Final Review

Over these six weeks as a student at ravensbourne I have progressed massively. I have experimented with many different ways of working and types of material. I have engaged in tasks I never thought I would have, and I have realised that often many area’s of art can be applied to completely different area’s of art. For example the design of a dress or item of clothing in fashion with a simple bit of tracing over can easily become a a building in 3D design.

I have realised that it is important to be as experimental as possible and that no idea is a bad idea as long as you learn from it and be self critical. After being here for 6 weeks it has also become clear that trying to find a way of producing something simply by doing something completely obscure from the final outcome can often help to create original ideas.

Graphic Design

 Graphic design with Andy was an eye opening week. We were given quite strange tasks at the beginning of the week which the eventually turned into tasks which seemed slightly more relevant to graphic design. Andy's way of teaching encouraged individuality as he did not give much help or inspiration. This I think is a good thing though as it meant that the class did not all produce generic material. 

  

Authors own

One of the first tasks andy gave us was to draw the person's ear next to us on an A1 sheet of paper. Although this may seem quite strange and have nothing to do with graphic design it did actually have a purpose. It got us to think about detail and to see that often we draw what we think we see with our eyes but if we observe closer we can see that actually there is much more there than we originally thought.

Authors own

The next task we were given was to make a series of sketches of the people on the same table as us. However being Andy these were not sketches that you would do using the same techniques if you were on your own. No,  each had something individual about it. The first we drew with our eyes closed, another with continuous lines, for one we were only allowed to use our mouth ect. The one above was drawn with my mouth. This excersise meant that you had to adopt new skills when drawing and allowed you to use some of your other senses in order for you to not have a meaningless end result on the page.

Authors own

Andy later on in the week asked us to produce a collage. For this task I decided to be as abstract as possible and to make sure the only thing I kept resemblant to a face was the form. I decided to experiment with dividing up parts of the head and then separating them by separating colour and tone. If I was to have done this again I would have instead made the whole face colour and then had features, such as nose, mouth, eyes in black and white. This would have made it more easy to distinguish between certain area's of the face.

Authors own

The last project Andy gave us was to create posters which represented where we wanted to be in twenty years time. As I am not completely sure where I want to be however needed to design a poster I decided to do architecture as my aspiration as I do have a massive interest in this subject area. When creating these posters I tried to use what I had learnt so far in foundation and not think too much about the outcome but rather just start making and see where it lead me.

Authors own

I was pleased with the range of posters I produced. They varied in colour, style, complexity ect. If I was to do this again however I think I would have divided up the task into smaller tasks to make it even more original. For example word design, background design, colour scheme, logos ect. Also had I done this on a computer it would have looked more professional. Therefore I need to learn how to use programmes on which I can create such an image.

3D design

Throughout the week of doing 3D design with Geoff the reoccurring theme was to be able to make something with limited amounts of materials which would be able to hold something else. As it was a very 'hands on' week I quickly realised that this would be my favourite week from the exploratory stage. The tasks set out ranged from in some cases being able to create very flimsy constructions to in other cases having to have very dense constructions.

Day 1

Morning

On the first day of doing 3D design the task set out in the morning was to make a structure which would be able to hold an anonymous quite heavy object. In order to create this we were given a piece an A2 piece of paper, two A2 pieces of card, and a small amount of tape. We were also encouraged to include decoration to allow the sculpture to transform itself into something which resembles a more life-like object. 

Authors own

As can be seen from this photo I decided to make my structure have geometric form as a common theme. Therefore when I decorated it I cut out these shapes in order to create this theme. Although this made it more aesthetically pleasing it did come at the cost of practicality and may not have helped structurally. 

Authors own

Having created the prism I had to stick paper on top in order to create a platform for the object to rest on. Although the top pattern is not particularly in keeping with the rest of the structure I think it fits well as geometric shapes keep being used.

Authors own

Photographing my work using a light and plain background adds to the piece of working by making it have no scale, and taking it away from any specific purpose. This therefore allows your work to transform from being something possibly very small to being able to transform into something with scale with a simple small cut out of a person say. 

Authors own

As can be seen from this image my structure failed to hold up the anonymous water bottle. Although my structure failed to fulfil its purpose I am not upset with how it turned out as I think it looked aesthetically pleasing.  

Afternoon

In the afternoon Geoff gave us another task of creating something which would be able to hold our own weight at least 30cm off the ground and would work as a 'flat-pack' structure. We were told that at the end we would be given a thirty second time allowance to put together our flat-pack piece of furniture from scratch. For this we were given five sheets of A1 card, and as much masking take as we wanted. In order to create this we had to think of way's in which we could use the card in order to allow it to support our weight.

Authors own

I decided to make a set of steps. I did this because I wanted to make something which was not simply a platform to jump up and down from. Also I wanted it to have some vague relevance to an actual object, as I assumed we would be making things which did not have such characteristics towards the end of the week. Or at least not obvious ones.

Authors own

I started by rolling up the sheets of card into smaller 15cm cylinders and larger 30cm cylinders. Once I had finished I came to realise there was a way in which I could have saved alot of time and that would have been by rolling them into much larger cylinders. However having smaller ones most likely did add to the strength of this structure. Also as we were asked to make something which could be used as flat pack having smaller ones would have allowed packaging to be even smaller, had this been going on sale any where.

Authors own

Unfortunately I did not get a picture of the steps when they had been disassembled. However I can explain that quite simply. Both of the bits of card which sat on top of the steps either slid off or lifted off. All the cylinders would then slide out of the top, then a bit of card moulded to fit the bottom of the steps could be taken off just by taking the tape off. All of this could be laid very flat and i'm sure fit into a box no larger than one which you may find a computer monitor in.

Authors own

I was pleased with the end product as it fulfilled all the criteria. This being to be able to stand alone, work as a 'flat-pack' product, I was able to build it in under thirty seconds. It also worked at holding my own weight. However despite this I feel it was a little bland and did not stand out against the rest of what the class had produced. If I were to do this again I would try to make something more bold. If i was to carry on with the step theme then possibly making a plinth may look better. This could be done by having it circular in shape with a much larger bottom step encasing the smaller top step.

Day 2

On the second day of 3D we were given the task of making a structure using only 20 pieces of spaghetti which would be able to hold three ball pit balls up in the air. We were allowed to use a glue gun as well. There was also an incentive as the highest structure won a prize. We soon found this to be a packet of spaghetti. 

Authors own

In the morning Geoff asked us all the draw out simple structures in 2D form which would be able to hold up the three balls. As all of us were not being adventurous enough he then told us simply to draw lines and then make them fit to have a space for balls to rest on them. This was a useful excersize as it allowed us to see that it is possible to make something from something which may originally be vastly different. 

Authors own

Although it would never have been possible to bend the spaghetti as much as I have drawn here in areas I did manage to bend the spaghetti. Although I do not know this categorically I think this was an interesting technique as it may possibly have helped to strengthen the structure. These basic drawings also helped me find certain ways in which I could create platforms for the balls to rest on.

Authors own

This picture I think is a great example of how something can be transformed simply by using light to make a shadow along with a plain background. Here scale is not a factor and this could be an enormous sculpture. The great thing about having this evasiveness about the image is that then you can really start to focus on aspects other than what the actual image is showing. For example shape becomes more prudent. Also contours start to stand out. Expanding on an image like this to possibly try to create a building could help give a very original outcome.

Authors own

In this image I like the way in which many of the pieces of spaghetti are transformed in the shadow to look as though they have been severely bent. This again could be inspirational if I was trying to create something original which was represented by using an outline or trace of this photograph.

Authors own

If I were to be asked to do this task again I think I would have spent more time planning what I was going to do. Moreover I did not make any experimental models using blue-tack to stick the spaghetti together, I just went straight in and started building. This meant that my piece turned out very simple in design. I like the way in which it is very planimetric, however I think if I had planned more I could have made it look even more organised and structured. 

Day 3

On the final day of 3D we were told that we would be split up into groups in the afternoon and would be making bridges. But for the first part of the morning we were asked to design small bridges in our sketch books which could possibly be inspirational when constructing our actual bridge. This task allowed us again to be experimental and as we were told to build across the spine of our book using only paper to make them look aesthetically pleasing we had to be diverse. This is because I did not add any colour to mine I just used simple sheets of paper, therefore in order for it to be eye catching the actual structure on the maquettes had to be diverse. 

Authors own

I liked the way that this bridge seemed to come towards you like a wave. The reason I liked this despite it being unintentional is because say it were to be used as a bridge to cross over a river, it would be very in-keeping with the area as water creates waves. If I had managed to make it so that the masking tape was not showing this would have made it look more chic.

Authors own

This was again another unintentional creation. Once I closed my book on one the the bridges I had made it gave this beautiful crease all the way down one side of the paper. Although this may have made it loose its function it could have transformed it to have another function, eg. as something like a barrier for a major river this could look quite eye catching. 

Authors own 

This was one of the most simple bridges I made. Although its simple I do think it looks nice as a modernistic, and minimal piece. However if i was to do this task again I think I would have added to this piece of work. Moreover I would have started experimenting with closing my book on the bridges as this did completely transform one of my structures. Therefore in being widely experimental it can clearly allow you to create something completely original if you manage to find a process by which you can transform something almost by accident.

Authors own

In the afternoon we began making the group bridge. It had to span between two tables probably about eight meters apart. We were given to do this 20 bamboo sticks, 10 sheets of card, and 2 rolls of duck tape. We were told that the bridge may only touch the floor in two separate places other than the tables. We may have been seen to be either a cheat or cunning here as we really had six points where the bridge touched the floor, however by adding the sheets of card at the bottom it just made these six points into two much larger points. Our process of working was extremely unorganised and as a result is why our bridge came out so versatile. We started by making those two points where the bridge touched the ground, then placed them so that the bridge would have to bend to make it more interesting, and then split our group into two and started building so that we would meet in the middle. Although we did end up having a bit more structure in our construction process we still ended up with a wonky yet functional bridge.

Authors own

From this task I learned that often you can make something which is extremely eye catching by not necessarily planning and measuring every last detail. If I were to have done this on my own I would have been probably very meticulous. However doing it in a group made me see that it can not only be more fun to be quite lose when designing something, but also can create something which may even be more eye catching than something which is an original plan. Throughout the week of 3D design I have learnt that finding ways of creating something which represents one thing by doing something completely different to get to that outcome can often make the outcome more interesting and possibly unique. Although much of what we designed would never sell on the market place this way of working did help to create original ideas. 

Poster Design

For this project we had to design a poster which resembled where we wanted to be in 10 years time. I found this task quite difficult for the simple fact that I had never used photoshop or illustrator. This made many of what im sure are simple tasks on these programmes very laborious for me.  

Authors own: ( background image: http://www.flickriver.com/photos/jhandelman/tags/vegas/)

If I was to design this again I would have thought more about the colour scheme. As I mainly used a quite wide range of colours I would have simplified this to make it look more chic. Moreover I do not feel that the word art I created of my name and the picture really complements each other. However I like the idea of using words to highlight a part of an image by simply typing around them. Here my main aim really is to practise using photoshop and other adobe programmes if I want to be able to create better pieces of work.

Energy Process (William Eggleston)

The exhibition I went to see on Monday 23^rd September was situated in the Tate Modern as part of the ‘Energy Process’. The artist’s work I chose to view was William Eggleston. He used an expensive process called ‘dye transfer’. This process allowed him to create images with very vibrant colours which were then used in many adverts. The series of work document the run up to the 1976 presidential election following Jimmy Carter’s campaign through Plains Country, Summer County and Georgia.

The theme of the series of photos gave off the impression of industrialisation. He managed to capture colour in an extremely contrasting way. This was done by having opposing materials. For example he would often combine natural sources of colour, such as the sky or orange tinted sand, with animated colours from man-made materials, such as a car or metal corrugated shack.

The image on the left is a fantastic representation of how Eggleston uses colour, along with tone and contrast to create a vastly complementary image. The way in which the angle of the photo has captured contours gives the image a very linear feel to it. Again there is more contrast present in the angle of planes. A particular focal point is drawn to your attention where the telephone wire runs at a neither horizontal nor vertical angle. Another focal point is created where the shadow of the tree gives an extremely dark area in the photo. This is a focal point as the rest of the photo is extremely brightly coloured. 

 Authors own, (William Eggleston) 23/09/2013

‘Each colour is printed in its richest form’ (Tate Modern). I think this quote really sums up the work of Eggleston as each of his images in so captivating due to the bold colours.

Bibliography

Exhibition Visit

Tate Modern, 23/09/2013

Websites

http://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/display/william-eggleston

Fashion and Textiles

Despite not wanting to do fashion as a pathway, and not expecting to enjoy it, I ended up finding it one of my favourite weeks so far. This was because I thought it was taught really well and we where allowed to be continuously making things and getting very involved. The week entailed lots of 'hands on' tasks. The first day we were just asked to make simple shapes and then repeat the simplest pattern we had come up with in order to then fashion clothing for manikins. On the second day we then started to design outfits by sticking bits of paper or drawing over models from magazines. On our last day we then actually fashioned a garment of our choice.

Day 1

Authors own: Shape design

This was the simple shape design I made on the first day. This was simply done by me folding over a piece of paper and then cutting certain parts out in order to create a symmetrical design.

Authors own: Manikin

Day 2

Once we had designed and made our cuttings or 3D sculptures we were put into groups of 3 where we were then asked to stick on the items we had make in a thought provoking way. This was done by Andrea saying specific words such as 'sexy' in order to create different styled garments. Doing this allowed us to think about where on the body certain things can be put in order to get a certain type of response by whoever is viewing it.

Authors own: 2D Clothing design

Here I tried to make the outfit for the model as vibrant and geometric as possible. I kept repeating shape designs. In this image I like the way in which there are contrasts between colour. However for the top half I like it would have looked better had a made the garment more fitting to the body.

Authors own: Head wear

For this part of the fashion and textiles course we get to be very experimental with what kind of medium we used. I used pen, paper, and colour in order to create 2D and 3D garments. Some of the pieces I made here I found too abstract. However the course leaders who took us seemed to think here the more experimental we were with our designs the better. Maybe I was too conserved with this part of the course and should have been more careless when it came to trying to design something with resemblance. 

Day 3

Authors own: Hat 1

This was my favourite part of the course as we were given the instruction to make whatever we wanted as long as it was a garment which could be worn and modelled. I chose to make a cap using simply paper and card. At first I had the idea of using more mediums but unfortunately ran out of time so could not finish the hat exactly how I originally imagined it. I was going to add small spikes all over the hat. However I am happy with how the hat eventually turned out.

Authors own: Hat 2

As can be noticed from both pictures of the hat here and from most of the work I did this week I like to work in a geometric style. Combing abstraction with regular form allowed me to make a cap which I was quite pleased with. My favourite part of the hat in the combination of colour, as well as the way in which simple images can be seen through the cut out shapes. If I was to do this again I would want to get the measurements for each panel more precise as in some areas parts of the hat overlapped thus blocking out certain area's which I wanted to draw attention to. 

Lens Based Media

Images Representing Words

The week of lens based media we did a lot of experimentation with how you can make an image represent a word. This involved thinking about composition, use of colour, where on the image the subject matter is etc. We were given six different words and told to take images representing these words. The words were 'crush, fall, jump, echo, sad, and happy.'

Authors own: (Crush). 

When taking this picture I tried to think about where on the image the subject matter (the crouched person) was. Having her crouched down as though she was being pushed over creates that sense of crush. Also as its a portrait image where she is at the bottom this helps to add to the sense of crush. 

Authors own: (Echo).

In this image I tried to capture the sense of echo through symmetry. In order to make this photo resemble echo I wanted to make sure that there was a constant colour scheme. I first had the model stand without his red bag to keep the colour scheme monochromatic, but then decided to get him to wear the bag as it created a focal point centrally. This central focal point therefore allows there to be an echo on either side. 

Authors own: (sad)

This I felt represented sad as the image makes you feel lonely. At first the image involved more floor space but I decided to crop it in order to make the image become more morbid.

Story Board

In the next part of lens based media we were asked to come up with a storyboard. This was done by us working in groups of four and then each having to draw distinctive people in our memory and then certain places. We had to draw for example a place which we would like to go to but couldn't. For this I drew inside an ants nest. Moreover we where asked to draw places which we would hate to go to but couldn't. For this I drew a sewer. Once we had all drawn a combination of five places, and five people we then had to merge the places and people in order to create a story. 

The story our group came up with was about a buddha who lived a lonely hostile life up in the mountains. He wants to make friends with the tourists but ironically ends up causing mass destruction.

Authors own: Lonely

The first image shows how the buddha is being watched every day by tourists but never interacts with them. He wishes they would either talk to him or leave him alone.

Authors own: Making friends

Being a buddha he come's down from the mountains to the villagers town in order to try and make friends. However he has already tried to pick someone up and ended up squashing them.

Authors own: Destruction

Having tried to make friends the buddha then ends up causing mass destruction and tearing down the village. He has managed to break all the buildings and set some of them on fire. It can also be seem that he has squashed many of the tourists and villagers.

Authors own: Regret

Back on a rock looking over the village the buddha realises what he has done. Even with good intentions he has ended up destroying the whole village. A sense of sorrow and regret hopefully can be seem in this slide.

Authors own: Helicopter

Once news reaches what has happened to the village the buddha gets helicoptered away in order to stop him destroying any more of the world.

Authors own: Resolution

Finally the buddha is content. He is back on the mountain where he belongs. But this time there is no one there to annoy him and he lives a happy life again.