Home Assigments for ArtEZ

Begoña Sunye De Terry Home Assignments

1A HOME ASSIGNMENT LIGHT : Design and make a light object

Firstly, what fascinates me about light is how psychology and imagination play an important role in how we perceive objects. Specifically, through lighting, different shadows and shapes are created. Depending on one's imagination, one can picture a subject, and from there, a narrative can form which can express different emotions, e.g., fear, excitement, relaxation. This is much inspired by french sculpture Christian Boltanski wherein one of his pieces, "Les Ombres: L'Ange 1986 the work can transmit a subtle, uncanny effect and how lighting can completely transform what our eyes perceive. Hence, each of his pieces is subject to interpretation for an individual as everyone has a different mind, experience, imagination, psychological state, and traumas. Still, I am also interested in including an aspect of cultural history in reference to historical sites, where I will create an object (candle piece) that connects history and psychology through art and design.

A3 COLLAGE OF IMAGES I TOOK AND INSPIRATION IDEAS FROM UNSPLASH

This collage helped me to gain ideas for the project. In particular I was fascinated on churches and their stained glass. Hence I was interested in possibly using a Himalayan salt lamp as my main base structure for my piece for its texture, colour tonalities as well as its grounding and soothing energy.

MIND MAP

Since this project revolves around its theme, "light, I first began by making a mind map to let all my ideas out words that I associated with light, and from those starting points, I made connections with other words. Then on the bottom half, I wrote down three different ideas I had for this project.

After a lot of thinking, I was in between the first and second ideas. Yet, in the end, I chose to go with the first idea as it resonated with me the most, as I aim to explore light through psychology and history together by creating a Himalayan salt candle design inspired by a cultural pillar of ancient roman culture; the Colosseum, and how through this design, fuse aspects of history and psychology into a product. There will also be a spiritual connection to this as, Himalayan salt is used to meditate and for energy cleansing purposes. Yet, as mentioned previously, I want to also play with psychology through this candle piece's lighting effect.

COLOSSEUM IMAGES INSPIRATION

The Colosseum located in Rome is otherwise known as the Flavian Amphitheater was built under the Flavian emperors. Construction of the Colosseum began between 70 and 72 CE. The Colosseum held various important events such as entertainment through gladiator fights including animals and against criminals. Moreover, it is still unresolved if during the Roman empire captured Christians died as martyrs in the colosseum. But there is evidence that Christians were killed in a private circus of Roman emperor Nero.

INITIAL SKETCH OF COLOSSEUM

For this drawing, I used a Bic pen and observed images from my mood board of Rome's Colosseum to guide me. On the left, we can see the initial stages of the drawing. On the right, we can find the finished drawing of the Colosseum in more detail, which gives more profundity from its exterior towards its interior.

CANDLE INSPIRATION: Taken from candles found at home

FURTHER DEVELOPMENT OF IDEA

Here I added two lamp designs inspired by the previous images of the candles. The left drawing is inspired by the Himalayan salt lamp, while the other two simplistic candle designs inspire the one on the right. Out of the two drawings, the one that attracted me the most was the first one. The reason for this is because I thought it would be interesting to fuse cultures and elements from other countries that the red line crossed. In this case, Pakistan, where Himalayan salt is predominantly found. Hence, appreciating and combining different elements and cultures. Also, I was very attracted to the salt lamp as it emits a warm light, which creates a soothing atmosphere but also helps to create an ambiance to it as if transported back to ancient Roman times where the Colosseum was lit with torch lights for an event at night.

ADDING COLOUR...

Here we can see how I began to paint the colosseum drawing using beige tones using Procreate. I decided to use these tones as I wanted to imitate the colour of wax.

EXPERIMENTING WITH MARK MAKING/PRINTS

Since I am very intrigued by colour and texture, I was interested in exploring my colosseum design through printmaking, where we can see a 2D relief effect from these images. Also, I decided to use warm tonalities as I wanted to visualize the orange lighting effect a candle transmits for there to be a closer relationship to my idea in mind. To create this print, I used cardboard and stuck small pieces of cardboard onto the first layer (inspired my initial drawing designs) to create that relief effect. I was very satisfied with this outcome.

Moreover, I was inspired to observe a psychology technique used called the Rorschach inkblot test created by Swiss psychologist Herman Rorschach in 1921, in order to understand and assess a person’s personality and emotional thinking. This inspired me to apply Rorschach's technique to see what another viewer interprets from my prints.

PICTURES I TOOK OF MY HIMALAYAN SALT CANDLE FOR INSPIRATION

COMBINING THE HIMALAYAN SALT CANDEL WITH COLOSSEUM

Here we can see how I combined the colosseum painting with a picture I took of my Himalayan salt candle. This was motivated by the fact that I was not too fond of the Himalayan salt candle's appearance and the colosseum painting being separate made in terms of media (Colosseum in wax vs. the Himalayan salt). Hence, through photoshop, I took one of the three selected images from above as I liked the lighting of it at night and placed it on top of the painting. I lowered the candle's opacity through photoshop so that the Colosseum would be visible enough but still have the same tonalities and texture as the salt candle. I was quite pleased with the texture it gave, so I began to play around with the vibrance and hue and saturation of both towards warmer tones.

RESOLVED PIECE (DIGITALLY MADE)

Above one can find the resolved piece through two different perspectives. I am very content with this project as I was able to fuse art, history, and culture, which I am very passionate about. We can also see a gap between the Colosseum and the candle; this was purposely done as I wanted the Colosseum to have space to breathe but still act in unity with the candle. The final result portrays the Colosseum at night, which helps transport oneself to ancient Rome yet merging natural elements from other parts of the world, which helps create a rich combination of culture and natural resources.

CREATING THE 3D MAQUETTE OF THE LIGHT OBJECT: Initial Stages

For the materials, I decided to use cardboard as I needed a rigid structure yet easy to bend and manipulate and cut, and pierce through. I aimed to use my initial painting design and cut out the negative space of the cardboard in order to when it came to lighting it, light would shine through the windows and other intricate details. I also wanted to explore other materials. Hence I used a plastic bottle as well as plastic paper materials to create the shape of a candle and use the plastic paper to imitate the texture of Himalayan salt. Using plastic was very useful as it is a malleable material and easy to manipulate as well, as it added transparency to the overall 3D object. I was quite interested in this transparency effect as I wanted for light to be able to enter from different angles and for the structures of the object to be seen. Still, I also tried to use wire as it would create an interesting silhouette. However, it was much more difficult to get clean cuts and solid shapes. Hence using cardboard and plastic resulted best.

Here we can find the resolved 3D candle piece where through the lighting we can see the shadows that the 3D structure creates

Here I decided to add a red transparent filter onto my camera in order to create these images. Moreover, in comparison with my other pieces I have added personalized structures to the original maquette images as I wanted to explore a more deteriorated portrayal of this architectural piece. In addition, I used a lemon wrap net to add texture to the cardboard structure as if it were crumbling from the inside out. Thus, enhancing the aspect of an ancient and decadent amphitheater.

RESOLVED PIECE: Caverna Illustrata

Here we can find a video of the resolved 3D piece where I added a small electrical candle(imitating that of what a Himalayan salt lamp wood do) to light up the inner structure outwards, which emits a soothing ambience to the space. I chose the title of the work in latin to accentuate the ancient roman history. Moreover, it translates to illuminated cave I chose this as the title as I wanted to explain in very simple terms how "Caverna" in other words, caves hold for centuries and so has the colosseum which as a cave breathes stories. Lastly, "Ilustrata" for the lighting of its interior that transmits a spiritual and soothing presence in the room. In the end I believe that creating a 3D maquette out of cardboard was the best option to enhance the quality of the 3D piece's structure as well as what worked well was playing with different colour lighting aided in accentuating and transmitting a certain mood which was very interesting.

HOME ASSIGNMENT 1B: DESIGN AND MAKE A WEARABLE OBJECT

MIND MAP OF INITIAL IDEA

After analyzing each idea carefully, the one that seemed most challenging and out of my comfort zone was the third idea, hence I decided to choose the third idea as my project piece.

The human body is a mechanism that is in constant evolution and adaptation, which is one of the main factors that fascinates me about it. It is both intricate and complex in its biological and physical structure. In particular it is interesting how the body is mostly able to naturally defend its self from bacteria, viruses or lesions naturally. However, some flaws include not being able to regenerate any limbs or develop highly receptive sense perceptors in comparison to other animals in hearing or visual characteristics. As an example flies have a 360 degree vision. Therefore, I am inspired by this to create a head band piece that allows one to have a 360 degree perspective of their surrounding. This is also motivated by the fact that humans in particular women can feel vulnerable when walking alone at night and therefore, creating a digital piece that supplies them with a “third eye” allows them to be extra vigilant of their surrounding.

Moreover, other inspirations that arose for this idea was approaching it from a more digital and futuristic perspective through films such as The Matrix directed by Lilly and Lana Wachowski and The Fifth Element, directed by Luc Besson. Therefore, these films have inspired me to address this assignment through a more imaginative take on human physiology.

A3 COLLAGE OF IMAGES AND INSPIRATION

I found that the collage was vey useful to gain ideas and inspiration from every day clothes and accessories in comparison to the other half which was approached with a more futuristic concept, which I found more interesting and "out of the ordinary".

FURTHER EXPLORATION

I first began by drawing a friend of mine's face (using a black ink pen with procreate) and head in order to visualise from different angles how I would position this "third eye" and head band on to her.

After gaining a visual idea from the different perspectives of her head, I began to draw and create the "third eye," including annotations of thoughts I had regarding the form and properties the "third eye" would possess. As for the materials to create this piece, I was thinking of using aluminum (base structure) for its lightweight properties as well as silver and copper for more detailed areas of the design. The center of the design, would have an aluminosilicate glass layer to protect it from shattering or any damage. Lastly, for the headband, I was thinking of it being made out of nylon in order to support the weight of the "third eye."

DESIGN OF "THIRD EYE"

Here we can see the development of the design by first outlining the shape and then using an HB and a 6B pencil. lastly I used black and white paints (on Procreate) to give depth and definition to the painting.

DEVELOPING THE DESIGN WITH "THIRD EYE" AND HEAD STRAP

CARDBOARD MAQUETTE: FIRST TRIAL

I chose to use cardboard as it gave me a solid structure to work with, which I believed would be much easier to create the intricate sections with cardboard rather than wire. Initially, I struggled in understanding how to build it; hence I made the first trial. So I began by drawing three circles from biggest to smallest. Then I began to add the details to it, by adding small pieces (using a glue gun) next to the smallest circle in the middle. After this, I stuck the larger circle by adding a thin strip of cardboard in the middle between the small circle and the big one for there to be space to add the side pieces of cardboard to it. Moreover, I was not precisely content with this first trial of the design as it did not include all of the features and instead portrayed a simplistic image of the design. Hence, I decided to make another cardboard maquette.

SECOND TRIAL

Here we can see the result of the design through a cardboard maquette, and I was quite content with the result given the limited resources I had. Compared with the first trial maquette, this had two more layers to it, giving more depth and dimension. Also, this design stayed true to the drawing design compared to the first trial.

THIRD TRIAL AND RESOLVED PIECE

After the second trial I was not exactly content with the texture of the cardboard as it did not transmit any futuristic elements. Hence, I decided to add foil paper to it to transmit a more imaginative and technological aspect, where the tin foil would simulate the aluminum and other metallic elements used to create this piece. I also Preferred to use tin foil on the head strap as well as I liked how both the head band and "third eye" blended with each other as one.

Here we can see images of my resolved product from different angles to see how it would physically look like. However, it was quite clear to me that the dimensions of the maquette were too big. Therefore, if I were to create this as an actual product, it would be of the size of an eye. Yet, through this experimentation, I was able to see how the "third eye" how to perfect the design towards a more suitable, comfortable, and possibly discrete design. I believe that the quality of the object could have improved if I had more materials at my disposal, but I am very content with the overall quality of the object as it transmits the metallic properties it would possess if it were created for daily practice as well as it stays true in form and shape to my digital design.

2 HOME ASSIGNMENT CONCEPT: FACTS + FASCINATION

Three Designers that I admire are Tom Dixon, Philippe Starck and Zaha Hadid

Non product areas that inspire me are Psychology, Biology and Interior Architecture. The reason why I am interested in Psychology is due to my fascination as well as empathy for human behaviour and why people act/behave in such way depending on their metal sate/condition. As for Biology, I have always been interested in the human body and the way it works either by defending itself from viruses/ bacteria but more towards the function of its organs and what natural remedies can be introduced for people suffering from different conditions in order to improve their manner of living. As for interior architecture, I have always been interested in the importance of a space and how different structures can compliment each other to create a cohesive and practical interior environment.

THREE ARTICLES THAT INSPIRE ME

ARTICLE ONE: 5 Products to help you sleep when your Anxious by Nick Mafi

https://www.architecturaldigest.com/gallery/products-help-you-sleep-anxious