AU19

August 2019 semester

Sensory Abstraction – Reprersentations of Experiences – Project Six (2110)

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Instruction

Create visualizations of specifically chosen sensory experiences.

 

Purpose

Experiment with how to visualize something that isn’t typically visual. Convey sound, scent, touch, and emotion through sight. As for sight, investigate how the overall sight can be abstracted and not simply represented.

 

My Interpretation

I explored a variety of sights, sounds, scents, feelings, and emotions. I explored emotions the most, focusing on the bittersweet/empty feeling you get in the realization that this giant show you’ve just worked on, this beautiful amalgamation of set and cooperation, and all these people you just met are going away. I tried to show that through various forms of scribbles, sharpish shapes, negative space, and declining use of line in direction, weight, and density. For senses relating to the house/audience, I struggled with abstraction vs. representation, sometimes coming too close to a literal representation of a crowd of people rather than an abstract version of the same thing. This same problem also slightly carried over to scent, but not nearly as much. I feel I created a good starting point to work off of.

Imagined Journey – Prototype Storyboard – Project Five (2130)

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Instruction

Create a prototype for your idea for the project

 

Purpose

Flesh out what you are able to do, explore ideas, and see if they are realistic and effective at conveying your journey.

 

My Interpretation

I want to do a story/book. I’m not sure how to convey it exactly yet, but I am planning out the story to see how it will flow. I want to emphasize the confusion, heat of the day, exhaustion, and strange ending of my journey in a fairytale kind of setting. For my first real location, the oval, no one was around, so it was desolate and reminded me of a dessert, but with trees. I got lost here twice. Next was the street sidewalks, but class just let out and tons of people flooded the areas, making me uncomfortably close to strangers I didn’t want to be near, represented by the monster express pages. Next was passing by Curl Market and it’s fire dome, it always looked like some sort of beast to me and was always flaming. After that was the scrapyard outskirts pages representing the green area where Curl Market resides. People there mind their own business having fun, playing catch, walking dogs, tanning, and most importantly people watch. It’s easy to be in the way here. Finally, I ended with the Tom W. Davis clock tower warping me into severe confusion because the instructions on the last two steps(which included the tower and the treasure) made absolutely no sense to me, and I figured it out in a very underwhelming and generic end.

Sensory Abstraction – Mind Map – Project Six (2110)

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Instruction

Create a mind map to help visualize the senses of your experience.

 

Purpose

Delve into extreme detail about every sense possible that could relate to your experience. Create connections and relate things that may guide you through visualization of such things.

 

My Interpretation

I decided to visualize the experience of a final bow onstage of the last performance of a comedy. I recently experienced this last October and in a few days (from the creation of this post) I will be doing it again. I wanted to have a strong sense of the conflicting feelings of completion and emptiness that comes with finishing a show but having to leave it behind. It’s bittersweet, but a lot goes into it and even more runs through your head as you take that final bow. There’s a lot of scents from the house, perfumes, nice clothes, fancied-up people. There’s a lot of sight between the bright lights and dust in your eyes and a lot of sound, obviously, from the applause. The overall experience is very complex and I plan to have a lot going on in the composition, but keep an actor-like figure at the center of it. I do not want to lose focus on the fact that all these experiences only exist because the actor had the privilege to be there in the first place, bowing.

Sensory Abstraction – Research – Project Six (2110)

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Listening to My Favorite Playlist, Longboarding to Class (In the Cold).

  • Riding the Board
    • touch
      • the push
        • boot is stiff and restrictive
        • heel to sole to toe roll
        • consecutive pushes
        • left thigh sore from supporting
        • right calf sore from pushing
      • bumps
        • legs shake
        • knees bend
        • rebalance necessary
          • arms out
      • the wind
        • cuts the face
        • ears feel raw
        • fingers, if exposed, are numb
      • hand in pockets
        • one hand on my phone checking the playlist
        • shielded from cold
        • fuzzy jacket
    • sound
      • the music
        • upbeat, strong, intense, heavy
        • dulcet, cool, relaxed, fun
        • folky, punchy, earthy, vibrant
        • slow, melancholic, melodic, ambient, ethereal
      • the rumble of the wheels
        • rhythmic, constant, calming
        • loud and echoing off buildings
      • others walking and talking
        • footsteps
        • no discernible conversation hear
        • disjointed and meaningless strings of words
        • small snapshots into lives of people
    • taste
      • dry tongue
        • extremely
      • piercingly cold air
    • smell
      • road salt
      • leather jacket
      • moisturizer/cologne
    • sight
      • many people
      • blurry landscapes
      • self
    • emotion
      • feel like a badass

Waking Up From a Nap When You Really Don’t Want To.

  • Waking Up
    • touch
      • the warm bed and blankets
        • comfortable and lovely
        • heavy and warm
      • the cold air
        • harsh and dry
        • frigid
        • goosebumps
    • sound
      • the alarm
        • piercing and loud
        • disorienting
        • annoying and terrible
      • the rustling of blankets and clothes
        • soothing and soft
        • gentle and welcoming
    • taste
      • a dry mouth
        • drink water (lots of water)
        • feel better
        • throat is coarse
    • smell
      • the clean linens
        • comforting
        • relaxing
        • hard to leave
      • the sweat
        • a little gross
        • smells like… sweat
    • sight
      • the dorm room in shade
        • sensitive to light
        • eyes watery
        • hard to focus on anything
    • emotion
      • the complete discontent
        • is this really happening?
      • the dread
        • I really don’t want to move

The Final Bow.

  • Finishing the Performance
    • touch
      • stepping/walking/running/dancing on the stage
        • wooden boards
        • the occasional loose nail, crew,  prop, or costume piece
        • sturdy and solid
      • the cool air from the house
        • refreshing
        • gives goosebumps
      • the sweat
        • dripping down your face
        • can’t touch it
    • sound
      • the finale scene/song
        • talking/singing
        • score
      • the performance
        • movement sounds
        • talking/singing
    • taste
      • the sweat
        • can’t stop it from falling
        • salty
        • a bit gross
      • dry tongue
        • too much talking/singing/moving
        • tacky and sticky
    • smell
      • the set
        • recently cut wood
          • earthy and familiar
          • comforting
          • dusty
        • dried pigmented paint
          • chemically, sharp on the nose
          • dry and arid
      • the audience
        • fancy clothes
          • peoples getting dressed up in their finest clothes
          • corduroy, velvet, and cotton
        • clean
          • fresh scent from freshly showered people
          • brushed teeth
    • sight
      • the other performers in the scene
        • varies on the scene
          • can be sad, happy, funny, angry, etc.
        • actors are friendly and lovely
        • in the moment
          • sweating, laughing, crying
      • the darkness of the house
        • ominous and haunting
        • try to ignore
        • stares from strangers
    • emotion
      • the scene
        • whatever the scene calls for
        • satisfaction of performing
      • the end
        • relief and pride
        • joy and completion
  • Bowing
    • sound
      • the applause
        • deafening
        • comes and goes in waves of loudness
        • can hear individuals and the wholE
    • sight
      • every cast member
        • friends you’ve made along the way
        • exhausted
        • smiling and bowing
    • emotion
      • the bow
        • ecstatic for everyone involved
        • proud of work put in
        • content in a job well done
  • Leaving the Stage
    • touch
      • the actors patting each other’s backs/hugging
        • warm and sappy
        • close but not uncomfortable
    • sight
      • the darkness from the house leaves
        • see the whole audience
        • individual faces
          • friends, family, strangers
      • backstage
        • the secrets behind the set
          • goofy and fun
          • complex and full of coordination
    • emotion
      • bittersweet
        • it’s over
        • you’ve now got to say goodbye to the friends you’ve met
        • may not see them again

Pattern & Scale – Templates and Structure of Volume – Project Five (3110)

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Instruction

From your written iterations. begin progress on construction of your ideas relating to volume.

 

Purpose

Continue to develop drafting skills as well as an exploration into pattern and space as well as scale within pattern and how that impacts overall composition of your pieces.

 

My Interpretation

For volume, I wanted to explore the “warped heat wave” idea as much as possible. I played with the concept of having various levels of “wiggle” (some more sharp, some more smooth), but the size of the pieces all set at the same zig-zag pattern width created varying levels of “wiggle” in itself. The thicker and larger pieces ended up looking more smooth than the thinner pieces, allowing a relatively nice and smooth transition from the very sharp head zig-zag to the relatively smooth body zig-zag. Each piece has ten different sizes of the same shape, but the head has a total of 30 pieces, the thorax has 45, and the body has 60. This also gave the piece a slight verticality increase that makes it more interesting to look at. Unfortunately the craft process was tedious and less than fun, so by the end of the construction of the body piece, some pencil and glue marks found their home on the surface.

Pattern & Scale – Templates of Depth – Project Five (2110)

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Instruction
From your written iterations. begin progress on construction of your ideas relating to depth

Purpose
Continue to develop drafting skills as well as an exploration into pattern and space as well as scale within pattern and how that impacts overall composition of your pieces.

 

My Interpretation

For depth, I aimed to mimic an ant tunnel with it’s inner shape, allowing for unique views from many angles of the piece. I wanted to have the pieces of the beetle entirely separate (the original graphic) on the top, and develop into a cave-like warped structure as it descends into layer after layer. I created ten levels total but plan to chamfer the edges to add visual interest as well as seperate the layers at different heights. For example, having the bottom layers closer (one chitboard away), but builfing up so the top layer and the second layer are far apart (five chitboard pieces).

Abstracted Journey – Mind Map – Project Five (2110)

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Instruction

Create a mind map for all the senses you experienced on your journey to treasure.

 

Purpose

Find out just how much you remember from the walk, how it impacted your mood, and how you could interpret it. Remember every detail you can.

 

My Interpretation

I split my mind map into three main sections: Instruction, External, and Personal. Instruction focused on the steps themselves, how I handled them, and how they were structured. External focused on things outside of my control like weather, time, etc. but most of the section was dedicated to the experiences of each location that I visited in the past. Personal was where things that directly were caused by me took place, such as what I was wearing, what I was holding, and how I felt.

Pattern & Scale – Planning Final Depth and Volume – Project Five (2110)

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Instruction

Finalize a design idea and get building.

 

Purpose

Again, due to the fast nature of this project, things must be done quickly. A final idea must be decided on as well as begun ASAP.

 

My Interpretation

I built upon the bug theme of my graphic by mimicking an ant-hill pattern for depth and mimicking the waves that warp the air when you look at the edge of hot pavement in the summer. Bugs remind me of summer which reminds me of heat and those “wiggles” that emerge from the hot streets. I drew up some examples of how I want the designs to look, allowing for some visual interest in the surrounding frame of the depth object with a non-rectangular shape. I plan to make the zig-zags on the volume structure zig and zag in different directions to build off of that sense of exhaustion and disorientation. I wanted it to also have varying height levels and not include chitboard, as the contrast of one model with and one model without chitboard.