I trimmed the edge of this styrofoam tray in order to have a flat surface to roll the ink over.

Rolling of Ink

Stamping of this over paper

The methods that I have mainly used to create my lines are by smudging, printing, overlapping and rolling. Since most the materials that I ended up using were not flat, the prints were created by hand rather than with the lithography machine. The creation of prints by hand also gave me more freedom to experiment with different pressure, movement and smudges.

Final Presentation

The lines were arranged in the order of positive emotions on the top and negative emotions at the bottom.

After the presentation of my work, I felt that I could have done better in delivering the reasons for my emotions more clearly. While I considered the delivery of emotions individually in each line, I lacked on interconnecting them to each other which is something I hope to improve on in the future.

One of the challenges that I faced in this project was finding the right cropping of my line. Since it was hard to picture which areas would look the best in the size requirement, I created a frame out of paper that measured 38cm by 7.2cm. I dragged the frame around my mark making creations and decided on which was the best crop to portray my emotions.

Reflection:

This project was enjoyable as it gave me the opportunity to experiment with mark making for the first time. Although challenging at times, it was fun to work with many materials and evaluate which would fit each emotion best.

Surprisingly, I also learned a lot about my classmates through the sharing of their work and was also very inspired 🙂

Project 1: Picture Story – Curating Self

To start off the semester for 4D, Project 1 – Picture Story – Curating Self, gave us the opportunity to explore photography and the use of digital cameras. We had to be the director of all our images and experiment with various manipulation techniques in photography. Below are the final images that I had taken to complete all three tasks.

Final Presentation Display

Task 1: Me

Task 1 required for us to creatively introduce ourselves using 3 photographs. Amongst all three task, task 1 was, unfortunately, the most difficult task for me to put together. Often shy and reserved in nature, I struggled to express my inner personality through images. Hence, leading me to lean towards the idea of showing parts of my physicality while including items that reflect the things which bring me comfort.

1st Image

Through this first image, I wanted to photograph the two bracelets that I wear daily, expressing a part of my visual identity. As a gift from my family members, these accessories mean a lot more to me than the purpose of normal jewelry. Having worn them for over 2 years continuously, my wrist feels empty without them. I also decided that the background would incorporate my favorite set of bedding that was brought over from Hong Kong as it brings me a sense of comfort from home.

2nd Image

This second image portrays a silhouette of myself as an attempt to include me in the image without actually showing my physical self. I photographed this image to express the comfort that I feel when spending time alone which also reflects my introverted personality.

3rd Image

While the main subject of this image is a pair of my favorite shoes that I wear very often, I chose to work with this background that demonstrates a balance between the roughness of concrete and softness of nature. This was done to express my love for nature even having grown up in the puzzling cities of Hong Kong.

Task 2: Object and Representation of Self

Task 2 required for us to depict an image of ourselves interacting with an object that is significant to each individual. The object that I chose was amongst a few items that I brought back to Singapore when I moved back here for university from Hong Kong in order to make myself feel more at home in a new environment. This piece of pottery was made and given to me from my mom possibly almost 10 years ago and I guess I could say that it was created to be a characterized image of my younger self.

1st Image

This image captures a close up of the object resting onto my hand. I chose this image as one of the finals as the tilted posture of my hand compliments the direction in which the object is facing. The natural lighting in this image brings warmth to its visuals, mirroring how I feel towards the sentiment of the object.

2nd Image

The second image of this series shows a full figure shot of myself interacting with the object. It attempts to demonstrate the intimate relationship that I have with this other version of myself and portrays a peaceful, calming moment. I really like how the shadow of the pottery figure is pointed at the direction towards me as if it was speaking to me. It was also interesting to see that my shadow on the wall ties in with the shadow in task 1.

3rd Image

Resting over my shoulder as the natural light reflects off the face of my object, I felt like this image represents the object as my alter ego during times when I feel shy.

Task 3: My World

For task 3, the location that I chose was ABC Market at Jalan Bukit Merah. Having lived overseas for a majority of my life, I didn’t have a place that I would consider as ‘home’ yet; contributing to the decision to chose a place that I visited often in my childhood. Not only did I choose it because it felt familiar to me, the ABC market was specifically a place that I have always admired because of its appealing visual colors.

1st Image

This image starts off task 3 as it leads into the route that I normally take to the hawker center from the bus stop. This old metal shelf expresses qualities that represent my childhood including the colors, the font, and chips as a favorite snack of mine. Its retro look and bright colors contrasting with the rusty metal bars always caught my eye as it encompasses a sense of age and timelessness.

2nd & 3rd Image

The aim of these images in this series was to convey the satisfaction that I feel after meals that I have consumed (very quickly). I had to capture this sight because I always felt a connection with the bright colors that complemented each other; reminding me of my childhood.

4th Image

I included an image of this fan from my perspective to show appreciation for it as it is a very important factor to consider when choosing a seat in the hawker center. The image also captures the unique ceiling architecture and color of this hawker.

A visual theme that was noticed about images in this task particularly was absence. The absence of human interaction in a busy hawker, the absence of chips, and the absence of food. Subconsciously, I placed these images together possibly reflecting a missing connection that I have with a place of my childhood; considering my absence of being away from Singapore for a long time.

Process

Artist Inspiration – Lim Yaohui

Pearl’s Centre Final Days

After having the chance to admire, analyze and evaluate Lim Yaohui’s series of work titled Pearls Centre’s Final Days, some ideas and inspiration started to influence plans that I had for project 1. During my visit to the Home in Focus exhibition for week 2, Daphne and I choose Lim’s series to analyze. The link below is a PDF file to our presentation slides where we analyzed his photographs by looking at the vantage point.

Home in Focus Exhibition – Presentation slides

Task 3 Test Shots

Inspiration from this series of photographs started to kick in after I took my first round of images for task 3 at the location that I had chosen. Before consultation for the test shots that I had for task 3, I realized that the majority of the images I took had similar subjects which were meals on the tables of ABC market because I was very drawn to its colors.

After looking at Lim’s series, I decided that the next time I went back to take more images, I should branch out into other areas of the location instead of sticking with the same subject and high angle of shooting. Apart from the variety of images of different locations, I was also inspired by how Lim captures slight pops of colors which conveyed the vintage/ retro visuals of Pearls Centre very well.

Task 2 Test Shots

Task 2 was tricking for me because since I had to be in the photos interacting with my object, I had to set up the camera and go through the trial and error process with different angles and use of a tripod. The first two images amongst the final three were actually taken during the first round of shooting.

These were some of the close-up shots I took of my object. Even though I quite liked how the lighting was reflected off the object, after my discussion with Lei we decided that it was more meaningful to choose those images where I was interacting with it. Hence I did not have any shots of just the object.

Another interacting pose that I experimented with was where I was standing up.

Standing shot from mid-angle

After consultation, Lei suggested that it might be better to take the standing shot from a much lower angle so I tried it again but this time in another background with different lighting.

Taken from a lower angle

Even though I thought that this composition might be nice to select as one of the final images, the change in background and colors contrasted with the other images in the series which affected it to not flow nicely as a whole.