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2.28.2008
Postcard 2 (2D Foundations #2)
My second postcard is an advertisement for the Campus Crusade for Christ meetings at NIU. I decided beforehand that I wanted to do postcards with completely different feelings and styles, although I'm uncertain of whether I accomplished the latter.
I wanted to add my own twist to the standard invitation to Cru and challenge people's notions of Christian art. Fundamentally, it also challenges people's ideas/understandings of Christianity.
So instead of making it all nice and cheerful, I decided to make it quite scary and threatening. I mainly kept to a black and white color scheme. I just created a sort of nondescript background from various grunge brushes obtained from Aethereality.
Then I played around with the text. I wanted to have some variations in both fonts and font size to emphasize certain words, such as "CAMPUS-WIDE", "SAVING LIVES", "YOU", "CHHALLENGE", the organization's name and its weekly meeting place. As my professor suggested, I added a tinge of red to these words for further emphasis.
I also wanted the placement of the text to be a little crazy, perhaps even messy to go along with the threatening feeling.
What does this postcard say to YOU? Do you think that the imagery and the style, or feeling that the postcard gives off is appropriate for the organization it is advertising? Why or why not? How effective do you think it would be in getting you to attend if you saw this as a flyer?Labels: 2D
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Postcard 1 (2D Foundations #2)
The second 2D Foundations project assigned was to create two postcards. We had a choice of doing 2 postcards with a message about Northern Illinois University or DeKalb, or 1 postcard about NIU and 1 postcard about DeKalb.
Also, the "postcards" are not true postcards in that they are graded from a computer screen. Therefore, they will be optimized for a computer screen. Secondly, the minimum size for the postcards was 8x10 inches.
I chose to do two postcards about NIU. The first one advertises the School of Art. I wanted to create imagery that would remind one of elegant, old-fashioned art like Victorian era architecture. I used elaborate, thin, calligraphy-like line-work to give it an elegant feeling. Then I placed a picture of a canvas in the background to make it more old-fashioned.
Choosing the right text made this a tough project, but I decided that the "School of Art" text would be the fanciest because that is the focal point of the postcard. For the "northern illinois university" and "a classy education", I wanted something that had a cursive feel to it, but wouldn't be more elegant or fancy than the "School of Art" text, as those two elements aren't as important as "the School of Art" text.
Something that I could improve is the image of the hand drawing onto the canvas. It would probably make more sense with a long, thin paintbrush with pointy bristles. At the very least, a calligraphy pen or an ultra-fine tip marker would have worked better. Alas, I did not have those kinds of supplies...
What does this postcard say to YOU?Labels: 2D
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1.31.2008
Self-portrait collage (2D Foundations #1)
Currently, I am enrolled in a class called 2D Foundations. 2D Foundations is one of the 4 required freshmen classes for all art majors at the college that I attend. This class primarily serves as an introduction to the elements of design and how to apply them to 2D media.
My first 2D Foundations project was to create a self-portrait collage. We began by taking pictures of ourselves and then breaking our faces down into simple shapes through the Posterize feature and the Cutout filter in Photoshop. We also had the option of experimenting with color schemes through Photoshop.
After each of us decided on a version of our faces that we liked, we had to replicate what we did in Photoshop with cardstock. Though our Photoshopped pictures served as templates, we were not bound by it; the professor made it clear that we had the option of simplifying, changing the color scheme and/or adding other features.
I chose a subdued color scheme. There is definitely value contrast, from the black in my hair to the highlights in my face, which gives my face texture and some liveliness. Yet the range of colors is limited; there are no high-contrast colors such as complementary colors.
I wanted to portray myself as modest and "going with the flow." I am more about accepting (or attempting to accept) things as they are and work with that, as opposed to fighting the flow of events. This is also why I wanted my green sweater to fade into the background, although it visually makes it look like my head is floating. Perhaps adding another piece of my sweater to more clearly mark the rest of my right shoulder would have eliminated this problem.
A weakness in the project, aside from my head floating, is my craftsmanship. I have done worse in terms of craftsmanship, but the edges of some of the paper are frayed, raggedy, or generally not smooth. I also smudged rubber cement in some places, and could not get rid of them with my rubber cement pick-up.
What kind of color scheme would YOU have chosen?Labels: 2D
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1.21.2008
Dysfunctional Object (3D Foundations #5)
The fifth 3D Foundations project was to create a "dysfunctional" object. Basically, we had to make a wooden object that was either the replica of a functional object, that you would use in everyday life, or we had to create a wooden object that incorporated a replica of a functional object.
I chose to create a new object from 3 functional objects: a glue gun, an Xacto knife and scissors.
I have always injured myself creating sculptures. During the first 3D Foundations project (the cardboard head), I frequently burned myself because I had to work with small pieces of cardboard. One time, I gave myself a 2nd degree burn on my right index finger, first underneath my nail, and then on my fingertip.
I also accidentally snipped myself with scissors during the first 3D Foundations project.
During the Junk Culture project, I skinned a finger, burned a finger and then cut myself with an Xacto knife as I was working on Sculpture C. (This was all in one sitting)
To visually describe these experiences, I decided to combine these three tools to make a new object. Since the glue gun gave me the largest quantity and the most serious injuries, I decided to use that as the base. Then I added spikes to the glue gun by having the scissors and Xacto knife sticking out of the glue gun. I wanted to convey the danger of such tools by making my project look like some spiky thing that no one would dare to touch.
I painted the entire project with 1 color so that it would register as 1 form. I chose bright orange spray paint as a reference to the orange construction signs, telling drivers that they should be cautious and slow down as they are driving through a construction zone. I wanted the color to give people a sense of caution, and possibly a sense of danger.
What would YOU have done differently?Labels: 3D
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1.09.2008
Omnipresence (3D Foundations #6)
For anyone that may be curious, my fifth 3D Foundations project is on display. I will take pictures of it and post it here as soon as I get it back.
My sixth and final 3D Foundations project was performance art. Everyone had to do a repeated action and either videotape that repeated action, or show the final result of that repeated action.
For instance, one student went out to several carpet stores and collected carpet samples. The result of his repeated action was a carpet that he made of all of the carpet samples that he collected.
I was partially inspired by Sam to collect advertisements for my repeated action. I then chose computer audio files -- .wav/.ogg/.mp3 -- as my medium. I had recently downloaded Audacity, a free sound-editing and recording program, and played around with it.
I finally decided to create 4 layers of sound in female Japanese voices, which I ripped from various Japanese animation shows. Then I created a layer of sound which is just me whispering all of the ads that I had collected.
To me, this audio file represents my experience walking down a street. Even as I am on campus and walking to class, I am bombarded with all kinds of advertisements, from billboards, cars, t-shirts, buildings, flyers, you name it. But I've observed that I'm mostly desensitized to such advertisements. I really don't pay attention to these things unless I come across particular phrases or images that catch my attention. However, I soon forget about these things as I move on and my mind shifts to more important matters, such as what I'm going to do for my next art project.
All of the Japanese voices represent all of the ads that constantly bombard us, but that we just don't pay attention to. I specifically wanted it to be in a language that Americans generally would not understand because I wanted it to sound like gibberish. Nobody pays attention to gibberish. Then the one layer of recognizable, English words represents the few ads that momentarily catch our attention. But even that one layer sometimes becomes very faint, or fades out altogether as our interest is directed elsewhere. Later on, that layer of sound becomes louder and more distinct as our interest is once again drawn back to certain advertisements.
The weakness AND strength of this project is the many Japanese voices. The strength is that the Japanese voices really do illustrate the ads that constantly bombard us. They illustrate the sheer volume of ads bombarding us, and how we as a society generally do not pay attention to these ads. Yet the weakness is that the Japanese voices are so overpowering that it may be difficult for listeners to make out the words in English. If listeners have a hard time understanding the English words, they may totally miss the entire message of the project. In order to remedy this, I made the file loop 3 times so that the listener has 4 chances to make out the English words. Even then, listeners may still have trouble with it.
"Omnipresence" mp3 (4:11; it loops after 1:02)
With the help of my professor, I named this piece "Omnipresence." I call it "Omnipresence" because the file conveys that there are advertisements EVERYWHERE. You can't hide from them! (Just take a look at your wardrobe, I betcha there's a shirt with an ad somewhere in there)
What does this project say to YOU? How is the project's effect different on someone who understands Japanese?
Japanese voices included in the file:
Bleach: Satsuki Yukino, Yoko Souma, Hisakawa Aya
Card Captor Sakura: Kikuko Inoue
Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children: Maaya Sakamoto
Final Fantasy VII: The Last Order: Ayumi Ito
Hellsing: Yoshiko Sakakibara, Fumiko Orikasa
Heroic Age: Ami Koshimizu, Miyuki Sawashiro, Yui Ishikawa, Yukana, Rina Satou, Kaori Shimizu
Le Chevalier D'eon: Risa Mizuno, Yukiko Takaguchi, Atsuko Tanaka
Magic Knight Rayearth: Shinohara Emi
Sailor Moon: Mitsuishi Kotono, Mitsuko Horie
Slayers: Megumi Hayashibara, Maria Kawamura
Shoujo Kakumei Utena: Mitsuishi Kotono, Yuri Shiratori, Kumiko Nishihara, Tomoko Kawakami
Tsubasa Chronicle: Ito Shizuka, Masako Katsuki, Sayaka Ohara, Takako Honda
Turn A Gundam: Rieko Takahashi
Vampire Princess Miyu (TV): Miki Nagasawa, Megumi Ogata
Xenosaga The Animation: Ai Maeda
Xenosaga Episode III: Mariko Suzuki
X TV: Hisakawa Aya, Yuzuki Ryoka, Somi Yoko, Satsuki Yukino
xxxHOLiC: Sayaka Ohara
Though I used copyrighted material, I believe that I am protected by "fair use" because it was and is used for educational purposes. (This site is really a forum to share ideas and show others what I am inspired by and how I use that to create new material) However, in the unlikely incident that I am actually contacted by the companies owning such anime or the voice actresses (seiyuu), I will take the file off of the server if that is requested. Labels: 3D
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Pumpkin-carving (3D Foundations #4)
The forth 3D Foundations project was very fun! We were approaching Halloween, and my classmates had been asking the professor if we could carve pumpkins. So on the Thursday before Halloween, we all brought pumpkins to class.
But the professor wanted all of our pumpkins to have a theme. After about 45 minutes of discussion, the class decided that everyone would carve the word "pumpkin" in a different language. I chose Japanese.
I went to a computer lab and used the Altavista Babelfish translator to find out how to write "pumpkin" in Japanese. Then I copied and pasted that into Photoshop, and created a pattern for myself. The inspiration to carve the Japanese characters vertically came from my numerous visits to Chinese restaurants that would write the day's specials vertically on a chalkboard. Then, to make it more interesting, I adjusted the characters to read diagonally.
After making the proper adjustments in Photoshop, I printed it out and used it as a pattern. I first used the pattern transfer tool to poke out the outline of the pattern. Then I took the smaller of the 2 pumpkin-carving saws I had and very slowly and carefully cut out the pattern.
(Photo courtesy of my classmate, Phil) How would YOU have done it?Labels: 3D
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Junk Culture: C (3D Foundations #3)
The third 3D Foundations assignment was to create three sculptures by combining two or more objects. Out of the three sculptures, there had to be: one social commentary, one metaphorical self-portrait and one for pure aesthetics.
Sculpture C is my pure aesthetics sculpture. This one was the most frustrating because I couldn't determine the meaning of "aesthetics." Everyone's idea of what's beautiful is different, so how am I to create a sculpture that would be universally beautiful, or beautiful to everyone?
In my quest to discover the meaning of beauty, I googled "aesthetics" and "pure aesthetics." I only came upon one image that was inspiring. It consisted of several shiny, golden, windy, slinky-like shapes. Unfortunately, inspiration from a picture is not always helpful when it comes to sculpture because it all depends on whether you can find the right materials.
So I spent Friday-Monday searching for the right materials. Come Monday, (the project was due Tuesday), I gathered 3 usable objects -- a pink watering can, a wooden question mark and fancy knitting needles -- but didn't know how to put them together in a way that would be beautiful. Since I was out of time to search for more stuff, I began playing around with the three objects that I had. I did this for quite some time without any luck, until I tried inserting the wooden question mark into the handle of the watering can. It reminded me of the picture I found on Google, with the golden, windy, slinky-like shapes. Then I added the knitting needle to the project.
Because my professor decided that we were to paint at least one of our junk culture projects the weekend before it was due, I painted the project with gold acrylic paint. Of course, the picture on Google inspired me to choose gold.
Although the process was completely frustrating, to the point that I felt like pulling my hair out several times, I am very satisfied with the end result. I especially like that my paint job makes the three objects register as one form.
The only problem is that both the watering can and knitting needle don't take very well to acrylic paint. I've always had problems with the paint chipping off, and I even painted it a second time because of that. I am considering chipping all of the paint off and using gold spray paint instead. Any suggestions of other kinds of paint I could use?
Do YOU think this project is beautiful? Why or why not?Labels: 3D
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