My Work

There are 24 posts filed in My Work (this is page 1 of 3).

OSS: Hyperessay 2

Check out our live video here! Posted on Jinyee’s OSS page, we created a few webpages where we explained why we chose this topic, the synopsis for our project, process, and Jinyee’s and my combined hyperessay.

On this OSS post, I will be writing my personal reflection regarding this project.

Our contestants for Miss Beauty 2018!

This project was an interesting experience for me. Firstly, it was because I learnt what me and Jinyee’s peers found attractive.

Above are some of the data we collected!

Physical features wise it is:

  • Smile (highest ranking trait by a huge margin)
  • Eyes
  • Long legs

Character wise it is:

  • Confidence (highest ranking characteristics by a huge margin)
  • Kindness
  • Bubbly personality

Despite knowing that beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, it is fascinating to know that there are some traits in a female that is attractive to the general public.

The original intent of this work was to mainly investigate how people perceive women online. From the beauty pageant, we were able to find out that the most beautiful contestant was Fan Bing, who is made of:

Winner of the pageant – Fan Bing!

I guess it was probably because it was made out of asians features, hence it looks more natural compared to the rest of the contestants who were a mix of asian and caucasian facial features. And also it is probably due to her having an asian face, which might be more appealing to our asian audience.

It was also an interesting experience to create the avatars from scratch. I think our photoshop skills are not bad as our audiences are unsure about whether they are photoshopped or not. Some where even surprised that they were photoshopped! However, because the contestants looks unnatural, the votings for all the individuals were generally on the lower end.

 

Here are some of the votings we had! Which are generally in the lower end.

If Jinyee and I could push the project further, it would be interesting to ask the same sample group what physical features and personality traits make a male attractive instead. From there, perhaps we could see the disparity between how people view males vs females.

It was also fun to incorporate what we learnt in our OSS class into the topic Jinyee and I want to touch on. It was kind of a challenge to do so, but incorporating avatars, collaborative art and the live stream function elevated our project further.

Live streaming is a platform that is very expandable. Not only are we able to get real time data on the go, but it is flexible enough to do more than talking to the screen. For example, Jinyee and I pre recorded a few VOs to replayed it to make it seem like we are interviewing the pageant in real life. Should one expand their creativity, I believe that live streaming could be a powerful tool as it also has the advantage of broadcasting to a larger audience.

Overall, I really enjoyed this module and the project Jinyee and I worked on. It was also a great conversation starter when I met my friends who was active throughout the pageant contest!

 

 

Hyperessay 1: Conceptualisation

For my final project, I am still currently undecided about what I specifically want to do. Here are the two topics I currently want to branch into:

Concept 1: Privacy

For the final project, I intend to investigate the depth of our disregard/unawareness about the issue of privacy among social media users.

The teachings regarding public vs privacy in class piqued my interest regarding this subject. In fact, beforehand I myself was negligent about digital footprints that I have left behind. This was until our guest speaker, Surya Mattu from Brooklyn, New York, personally had a chat with us in class regarding this topic.

What inspired me was his project named Last Seen.  A Wi-Fi packet sniffer project which looks at the memories of our Wi-Fi enabled devices. From there, he could connect the dots of one’s personal life. It really impacted me when he told us about how he found out about one of his friend (or a subject?) cheating on another person just by seeing how one of their phones is connected to the other’s house wifi.

Since then, I have been pondering much about this subject. If one can infer so much fromWi-Fi alone, then what could one infer about us from our social media accounts?  The digital age has collapsed the walls and boundaries of privacy online, and what could be the consequences of such, which is mostly unknown or not taken seriously to my peers and I?

Concept 2: Avatar/Alter Ego/Persona

The main reason why I am motivated to touch on this subject is because recently, I learnt about Lil Miquela. Since kickstarting her account in 2016, she have garnered over 1.2million followers and collaborates with different other influencers and even brands like Spotify. Also, she released a single named “Not Mine” in March 2017.  So who actually is she?

Looks like a normal teen, right?

But look closer.

Posing with her friends

So actually if you take at look at her closely, you will realise that she is a CGI. She is a fictional character made more realistic with captions, posing with people, and if you look closely enough, placing a CGI face over a real body

Over the two years, many were speculating about who is the person behind the account. And it has since been revealed that she is is a fictional CGI character created by Trevor McFedries and Sara Decou as a digital art project.

We all know about the reasons why people choose to don an avatar or remain anonymous online. But with this avatar created on a social media platform, invading a space that does not usually use avatars, then it has evoked many different and interesting reactions online. In fact, it has sparked off quite a conversation as news outlets like New York Magazine covered this “controversial” topic.

And I am still pondering, why so? Why are people interested and following an avatar (especially so after the account is revealed to be “fake”)? I think it is interesting that avatars can be utilised like this beyond a game, into something more “real” instead. Should I want to pursue this topic, how I can execute this topic beyond a gamescape as well?

An artwork we have discussed in class that is similar to the topic about avatars/alter ego is Grand Theft Avatar,  which is a live performance created in Second Life

Conclusion

I want really interested in these two topics and would like to read up and dive deeper into these concepts more before finalising on one.

Research Critique: Annie Abrahams, The Big Kiss (2007)

 

French performance artist Annie Abrahams uses webcam technology and attempts to kiss through a video call. This is an example of an interaction occurring in a third space, as despite being present in different geographical locations, the physical boundaries collapses as the two individuals starts to feel more immersed in the act.

It brings to the question why Abrahams choose to use a kiss as the main element in the performance.  A kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sexual attraction,, sexual arousal, affection, respect, greeting, friendship, peace, and good luck, among many others. A kiss is something that is very intimate, yet, how did you feel when you watch the interaction occur in a third space?

Ulay and Abramovic performs’Breathing in, Breathing out’ (April 1977, Belgrade)

Watch a snippet of it here!

What emotions does these art performances, that does not occur in third spaces evoke in you? Especially in comparison with The Big Kiss. It seems like The Big Kiss is far less passionate and intense. It also seems to be more gestural, compared to the two examples above.

And perhaps, because touch, voice, and body signals, which are important for communication, are deprived in the machine mediated experience. This brings to the question to how intimacy is being adapted almost “shortchanged” due to the digital world we live in today.

Of course, we do not need to video call one another and perform The Big Kiss to show love. But on the other hand, we have perhaps unknowingly adapted it into various forms, like sending emojis, or simply dropping a “HPD!” message onto one’s Facebook wall. Ultimately, intimacy in a third space cannot be replaced or substituted.

So where and what are the limits of digital communication?

Machine mediated kissing in a performance = drawing with your tongue = taking pleasure, while constructing an image = a way to be superaware of the other = never totally abandoning yourself = ???????? = not at all like real kissing, it’s better! This might be a female view point. – Annie Abrahams

Like what Annie Abrahams said herself, The Big Kiss is not like a real kiss. To her, it is better due to not having the need to be physically present, which allows a closer intimacy between the two performance. And this is an advantage in her perspective.

Ultimately, different tools and platforms has its pros and cons and we need to be aware and tap on these advantages when it comes to our own artworks.

Illustration for Design: Assignment 2 process pt 1

In order to create patterns for the editorial design, I decided to go for the idea of creating patterns and alter it to “trigger” people due to design mistakes like misalignment, inconsistent colourings and the likes.

Lisa introduced me to a particular artist who creates beautiful patterns, Marian bantjes. Her book, “I wonder” is available in the ADM library. Here was a few of her works that inspired me to create my final product.

Then I looked into Peranakan, moroccan, and islamic tiles as I personally love its patterns. These were heavily referred to throughout the whole process of creating the final work, as this gave me an idea of how to create a pattern and inspired me to combine sets of element together to produce a product that looks cohesive as a whole.

I had the basic understanding such patterns and the works of Marian bantjes were created from repetition of basic shapes. So to kick of the entire project, I started creating basic shapes inspired from the works above. These 6 patterns and shapes was used in the final composition (besides the addition of other basic shapes like rectangles and circles), despite the complicated look it has, which people think was a combination of many different patterns.

 

 

I also initially looked at different coloured schemes that would appeal to my initial target audience. Initially my moodboard was blue and white, mainly inspired my chinaware ceramics. But of course such colours might be boring hence Lisa and I agreed that bright neon (inspired from one of Marian Bantjes works below) would be a great addition to complete the work. 

Therefore below is a few sets of colour schemes that I played around with before progressing onto the work.

However, at this point I was thinking that the colour might be too bright and too much for the patterns that would be created in the final composition. But I decided to just keep this concern in mind and progress with exploring different compositions first, which is expounded in the next post!

Design for illustrators: Assignment 2 process

For our second project, we are commissioned to create an illustration for the front cover of bi-annual magazine, “Varoom”. We are able to pick from one of the three themes, style, empathy and obsession.

Choosing a theme:

Here are a few very rough mind maps I did to explore the three themes before narrowing on a final one.

I then decided that the most promising topic that I could work on is obsession, which definition from dictionary.com stated that it is an idea or thought that continually preoccupies or intrudes on a person’s mind. Upon being introduced to some strategies for divergent thinking, which aids in developing ideas and creating conceptual links to the theme, I expanded my thoughts for the specific theme.

Thinking of the theme word obsession reminds me of a phrases/metaphors in the word association chart:

Concept 1: Practice makes perfect

Regular exercise of an activity or skill is the way to become proficient in it.

This remind me of how I learnt chinese spelling, multiplication, and numbers during my kindergarden years. Writing and rewriting the words till it is ingrained in my head. There was once in kindergarden I actually vomit during class as I had a headache and my teacher did not allow me to take a break. I guess that was when my hatred for numbers stem from haha.

Concept 2: An aspect of OCD, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.

More specifically, the aspect where there is a need for the individual to have items ordered in a certain way (for example, according to color, size, or facing a certain direction). Children and teens with this type of obsession are either anxious because “it just doesn’t feel right” or because of a superstitious belief that something bad will happen (e.g., “if my shoes are not arranged properly, my mom will die!”). 

This is because of how people these days are so obsessed over the idea of perfection.

A lighter take on this topic reminds me of everyday things that just triggers people for the lack of completeness, below are some things that is an example of such:
 How does it feel for you to feel? Does it trigger you?

 

Target Audience

From these two concepts, I narrowed and picked a specific target audience. I believe a key aspect that the TA require is appreciating humour. Moodboard:

Concept 1: Practice makes perfect

Lisa suggest taking a literal approach to my real life experience, by illustrating vomit into the cover, and I think it is such a quirky approach!

 

Concept 2: “OCD”, obsession with perfection

For this, I thought of playing with tiles and illustrate it in such a way that triggers people. For example, not aligning a square with the rest of the tiles, which is quite fun and different!


That is all for now, excited for this project.

 

DV2002 Assignment 1 – Research+Process

For this assignment we are tasked to create a A3 self portrait exploring the concept of visual narrative – or visual storytelling. We are to consider the best ways to represent our character and personality, and I approached this by considering the colours, composition and the elements that should be included in the final design.

First and foremost, we are asked to start by thinking of 5 – 8 words to describe ourselves. So here’s my list!

  1. Dog lover: Having pet dogs in my life since I was born really make me love dogs and it is the best destresser after a long day. Currently, I have a beagle named Onion and he looks extremely droopy, which makes people surprised to hear he is only 1 years old. I think this has also equated to my personality being more dog-like than catty, like loving to go outdoors and being more of a extroverted. Here is a photo of Onion!
  2. Potato lover: I love potatoes in any forms! Mash potato, rosti, hashbrowns, potato chips (my ultimate weakness, I can eat it in place of breakfast, lunch or dinner). Found these two images in my photo gallery haha.

3. Pinoy chinese: My mother is Filipino while my dad is Singaporean Chinese, and being mixed race has often led some interesting events in my life. Like finding my own identity, or being bullied when I was younger as I was different, or relating to things differently from my peers (like food). However I have done projects in the past based on this aspect so I did not touch on it for this module. Here was a photo of a project I did in y1 based on this topic!

A projection of a photo when my parents when they got married, and their product, me! My parents had a filipino wedding hence the lack of red

4. Reckless/careless/forgetful: I lose my Ezlink card on a daily basis, and at this point of my life I know that I am extremely careless so I always take note of my items and surroundings as prevention is better than cure.

5. Vvid dreams: Weirdly I really have very vivid dreams and is able to recount them in details to my friends. My dreams are extremely weird yet feels real at the same time, and somehow my dreams are getting more vivid recently. I chose this aspect of myself to narrate in my self portrait, wanting to create a dream world far from reality, where everything seems real yet has little things that shows that I am not in the real world –  just like my own dreams.

Next, I looked up on some inspiration:

What I like about these works that I found on Pinterest are the bold colours and the style of illustrations. On top of wanting to convey my vivid dreams, I would like to also showcase my personality which some of my friends say is very quirky. Therefore, I want to include bright colours into my work.

Another artist I want to give a shoutout to is Sangho Bang.

I admire his intricate works and use of colours, what I incorporated into my work is trying to use the same method of colouring and shading. He seems to have added highlights and shading into the elements which does not make his work flat, and creates contrast.

Another style that I initially wanted to undertake was to use surrealism, similar to artist Eugenia Loli.

I consulted Lisa, and she recommended me to take note of the scale, size and surrealism. Meaning, a simple method to make things interesting is to make small things bigger, and large things smaller.

However, I did not use this method has it is an unfamiliar style that I have not done before, and I was concerned that I could not pass up a work I am satisfied with the initial deadline we had. Moreover, I wanted to sharpen my digital illustration skills that I haven’t touched in what it felt like a long time.

Compositions that I explored: 

Finally, I started to work on compositions and thinking about how to convey everything into an A3 paper. Here were some of the compositions I explored!

 

IM I Week 8

RAW – Prismatica

 

 

Strands – Natalie Sun

Computer-generated strings of light wiggle and shake in response to your movements in strands, the new interactive light installation from ecco screen. trands was created using custom software the artist wrote in Processing. ecco screen used a blob-tracking device and an Xbox Kinect to pinpoint the user’s position in front of the piece.

IM I week 6

I love the combination of light and sound, it is like creating a new instrument. Looking at the video, it seems to be an intensive task to create these sturdy rods. On the other hand, the technicality of the installation is quite insane (in a good way)!

Fluidic