slice of life

slice of life view
upper left, scribing responsibilities for this week
choice wheel for running through options (and creating new ones) in development of beasts (Morgan; under influence perhaps of cognitive bias codex diagram)
gallery presentation sketch (Gabrielle)
 

rough layout

Here is a rough layout without dimensions of what at this moment I would like my installation to look at.

11.9.17

orenda - n - a mystical force present in all people that empowers them to affect the world, or change their own fate or destiny

pabitel - n - a person fascinated by their own fate, in love with life, does and says unreasonable things, searches for beauty in the simplest objects and events, and likes to twist reality around to fit their liking: someone who proves that life is worth living

meraki - to do something with soul, creativity, or love: to put something of yourself into your work

wabi-sabi - n - a way of living life that focuses on finding beauty within the imperfections of life and accepting peacefully the natural cycle of growth and decay

Petrichor - n - smell that frequently accompanies the first rain after a long period of warm, dry weather.

YUGEN means an awareness of the universe that triggers emotional

responses too deep and mysterious for words.

Komorebi (Japanese) (n.) sunlight that filters through the leaves of trees 

Cynfin: a place where a person or an animal feels it ought to live and belong, it is where nature around you feels right and welcoming.

apricity(latin) - n - the warmth of the sun in winter

woodnote - n - a wild of natural musical tone, as that of a forest bird

querencia - n - a place where one feels safe, a place from which one’s strength of character is drawn.

Peregrinate - v- to travel or wander around from place to place

feuillemort(french) - n - the color of a dying leaf

Alpenglow - n - A rosy glow that suffuses snow covered mountain peaks at dawn or dusk on a clear day 

shinrin- yoku - n - literally “forest bathing” a visit to the forest for relaxation and to improve ones health

Ayni(Quechuan) - n - Sacred reciprocity; the practice of living in harmony with the spirit of the earth.

A beautiful Quechuan word from the people of Peru. Honor Pachamama. Respect Mother Nature and she will respect you.

Audio Over Video

After playing around with video and audio software I believe that the restriction of visuals leads to a more impactful audio. I enjoy the feel of this 'over the phone' effect because it appeals to the more humanistic side of this project. You actually become the audience to this audio as if you know the person speaking. Thanks to all of the persons I recorded I've come to the conclusion that I want to make short clips that sound as if they are a phone conversation.

halp mixdown

Kitty mixdown

content

AR and an Idea

I played around a little with the Aurasma augmented reality software to see what I could possibly do with it. The photo below has an aura on it.

After all this I think my solid idea finally came to me. I think this augmented reality and totally digital thing really evolved from my initial ideas and I felt like it was drifting a little too far from what felt like me and my work. I always envisioned this turning out like something physical like a book and I think I can combine that with augmented reality to make a more modern makeup book. Aurasma definitely opened up more possibilities and ideas for me and I think I want to incorporate it in my project. The makeup tutorial has gone pretty much completely video/web based and with augmented reality I can combine digital with a physical book. I will definitely have to produce some prototypes of this.

Much needed update/New work

Apologies in advance for a huge wall of text, I know it’s been a while since my last post so I have a lot of updates to talk about all at once.

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking and conceptualizing these past few weeks, as I have been working on a large-scale project in another class that has given me new inspiration for this class moving forward. It involved a series of cohesive images, as we were designing a cult and propaganda to go along with it, and I’m including a screenshot of some of the work because I feel that it will help inform the direction I’d like to head closer to as the semester/year goes on, as well as show an example of what was essentially building a brand of sorts and corresponding imagery on a small scale, much as I would like to do in seminar on a larger scale. As I was working on that project, it got me thinking about thesis and how I feel like my current work doesn’t really reflect what I do well and most enjoy in the same way that my work in other classes has thus far. So while I am not abandoning the track I was on, I would like to refine/improve on the ideas to better reflect the type of work I’m passionate about making. So this is the brochure from my cult project below, which goes along with the poster that I will be bringing to class as an example of where I plan to go in actively incorporating screen-printing into my work in the near future.

After the last time we talked about my work, I’ve been thinking about how to reach out and engage people about the topic of alienation. I have a few questions that could spark conversation that I will list below, but I am still unsure as to where or how I am going to get these questions out to people – whether it be in one on one sessions or via some kind of anonymous online survey, such as on Google forms. If anyone has suggestions, I’d be happy to hear them.

Some of the questions I have been considering: (most are generalized right now, though some are targeted toward a more LGBT specific line of questioning, since I’m undecided as to whether I want a narrow or broad focus for my interviews/data)

1. When do you find yourself feeling alienated? Are there specific times or places where that feeling is stronger than others?
2. Is the alienation related to your gender identity or sexuality? If so, is it an internal feeling, or is it based on the way people treat you because of said identity?
3. If you identify as under the transgender/non-binary spectrum, do you have experiences with alienation from your own body? Would you consider dysphoria to be a type of self-alienation?
4. Are there places or people that make you feel less alienated, or completely integrated? Do you have a community you feel comfortable with/in?
5. Do you ever seek to isolate yourself on purpose? Is it a positive thing to be isolated when you seek it out, or is it related to negative feelings?
6. What are things that you wish someone would say to you in those moments when you feel out of place? What would you tell either your younger self or someone in the same shoes as you in those moments?
7. How do you feel when a brand/company reaches out to/is part of a community that you are in? Does it make you feel included to see clothing or designs created by/catered to bringing a group of people together through a common experience?
8. Follow up: What do you look for in these types of brands, if you support them? Is it their imagery, their message, or just their common goal of unity within a community/group of people?

I am also still figuring out what I’d like to do with these stories/excerpts from people, whether I’d like to collect them and use them as text in a book or poster type scenario, or possibly overlay them on top of imagery relating to the ideas of alienation/isolation, or even abstract them in some way within/alongside an image. I think it will be easier to figure out once I have actual text in front of me and have a better idea what kind of language I will be working with.

I think the next step for me will be both finding the best way to reach out, which I am currently leaning toward a Google form type survey, at least to start, since they’re easy to make and easy to keep the responses anonymous while also having all the data collected in one place. Then, it will be on finding a way to better integrate my screen-printing work into the process, rather than going for overly detailed illustration type work, or working purely digitally as I have been lately. I’d still like to do work with characters/illustrative elements, but I also need to simplify them so they will translate better into the screen printing process, especially if I end up pursuing textiles such as shirts, since they tend to diminish the clarity of small details.

Lastly, I have an old design that I have resisted and a couple quick mock-ups using some left-over vectors in variant colors/fonts, simply to play with possible ideas for either posters or something similar - figured I would put them up to see if anyone has suggestions on how to integrate imagery such as this with the illustrative work I was doing previously. What are some possible solutions for integrating the two ideas in a way that makes sense/best represents alienation as a brand? This is another question I will be focusing on as I move forward, so that I can bring the various elements I’ve worked on so far together in a cohesive manner.

The old sketch from early this semester

The refined version, which I will be screen-printing and bringing in for next class

Poster version 1

Poster color variant

A Darker Side To Emotions

This is a short series of darker emotions with more experiments in typographic visuals, and digital filming. I feel this is more related to my thesis due to finding more ways to experiment in film, and I will be creating much more that deals with other forms of varied visual content. I plan on making more short series involving other spectrums of emotions to explore the concept of emotions fully. All video titles and definitions are based off of ideas of Spinoza.

Cruelty: "is the desire to whereby a man is impelled to injure one who we love or pity

Pain: "is the transition of a man from a greater to a less perfection"

Love (a darker side): "is pleasure, accompanied by the idea of an external cause."