*(Project #3: Handmade Book [Poem Visualization] Final Construction)*

Title Page

Back Cover

Pages in Accordian Style

Some of the Pages Up-Close

Description:

In my visualization of the poem, I attempted to emphasize the theme of love in a unique way. I also wanted to emphasize the importance of each line of the poem by creating each line on its own separate page with its own type and imagery. I chose this specific book structure because it relates really well with my interpretation/visualization of the poem. My book structure is in a 5 in by 5 in love card format and my interpretation/visualization of the poem is about how love can change a person and their life. The processes I used in creating the imagery and type for the book are all done in Adobe Illustrator. For creating the imagery, I used Illustrator to illustrate the lines of the poem by drawing them with the tools. For the type, I just did them in Illustrator and chose the typeface that would go along with the word/line. After I was done creating the imagery and type for each line, I decided to use the Phaser printer in the computer lab to print on my own chosen paper. I just chose to use regular poster paper because cards are usually made from poster paper or regular paper. I chose larger poster paper so I could make my book into an accordion book. I constructed the actual book by just gluing all those pages together and folding them to make them into an accordion form. I also added pink poster paper to the backs of the pages to make the card less filmsy. The main typeface I used was Monotype Corsiva for the words of each line. For the title page and back page I used the typeface called Handwriting-Dakota to make it look more like a handmade card. But for words I wanted to illustrate I used fonts that would describe the word so it varied.

*(Project #2: Self-Visualization Final Construction)*

This is the pic of the final construction of Project #2 that I said I would post up. I used wood dowels for the bars. I had to sew the paper to make the bars stay in place. I also had to buy black hanging string that was strong enough to support the weight. I am really happy with how this piece turned out.

*(Project 2: Self-Visualization)*

Panel 1

Panel 2

Panel 3

This is my final product for Project #2. For this project, I decided to go with my initial idea of incorporating my Asian background/culture. I decided to use Photoshop with this project so I could use the filters to create the different effects of an Asian painting. The filters helped make the original photograph seem simplier, which is how most Asian paintings are. I had to clone tool the bench out of the background to make it seem more uniform. I also added in the Chinese characters which mean Love, Happiness/Luckiness and Harmony in the order of the panels. To further add to the Asian feeling, I used the brush tool to add in the golden dots because most scrolls have that design.
For my construction of this piece, I decided to have it printed out 11x24 on Textured Fine Art Paper. After, I brought wood dowels for the scroll bars and hanging string. I will take a pic of the final construction of the piece and post it up.

<< 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.