On Longing

On Longing

 

1. The body is the primary mode for perceiving scale.

 

 

This statement could capture the tendency of humans to view themselves as being the center of the universe. People often think first of themselves, second of the things that surround them. This tendency would lead someone to size up objects against themselves.

 

2. Capacity of objects to serve as traces of authentic experience.

 

 

I definitely believe that objects are capable of serving as traces of authentic experience. Sometimes these objects can be unexpected; seemingly insignificant pieces of your past can become very important. Personally, I feel like foods and smells are often what become representative of an experience for me. Though these ma not always be concrete objects, they still strongly correlate to important personal memories.

 

3. The souvenir reduces the public, the monumental, and the three dimensional into the miniature that can be enveloped by the body.

 

 

A souvenir reduces the gradure of an event, place, or experience down to a personal possession which one can hold. I believe it is naturally formed souvenirs which become most valuable, not those purchased to represent a time or place. Personally, I have one particular jacket that was bought for me before a surf trip. This was the only piece of clothing that I felt comfortable wearing on a trip from that time after. That one jacket became representative of my ability to travel to new areas of the world and grow as a person.

 

4. Nostalgia cannot be sustained without loss.

 

 

You truly cannot miss something until it's gone. When one loses something of value, one will usually begin to value that object even more. Nostalgia thrives upon the sensation of possessing a love of what once was, not of what is.

 

5. To have a souvenir of the exotic is to possess both a specimen and a trophy.

 

 

I personally have not really had a souvenir of the exotic. I supposed that this type of memento could be particularly valuable, but I don't know if it is right to refer to these souvenirs as trophies. I don't believe that objects should be treated as rewards or trophies, but rather as simple possession in and of themselves. 

Relief Architecture Analysis

     In this piece, I decided to merge both modern and art nouveau architectural styles. The stacking of the boxes in my piece is a common mode of construction in modern architecture, while the geometric strong patterns which I thread through the openings of each box mirrors the clean, abstract lines found in this styles.
     One of the common pieces which drew me to the art nouveau style was the intricate spiral staircases. I knew that I wanted to include a staircase in my piece, but I struggled with how to execute it properly and where to include it in my piece. At first I began to create a staircase out of card stock paper, but wasn't happy with it being white in color as opposed to to being made out of wood. The final solution that I found was to use a wooden dowel as the support, then adding nails in a spiral, adding string to connect all of the "steps". By combining these sturdier materials, my staircase was capable of supporting my entire piece while achieving a more industrial aesthetic.
     After mounting my piece on the wall, I decided that I desire more width in my work. I achieved this by creating a sun dial motif with string coming from the case of my piece that attached to the wall. In an attempt to make the adhesive I used to mount the string more aesthetically appealing, I cut the masking tape I used into triangles. In this way, I was able to transform a functional part of my piece into a design element.
     Overall, what I enjoyed most about this assignment was how transformative my piece was. I liked the fact that I was forced to respond to new elements, such as the wall. Due to this fact, I feel I was forced to think more innovatively and creatively as an artist.

Inventory/ The Tokens

     It's pretty unbelievable that moments became representative of people's entire lives at the London Foundling Hospital. A clear distinction was made by the author of this article which I thought was interesting: these tokens were meant to be identifiers, not gifts given to children. This fact prescribes a new meaning and purpose to these memories.
     I believe that this article proves, in an extreme case, that tokens can serve a purpose aside from being memorabilia. This shows how seemingly insignificant objects can come to represent a person, place, or time as a whole. I also was intrigued by the fact that these tokens were often split between mother and child, to be rejoined at a later date. This proves how powerful a souvenir can be, even when it is not in it's most perfect form.

Paper Cut Progession

Here are a few shots while working on a paper cut project in which I constructed three sculptures entirely out of card stock paper, without any use of adhesive.

 

Initial inspiration for figure piece: 

 

 

Following in class critique of our pieces, I modified the structure of my figure:

 







 

I decided that creating a front mask-like face would add depth to the piece:

 



 

Resulting in my final figure piece:



 

 

Next I began to work on my shadow box piece:

 



 

Once I had created a basic box form, I began to add details for the middle ground of my piece:



 

 

I created my globe, sun, and moon figures from separate pieces of card stock, and added these elements to create a background and foreground in my piece:

 



 

Finally, I began to work on my satirical take on our sculpture of "home", creating an iPhone to represent how our lives are run by the use of electronics. I created a hand to serve as the "landscape" for this piece, to provide the viewer with more context. I added figures of individuals crawling out of the top of the phone, which could be read either as our society being trapped by being so wrapped up in the use of our technological devices, or it could be taken as a useful tool with which we can connect with loved ones that live far away.



 

Finally, my work resulted in the three figures depicted below:

 



Relief Architecture Research

Art Nouveau Architecture:

Casa Batillo

Antoni Guadi

Barcelona, Spain 1905-1910

 

Castel Beranger

Hector Guimard

Paris, France 1890

 

Horta House

Victor Horta

Brussels, Belgium 1895-1898

 

 

View 2 Horta House

 

 

Sezession House

J.M. Obrich

Vienna, Austria 1986

 

 

          When researching various styles of architecture for this particular piece, I was first intrigued by the ideology paired with the art nouveau style. Artists working within this style upheld the belief that artistic and design values should be evident in seemingly insignificant, every day objects. The delicate leaf-like and tendril motifs often found in art nouveau style buildings were immediately appealing to me. I found that the forms constructing these pieces were fluid and organic in nature, which rendered these edifices both beautiful and inviting.

 

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Modern Architecture:

 

 

 

Fennel Residence

Robert Oshatz

Portland, Oregon 2001

 

 RTA Studio: Iron Bank

Richard Naish/ Tim Melville

Auchland, New Zealand 2009

 

 

View 2 RTA Studio: Iron Bank

 

 

 Daewon Park Observatory

Changki Yun

Seongnam, Korea 2009

 

          Despite the fact that I found the art nouveau style of architecture so ascetically appealing with its delicate, organic forms, I also found that these pieces could appear a bit cluttered with such a large amount of detail present. This observation lead me to the modern style of architecture in which clean lines and open spaces are key. Some pieces feature highly geometric forms, while others display curving, organic forms, as with the Daewon Park Observatory. These simplistic, more organic forms stood out to me in that way that these types of forms would be very complimentary when paired with some art nouveau style delicate detailing. 

Searching for Elements and Principles

Organic Line- Ildiko Valicsek

Rectilinear Line- Kristen Mcgriff

Organic Shape- Oleg Soroko

Geometric Shape- Christine A D M

Scale- Dimitri Kaliviotis

Symmetry- Tano Veron

Asymmetry- Anna Strupinskaya

Repition- Benjamin Dodd

Actual Texture- Levi van Veluw

Simulated Texture- Artist Unknown



A Few of My Favorite Things

1. 5'8"x19'x3 3/4 Sharpeye Disco- My favorite surf board that I have ever ridden, which is saying something. This particular board has been through so much abuse, including being almost snapped in half which being transported on a plane while visiting Puerto Rico last winter. A quick repair job here and there keeps my Disco ready for any type of wave that I want to ride.

2. Nikon D3200- An investment that I made in my own personal photographic endeavors. This particular camera takes by far the most beautiful pictures that I have ever seen.

3. Floral Vans- Simply my favorite pair of shoes that I've owned in a while. Sturdy and stylish these are always my go-to piece when I'm wanting to go out and skate or adventure somewhere new.

4. Electric Sunglasses- I actually ran across these at work and placed them in the lost and found, only to rediscover them about two months later still unclaimed. They've quickly become something I cannot leave the house without.

5. Mac Book Pro- Buying this thing was probably one of the most nerve wracking things that I have done recently. It's frightening to make such a huge financial commitment to your educational career, but I know that possessing the correct technological devices is essential to my success as a designer.

6. Sector 9 Skateboard- This little green guy is my favorite mode of transportation. Small enough to stow away in the back of my car or slide underneath a desk while in class, this board definitely gets me where I need to go in the most enjoyable way possible.