This week we discussed our next,possibly last, project for this class, designing and manufacturing a lamp out of either cardboard or ply wood. Working from what we did last week, we took into account the shapes and builds of the cardboard structures we made last week, we worked on designing possible lamp designs for later weeks. These are my results.
Craft: For this assignment, we continued on from the previous week in constructing with cardboard with the cardboard structures. This time, we returned to good old drafting. Our craft supplies was paper and a pencil.
Composition: The composition for this week was fairly simple. We had to come up with ten different lamp designs, each incorporating aspects of silhouettes, lighting and shadows in a way that will convey a story or meaningful message. Once we came up with the designs, we drafted them out. I did mine roughly with estimated sizes. Once I did so, with the help of the teacher, I then thought of a concept and way to convey that message. That led me to this rough draft of my lamp.
Concept: The concept of this project was fairly straightforward, create basic drafts of what we learned in previous weeks and understand their use for when you're drafting the lamps. We then had to think of a way to meaningfully use shadow and silhouettes to form a story or message. Mine is the life cycle of a chicken from egg to chicken or vice versa.
This week we discussed our next,possibly last, project for this class, designing and manufacturing a lamp out of either cardboard or ply wood. But before we can draft our lamp designs, our professor has made it a point for us to design ways to create basic shapes out of Cardboard. This way, we can better anticipate what the challenges will be when we do draft our lamps out. These are my results.
Craft: For this assignment, we continued on from the previous week in constructing with cardboard. Unlike the previous few weeks, we have returned to using physical tools to draft and manufacture modules and materials for easier use. This week, we used the same materials as we did last time constructing the abstract cardboard structures. We used a cutting mat, a utility knife or box cutter, ruler, adhesives, cardboard, pencil.
Composition: Much like the previous week, we had precut cardboard strips and panels, which we cut ourselves. We then worked with our knoves and rulers to cut out the desired shapes such as circles for cylinders and triangles for cones and pyramids. For the circuits, what I did was use a roll of tape to form the outline with a pencil and then I cut it out slowly to form the bases. In general, the process was cut the shapes and slots out, tape them or insert them into one another and presto! We're done. The hardest part was imagining and drafting out the way the pieces would fit together. Once that was accomplished, the rest was easy.
Concept: The concept of this project was fairly straightforward, create basic shapes and understand their use for when you're drafting the lamps.
So this week we began to work on a new project and materials, cardboard. We were charged with creating plant-like structures made of modules of cardboard Here are my results of my work.
Craft: For this assignment, we returned to physical work. We worked with sheets of cardboard and cutting knives. Ww used cutting mats and rulers as well to manage the cuts to be straight and clean.
Composition: This week, we worked on cutting paper into strips 1x0.5 inches. Once we did, we scored them using the cutting knife in a percise way to just cut the top layer of the corregated cardboard. After doing that in one inch intervals, we then folded them into shapes. Some of us did triangles. I did pentagons because of their larger size and ability to attach multiple shapes to them. Using tape, I formed the shapes which would now be used as modules, uniform units to construct my stucture. Once the modules were done, we then proceeded to link the modules together to form a structure with tape and other adhesives. Another part of this project that was there to throw us off were wildcards, modules and variants that were different than the uniform modules we needed to utlize. I used a larger version of the modules, triangles and skored strips.
Concept: We were told to have no concept besides having it take up space and make space.
So this week is our final time to work on our tea boxes. We have spent the better part of two months working up to this moment and now it's time to work on new things. Here are my results of our final photos.
Craft: For this assignment, like last week, did not use Adobe Illustrator or software, but instead, we used DSLR camera, portable lighting system and props to create these images. We used the light system which consisted of a halogen bulb affixed to a mobile with an umbrella attachment as well as props that we gathered.
Composition: What we did was utilize a DSLR camera, a Canon Rebel-series to capture our objects and mobile lighting fixtures to control the lighting. This assignment, we gathered props such as my South Vietnamese Flag, our tea boxes and equipment to construct visually interesting and effective archival evidence. We first placed our tea boxes, one in a series of photos and all three in another. We then added props to another group of photos. Placing our cameras on tripods and adjusting our lighting, we then took the photos to have our best depth of field. Afterward, we transferred the camera raw files onto our flash drives and converted them to png to upload.
Concept: The concept of this was to capture evidence of the tea boxes in an interesting and professional manner. Like other projects we needed evidence of our works and this was our cause. We used cameras to capture what we did and try, with moderate success, to capture interesting compositions.
So this week, we were charged with photographing our final tea boxes. After a month of working on tea boxes, drafting them by hand then in Illustrator, designing their appearance, followed by cutting them either by hand or an automatic paper cutter. Now that the project is completed, we began the process of cataloging them and preserving them in photography in a professional and logical way. Here are our results.
Craft: For this assignment, unlike the previous weeks, did not use Adobe Illustrator or software. We didn't even use any cutting or measuring tools. What we used instead was a DSLR camera, portable lighting system and props to create these images.
Composition: What we did was utilize a DSLR camera to capture our objects and mobile lighting fixtures. This assignment, we gathered props such as my South Vietnamese Flag, our tea boxes and equipment to construct visually interesting and effective archival evidence. We first placed our tea boxes, one in a series of photos and all three in another. We then added props to another group of photos. Placing our cameras on tripods and adjusting our lighting, we then took the photos. Afterward, we transferred the camera raw files onto our flash drives.
Concept: The concept of this was to capture evidence of the tea boxes. Like other projects we needed evidence of our works and this was our cause. We used cameras to capture what we did and try, with moderate success, to capture interesting compositions.
A few days ago, we had an open reception to a remarkable artist here at the Art. Leslie Baum is an artist as well as an educator in the fine arts bringing with her years of experience both teaching and creating art. Her unique style includes incorporating other works of art from classical artists as inspiration as she creates a unique construct. The unique aspect of the gallery that drew my attention was where the art was situated. During her artist talk, she discussed how she wanted to move away from the tradition and conventional wisdom of placing art on the walls and instead had it on the floor as a huge tapestry of canvas that covered the floor of the gallery. This was her results.
Craft: Leslie utilized flat canvas sheets around 3x5 in dimensions. This canvas, she would have washed and dried prior to use. The paints she used were a type of acrylic paint that I do not seem to remember but it was a first time for her with that particular media. Brushes of, I assume, large size were utilized in the making of this massive piece.
Composition: The piece that so captured my attention was first constructed from flat sheets of canvas that Leslie washed and dried, most likely to remove any particles that may affect the painting process. Following that, she would then paint each individual canvas, using several other works of art by other artists as inspiration. She used a type of acrylic paint that I cannot remember. After that, she would then combine the pieces into a quilt-like structure on the floor.
Concept: Conceptually, it is something I have not seen before, at least not something I remember. The concept behind this piece was combining pieces of nature that she enjoyed and making something of spring or warmth. For us, it was more than just a painting or series of them. It was a three-deminisional object. It was something we could interact with, sit on, step on, walk on. It went beyond the 2-D matrix of a framed painting and became part of the gallery itself. Design and function I often hear in class. This piece had both. It was designed to be a 3-D object for the viewer to interact with. That is why I believe was the reason we were suggested to go to this particular gallery opening.
This week was exhausting and laborious. We discussed our next project, designing a tea box. We had specific instructions on the layer designs and dimensions of the three objects, the tea box, tea bag container and tea bag tab. Like the previous weeks, we utilized Adobe Illustrator for drafting our shapes and used various shortcuts to add in pictures. These were my results.
Below
Box and Envelope designs
Final product
Composition: The previous weeks of using Adobe Illustrator and a Mac Desktop computer as well as a flash drive were played out this week. From what we did last time, we were lucky to just enhance our designs to make one cohesive unit. I decided to keep one design and brand and change up the art style.
Craft: The assignment required us to redesign the tea boxes and tea bag envelope and tea bag tab to form some kind of cohesion. The process began by first drafting the designs in Adobe illustrator by making the outline of the shapes, including the tabs, with the pen tool. With the grid of Illustrator up and snap to grid selected, I drafted as I had done in previous weeks but this time, the cut and folding lines were on separate layers. Following from that, I would create a third layer and copy and past the line layers into that third layer. Then I would click on the outer layer and click the "Draw inside" option. Copying an image, artworks of mine, I then pasted it and moved the image to its desired spot. On a new layer, I added text as was instructed. I did this process for all the designs. Afterward, I exported them as jpegs and saved.
Concept: The concept of these pieces was to create tea boxes and bags envelopes to form a collection of similar products. For that, I chose to keep a single design and brand and change the art style to form different tea brews in a series. By doing this, I was able to portray a commonality rather separation.
