Final Project

The final project was a difficult one to come up with and create. I was very lost at the first thought of the project, and was not sure where to begin. I first wanted to make a flip flop out of seashells and my lifeguarding whistle as the thong part because I am a lifeguard. However, I then thought of a better idea of using sheet music, because music has been a big part of my life since I was eight years old, when I first began taking piano lessons. Using a recyclable material, I had my mother scan my favorite piano books to construct my sculpture. I then decided to make a sleeve, because I was never afraid to show my passion for music, no matter how "geeky" it seemed to others. The idea of the heart I placed on the upper arm was to show that I "wear my heart on my sleeve," meaning I am not ever afraid to show who I am to others. Using all these ideas and concepts, I began the construction of the sleeve. I thought I would finish it within the first two classes, but it was a challenge. Working with fragile and rigid paper made it more difficult then I first imagined. I aligned the music staffs so they read nicely, and matched up all the way around the arm. I occasionally placed the lyric lines to represent my favorite lyrics and lines of the songs. When I got to the elbow, things became hard. I had to try three different ways to create the elbow pieces so that it was covered, but still able to bend. I even researched the way armor was made to use similar techniques. I had to make this part of the sleeve in three pieces to provide the ability for movement. I then finished by adding color and the heart cut out to add more visual interest and to draw the eye to a main part of the piece. The final outcome was what I expected, but took a lot more time and work than I originally planned. I am very pleased with the outcome, and it is even better than I imagined. It uses many elements of design such as unity, negative space, and many more. I used materials that were recycled and meant something to me. The sculpture also shows my personality as a musician, an artist, and a human being. I could not be more pleased with the final outcome of this project, and shows how much I have grown from the first project of Basic Design I to now.

Polyhedral: Project 3

Phase One:

Coming into this project, I was not sure why using origami and paper folding had to do with anything in design. Once I began researching and building random shapes, I came to realize this project was pretty unique. I was recently intrigued by a piece of art I saw online with a peace sign, so using negative space, I wanted to incorporate that into my design. I then got the idea to layer the shapes to make it ironic, and look like peace sign is being attacked and covered, making it more anti-peace. I then used reds, yellows, and blacks to emphasize my intentions. I used a pyramid, half of a star dipyramid, and a truncated iscosahedron. I explored negative space with the peace sign, and the cut outs in the truncated iscosahedron, to make every view of the piece from any angle unique. The colors and paint splatters unify the piece giving it a chaotic feeling, and unsettled, like the anti-peace feeling I was hoping for. The project was a challenge at first, but using my design process, I discovered that this challenge could be easily overcome.

Phase Two:

I was overwhelmed by this phase because I thought the construction of the first project was enough, but now this project had to be on a larger scale. I liked the idea of creating a wall structure because it related more to interior design. I wanted the piece to be hanging, because when I was little, I got rid of my door to my bedroom, and had just hanging beads in my doorway, because I thought it looked cooler, and it gave me all the privacy I needed. This triggered my thought process on this project. I did not want mine to completely divide a space, but to give enough separation, perhaps for a great room. I used all octohedrons to unify the piece, and made the same cuts into it throughout. The cuts were made to see through and give the piece more dimension and interest. I chose the color combination of blue and brown because it is semi-netural, the brown could be seen as a wood texture, and is one of my favorite color combinations. I am pleased with the outcome of the project. It was very time consuming, and what I expected, but the way it turned out was well worth the effort.

Serial Planes Study Project 2

Project Two consisted of two completely different projects that in appearance are very different, but in their concepts and construction, they are the same. Starting out the study of serial planes, we watched a video about Maya Lin. She is a very unique artist. She makes her work relate to herself personally, but it also can take audiences in to enjoy it as well by putting his/her own take on it. For example, the park she created was a true work of art for all to enjoy, and included earthy elements that were traditionally lost in the urban setting that surrounded it. Her other works, such as the Vietnam Memorial and landscape pieces, were simple but were astounding in their construction, and based on her personal experience that makes it a universal piece of art.

When starting Phase One, Maya Lin’s video inspired me to base the next project off something that I could relate to and to be something simple in structure, but make a statement. My original idea was to create the Rockefeller Christmas tree star out of my book, because I love going to see it every winter. My book had a lot of pages to provide a large amount of volume, and it was much bigger than some other books, so it could really out from the rest when completed. As I began folding, I realized how much folding and cutting created volume. I did the best of my ability to make it look like a star, but in the end, it did not come out how I anticipated it to be. However, this was not a bad thing. I enjoyed the way it came out. It was nothing like I planned, and although it looks nothing like the star, it is abstract, and good looking in itself. It is a hanging piece, and it looks cool from all angles. The curves give it a unique look and structure that it is unexpected. I would have never imagined a book could be created to look the way it came out with such thin pages put together. It was a very fun project and I plan to hang onto my finished project for a while because I love looking at it, and I definitely learned a lot about using serial planes with this hand on experience of trial and error to create the right effect.

Part two of the project was more challenging to me to come up with an idea. Without the flexibility of the pages to create volume, I had to use rigid thick piece of foam board to create it. After researching some previous serial plane projects, and taking a closer look at the ones my professor showed me, I began to come up with an idea how I wanted the viewer to be focused more on the negative space than the positive space. Creating the curved pieces as I did, I made a spherical shape in the middle that catches the eye. The circles at the bottom of the structure, give viewers interaction with the piece if it were a large sculpture. The structure has a theme to also do with time, because there are 12 curves, giving it a timeless appeal, because it could go around forever. I am pleased with the way it came out, and I feel it solves the problem of serial planes very well.

After being inspired to put me into my project, Part 1 came out better than I expected. Although it did not turn out the way I planned, that made it more exciting to work on, and I think I explore how to use serial planes very well. Part 2 was more of a challenge for me, but in the end, the simplicity of the design makes a big statement.

Project One: Anything but a Box

Notes on Artist Videos:

American Artist: Richard Serro

He studied relationships of interesting elements at that time for inspiration. This enables an artist to view the world as a way of communication with your surroundings. His works were interactive with viewers physically and emotionally and engaged them in large scale structures.

Columbian Artist: Doris Salcedo

She believed that a surface of a piece of art must prevail over everything else, to call attention to subtle details to engage the viewer. She brings back the past in subtle ways in her work to express a larger message that speaks louder than her work itself.

Reaction Paper:

Creativity:

My favorite quote about creativity is one I researched on my own. It was said by Rita Mae Brown. "Creativity comes from trust. Trust your instincts. And never hope more than you work." I feel like this is so true because every time I start a project I am always unsure of myself, but when I don't stick with my original idea or let someone else talk me out of it and change a little part of it, it never comes out the way I intended to. I have learned to trust my creativity and I know wherever it leads me is in a good direction.

Creativity means a few things to me. It first is the creation of something unheard of, using old and new ideas to solve a problem. It is also the process of coming up with the ideas and relationship to oneself while doing so. Finally, creativity is the outcome that is sometimes unexpected but is something that expresses yourself and is a physical piece of art you can share with everyone.

I chose to go into a career that requires creativity because I want to change the way someone looks at something. For instance, I want to take a space and make a person in a home to say "Wow, I would have never thought of this and it looks and works great." I want to create the "wow factor" that changes someone's day to day life from my ideas and the works of others, mixing the old and new. My name does not need to be credited, or known all over the world, but I want to use my creativity to make a change in someone's life for the better, and open them to a new world of possibilities, hopefully spreading my creativity in the future. I know I can pursue this dream through the creativity of my interior design.

Project One:When I first read the project description, I was excited but unsure how to handle the challenge before me. The concept seemed simple; create something out of a box that wasn’t a box. The challenge was to use every last piece of the box to make the art that was unique. I at first thought of a lot of little objects I could create, like a shoe, or a flower, but nothing seemed to connect to me as a person or could possibly use the entire shoe box that lay before me. I defined the assignment’s problem as literally, “thinking outside the box.” I not only had to design a three dimensional object to look real, but to use every last piece of cardboard to do so; nothing more, nothing less.

My inspiration for creating an electric guitar came from the fact I have played guitar for almost seven years, and I always wanted a hot pink guitar (the color of my box). I took this opportunity to put a feminine twist on an instrument usually associated with a man, showing girls can rock out just as a hard. Everything then fell into place. I knew a guitar alone would not consume the whole box, so I needed to add its accessories, such as an amplifier, a neck strap, and guitar stand. In order to play, these are needed so it only made sense to include them as well. Following the curvature of the guitar seemed to be a challenge at first because the cardboard did not bend well. However, if I cut it thin enough, it began to bend, making the guitar curve and not rigid became easier and looked more realistic. After making the overall shape of the guitar, amp, and stand, I added details to them with the scraps to make them more lifelike and made the guitar look ready to play. I was very pleased with the final outcome of my project.

I learned a few things from this project. First, I learned when first faced with a project, don’t panic, and try to visualize a solution by brainstorming. While doing so, add a little of yourself to the process, because once it’s finished, it is more affective when the artist can see him/herself in it as well. Secondly, I learned to pay attention to detail. It made my project more effective and used the rest of my cardboard up very quickly. Finally, I learned that the design process is not always an easy one. Once I had my idea set, I thought assembling the guitar would be the easy part. That was not true however. Planning it out just right to use the right about of cardboard, spending seven or eight hours outside of class on it, trial and error to make the pieces balance, and using all the elements of design such as color and shape was actually the hardest part. But because I put myself into the project, it made it more enjoyable to work on, and the final outcome was much better than I ever expected.