<< Word Visualization Exercise >>

Assignment: Select a word from the list on the class site and create an image that represents its meaning using type as THE visual element

I decided to use the word "freeze". I first typed out the word in Adobe Illustrator. Then I used the font called ArnoldBoecklin which was found in the Extensis Suitcase X1 in the Mac Labs. I then put the type in outline form to distort it to make it look like icicles.

.:: Project #3: Handmade Book [Poem Visualization] ::.

Touched by An Angel
-Maya Angelou

We, unaccustomed to courage
exiles from delight
live coiled in shells of loneliness
until love leaves its high holy temple
and comes into our sight
to liberate us into life.

Love arrives
and in its train come ecstasies
old memories of pleasure
ancient histories of pain.
Yet if we are bold,
love strikes away the chains of fear
from our souls.

We are weaned from our timidity
In the flush of love's light
we dare be brave
And suddenly we see
that love costs all we are
and will ever be.
Yet it is only love
which sets us free.

This is the poem I will be using for my Poem Visualization. I chose this poem because I remember reading Maya Angelou poems when I was young so I wanted to do a poem written by her. My interpretation of this poem when I first read it was that it was talking about how love can change a person's life for the better.
For the concept of my book, I think I might make the book heart-shaped showing how this poem is about love. I want to also use different images and text to further describe the poem, for example when it says "until love leaves its high holy temple", "and in its train come ecstasies", "love strikes away the chains of fear" and "In the flush of love's light" I will probably use images to convey those lines. I might include some love quotes here and there to decorate the book. But I want to close the book with a lock to show how the heart is locked because it is taken or it can be interpreted as the person's heart used to be locked away but when you open the book the person's heart is free to love. That's my ideas for now, but I still have to refine them more.

~Field Trip to Dia:Beacon~ 3.27.09

The field trip to Dia:Beacon with the art department on Friday was quite an experience. When I first walked into the museum, I was amazed at how large the museum really was. It was very spacious and had sunlight shining in on the artworks. Dia:Beacon was those types of museums you can only see in pictures and documentaries. I never imagined myself standing there and viewing the works in person. I was rather impressed with many works in the museum and the large scale of some of them. There were many artworks I really enjoyed at the museum, but my favorite piece was by John Chamberlain called The Privet. That piece was made out of metal tendrils and it was painted with different colors. It was just very fascinating to see how metal can be created into such a beautiful sculpture. The piece was just very fun to look at because of the colors and the amazing detail of the curves of the metal pieces. The piece looked like a barrier of metal blocking you from something. Overall, it was just very exciting to see this piece at the museum.

John Chamberlain, The Privet, 1997

The next two artists both had really impressive works. The first artist was Sol LeWitt. His works took up majority of the museum. His Drawing Series was pretty detailed and looked like it was very time-consuming. The series consisted of varied drawings on the wall done in graphite pencil and color pencils. Each wall drawing was different and unique. Most of them had various line qualities and took up almost entire walls of the museum. All the wall drawings also had instructions on how the real drawing was made. I found that very interesting to see how Sol LeWitt created his masterpieces. Overall, it was very interesting to see the intricate details of each drawing.

Sol LeWitt, Wall Drawing #1085, 1968/2003

The last artist whose work I also found fascinating was Robert Smithson. Most of his works use the materials: glass, mirrors and gravel. His piece titled Map of Broken Glass (Atlantis) was simply amazing to look at. It was rather interesting because this piece consisted of broken shards of glass in different sizes. The arrangement of the broken glass pieces made the piece even more interesting. The color of the piece was also beautiful because it was a light blue tint. When looking at the piece, I was almost terrified of getting too close to the piece and falling in the pile of glass. I also wondered how Smithson assembled this artwork because I would be frightened to use glass as my material. But besides that, the piece was just simply beautiful and delicate. The intricacy definitely made it even more interesting to look at. Overall, the whole field trip to Dia:Beacon was very memorable.

Robert Smithson, Map of Broken Glass (Atlantis), 1969

.:: Project #2: Self-Visualization Concept ::.

I came up with a lot of ideas for this project based on the project concept questions that were on the website:

1) I wanted to take the category "important physical attributes" and to just show off my 3 important attributes, which are my eyes, my smile and my hair in the photos. I would take a whole body picture or half body picture for each panel and make the photo black and white. I would then just make the important features in color to highlight them. I may include text or pictures in the panels.

2) I wanted to take the category "aspects of your personality" and take photos showing those qualities, which are that I'm sweet, caring, helpful, honest, hard-working, and friendly. Then think of better words for those qualities and use it in the project. I can maybe play with the fonts and colors to further describe my personality.

3) I wanted to take the category "what you enjoy" and just take photos of me doing those activities, which are making art, shopping, watching TV and listening to music. I can also add text to further describe the activity or make the background full of text.

4) I wanted to take photos with people who influence me and then write a quote that the person has said to me that has changed my life. I will put more color on the person and not me. I will use the same photo of myself to help connect the three panels. I wanted to use my 3 best friends or my family [my Mom, my Dad and my brother] for this idea. I was leaning towards this idea but still not quite sure yet.

5) I was considering maybe connecting 3 categories together or making a progression from each panel, like the beginning of my life to present day or the old me to the new me.

I thought of these ideas before I even took any photos, but after I took some photos I came up with the idea of incorporating my Asian background/culture in the triptych. The 3 photos I was leaning towards have leaves in the background which gives an Asian feel to them . I'm thinking about using those photos and to play around with them. But I came up with how the final construction of the pieces will look like. I want the photos to be printed on a scroll type of paper or maybe to use bamboo to frame the photos. I can even use chopsticks instead of bamboo. That is all I came up with so far. I still have to think about this idea some more to come up with a full concept for this project.

*(Project #1: Film-Still Illustration)*

Original Photo

Photoshop

Illustrator

(Project #1: Film-Still Illustration - Illustrator Final Product)

Here's my Illustrator final product for Project #1. I used the Photoshop final product and placed it in Illustrator. I wanted to play off the Photoshop version and make the Illustrator version to have the message of me controlling the world. First, I took out the background and decided to add a sky background to give it an even more dreamy effect. I then added pictures of flying books, airplanes, and an eagle that I found online to add to the background. After, I decided to live trace the sky background, the flying books, the airplanes, the eagle and the globe. Then I added different effects on myself to make it look like I'm on top of the world. I wanted it to look like I'm coming out of the book and also that I'm sitting on the cloud. Finally, I just added the text to further add to my message. That's how I created the final product above.

--Comparison of Artists--

.:: Cui Xiuwen ::. Xiuwen's photos use a young girl as the model, not herself. In her 'One Day in 2004' series, she uses a young girl dressed in a school uniform to portray the innocence and vulnerability of young children. Xiuwen's photos in that series also show the struggles of childhood in China. Most of the colors used in that series contain white, black, red and blue. She also uses the buildings in China as the background for most of her photos in that series. In her 'Angel' series, she also uses a young girl as the subject. The girl is pregnant and is wearing a white dress with a black stripe on it. White symbolizes purity and innocence, which I find very ironic in these photos considering the subject probably lost her innocence when she became pregnant. The series shows the issue of teen pregnancy in China. Xiuwen's photos in this series also show the struggle of pregnant women such as mood swings, fatigue, cramps, etc. The young girl is posed differently in the shots to portray these feelings. The background used in this series are mostly buildings of China and beautiful landscapes. Blue skies are used a lot in this series, but the young girl is still the main subject of the photos. She also had some photos that had multiple shots of the girl, like a collage. I personally think Cui Xiuwen's photos were very interesting and beautiful.

.:: Cindy Sherman ::.We have already looked at Cindy Sherman's work in the past, but I'll describe her work again. She mostly uses herself as the subject in her photos. In her 'Untitled Film Stills' series, she is dressed up in different outfits. She tries out different female roles such as a homecooker, businesswoman, etc. The photos in this series are black and white. In her other series, the photos are dark, scary, gloomy and eerie. They look like scenes from a horror movie because she has some photos that are gory. But I think her photos in 'Untitled Film Stills' are still very effective in giving off her message of women roles.

.:: Frida Khalo ::.
Khalo, similar to Sherman, also uses herself as the subject in her paintings. Her paintings are done in oil and have great use of colors. She also dresses up in different outfits showing different personalities that she has. Her paintings reflect on the past hardships in her life. They also incorporate other elements such as animals and other people close to her. Khalo also uses similar elements such as the bold eyebrows in all her pieces to show her independent and strong-willed personality.

Similarities:
The similarities that all three artists have in their works are their message about women, their use of portraits and the way they dress up their subjects in different situations. They also portray hardships and issues in a unique and interesting way.