Tutorial week 7 - Stencils and paper cuts

The first image is used to create a stencil:

Response

Personally, this art piece portray how military forces have to keep hostile forces at bay day and night which is why the background is a sunset background.

Description

It is actually a photo taken on low contrast and lighting to only display the shadows instead of having prominent features.

Analysis and Interpretation

This picture convey the ideas how military forces are working 24/7 without fail to keep the country's defense force strong and going. The hardship they have to go through out in the wilderness and trainings they have to go through to maintain their combat readiness.

Evaluation and judgment

People who have not serve the military forces would not understand the hardship and would probably interpret the picture differently.

Making use of a tracing paper and hard A4 card, I created the stencil on the hard A4 card

I have to cut out the stencil in the opposite manner instead of having the outline on the piece of white paper as the figure on the right, the gap between the figure's leg cannot be bridged if it is not done this way.

The second image that is used is as follows (paper cut):

Response

Personally, this art piece portray how many primates like animals gather together to form a fan like feature

Description

It is actually a photo taken on sharp contrast and high lighting to reveal many of its features

Analysis and Interpretation

This portray how animals should not be in captive. Animals should be free and hunt for their own food whenever they are hungry instead of being fed at intervals.

Evaluation and judgment

Many people would not know the implications behind animal captivity and take things at face value, animals are being fed well.


Making it a stencil would not be effective as this has a lot of complicated elements and is hard to actually carve out details for the stencil. Hence, I used this image for a paper cut. Nevertheless it is still really complicated (especially the tail). Similarly as image one, I transferred it on a A4 white card via a tracing paper before cutting it.

This is the final papercut, to make it more apparent that it is a picture of animals gathering, I cut out their ears to make it more obvious.

Some of the problems faced with this work is that the bridging for the tail should be taken note of. I broke some of the bridging while cutting the artpiece.

The third image is used as a stencil as follows:

Response

Personally, this art piece portray how baby animals are being exploited from young.

Description

It is actually a photo taken on sharp contrast and high lighting to reveal many of its features

Analysis and Interpretation

This portray how animals should not be in captive and should be released and learning appropriate skills in the wild rather than being in captive.

Evaluation and judgment

Many people would not know the implications behind animal captivity and take things at face value, animals being cute and well groomed. But little did they know that the baby panda might lack essential skills to survive in the wild.

The stencil look as follows:

Initially, tried adding more features such as the paws into the stencil but seems like it does not help in making it obvious that it is a panda and at the same time, bridging the claws is very challenging, I tried and broke the bridge and end up cutting out the whole piece instead of including the details.



The fourth image is cut out as a papercut. The image is as follows:

Response

Personally, this art piece portray how users should be environmentally friendly minded and adopt more energy saving and hybrid cars

Description

It is actually a photo taken on sharp contrast and high lighting to reveal many of its features of the cars to let viewers know it is a hybrid car.

Analysis and Interpretation

People might not want to spend extra money on a hybrid car, which might bring inconvenience for them when they want to refuel/ charge the car. But the picture encourages users to actually adopt hybrid car as it would better save the environment.

Evaluation and judgment


It would be hard to change the mindsets of people, people who want a car either buy it for convenience or luxury, never there is a point of time it is for the earth, Making it hard to change the minds of people towards the interpretation of the image.






Tracing the little details such as the window pane and the details on the wheels is crucial in making it look like a car. Ultimately some details such as the side window pane has to be left out as the whole window is being cut out:

Omitting details on the background rather than the car, the final results is as follows:

One of the most challenging part would be the front bumper of the car, with very intricate bridging which i broke one side of it:

Spray painting the stencils of image 1 and 3:

The spray paint used is as follows:

In the future, when spray painting a test should be done as in this case the first spray tend to spray alot of paint out of the can which nearly spoil the stencil:

As seen in the image one side of the image has too much paint, fortunately, it did not do any much serious damage.

Image 1 Spray paint results:

Image 3 Spray paint results:

week 7 - disturbb homework

The three image that I have chosen for the collage is as follows:

Image 1:

Image 2:

Image 3:

The collage image is as follows:

Makeing use of image 2's "bean shaped" urban structure, I make use of the concept of repetition to create the body of the "crab". The pincers are taken from image 3's erasers and compasses and the legs are from image 3's pen, markers and paintbrush. All  these are reconstructed with image 2's urban structure. Finally, for the eyes, it is taken from Image 1's circular structure. Rescaled it for the smaller circle to make it resemble more like a crab's eyes which is small.

Response

Personally, I did not have any ideas in mind when creating this piece of art. After taking different details of the artpieces randomly, I found out that it actually look like a crab (with all the compasses for its pincers, paintbrush for legs, urban structure for its body)

Description

The details are cut out from A4 sized paper and pieced together on an A3 sized paper on a landscape layout. Details are cut out using a pen knife and placed together using glue. For the "eyes" of the crab, the original picture is being scale down to better fit the elements in the picture.

Analysis and Interpretation

This picture convey the ideas of animals and wild life thriving in today's modern society. With urbanisation in place, wildlife habitat might be threatened and eventually putting a threat to the wildlife animals which might in turn cause extinction. This art piece convey this idea by putting modern elements (such as buildings and urban structures, the stationery we use in present day) and piecing them together to form an animal, a crab

Evaluation and judgment

This might not even resemble a crab to some people. Some might just say it is a robot or whatsoever. In addition, it might not necessary convey wildlife thriving in a urban population. There might be variations to the interpretation of this art piece such as harnessing new modern technologies to help wildlife. 

Week 6 reflection - negative and positive spaces

I personally think that the concept of negative and positive spaces is very interesting as it brings about interesting effects in design. The video shown during the lecture was quite confusing for an individual who do not really know how to appreciate art well. It looks like a very old fashioned (1990s) gaming console game. However, it does show certain elements of negative and positive spaces when it transits from having its positive and negative spaces switched to negative and positive spaces vice versa. Some concepts of negative and positive art pieces i found really fascinated by is where art pieces have different variations/image when you look at the positive space vs the negative space. For example the picture as follows:

The negative spaces actually reveals two person facing each other while the white spaces resembles a vase. This is particularly interesting as it put in different meanings into one art piece. Apart from using negative and positive space for this means, usage of negative and positive spaces also changes the tone of the whole design. For example, negative can connote dark, sad mood while more usage of positive spaces might bring about more brightness to the design and hence give a more positive mood to the picture.






This is one such example to commemorate the passing on of Apple's previous CEO, steve job. Usage of negative spaces are abundance to indicate that the solemness of the picture.

Week 5 reflection - Composition

The fibonacci sequence has always been a very interesting concept as it is amazing how even nature follow the sequences, such as the arrangement of sunflower seeds on a sunflower. Taking all these concepts and applying it into composition, I feel that it is extremely important for design in general extended to films, advertisement, posters and possibly encompassing many more of such design.

The rule of two thirds or golden ratio is actually prevalent in many of the designs that we actually see today.

From architectural structure in greece.

To effective posters we see everyday in today's context.

Many designers are using these concepts to actually design their stuff. However, I think that in today's complicated society, attention grabbing is getting harder as day goes by. Eventually designers might actually have to design something that we are not used to seeing and making use of novelty to grab our attention. By then, certain design might actually forgo the rule to come out with something more out of the norm.

Week 4 reflection - abstraction and semiotics

This topic is prevalent in many visual communication and communication modules. I have come across this concept quite often in many NM modules I take in NUS. This actually make things much more complex as different people have different experiences and different interpretation of different objects. One very interesting concept is actually derived from hand gestures. Although hand gestures indicates certain meaning towards it, depending on the differences in culture, it might mean very different things. For example, the ok hand sign:

It is commonly used in many parts of the world as acknowledgement, but in certain countries it is a offensive sign. Different cultures agreed upon different set of meanings for different hand gestures which is important for us to study sigmatics or signs.

Another interesting concept derives from the toilet sign.

The toilet sign actually resembles male and female person while at the same time it is actually a symbol that is universally accepted to indicate male and female toilet.

Taking from the example in the lecture:










Although each of the sign indicates that it is either indicative, imperative and suggestive, the signs might mean different things to different cultures. For example the suggestive picture does not make any explicit indication that smoking is actually bad for lungs, it only indicates a connection with lung health which might not be understandable by certain individuals who lack education and might not even know in the first place that smoking is bad for them and their lung health.

week 3 reflection

I personally felt that Dada movement or Dadaism is a very interesting means of bringing ideas across, often through provocation through putting ideas in art pieces. It is definitely ironic to think that Dadaism is actually anti-art, at the same time confronting art values through the usage of art which makes it even more interesting. I feel that the concept could be applied to many countries who are facing a lack of freedom of speech and through art is a means of expressing certain thoughts that may not be explicit and able to stroll along and maintain legal boundaries. One of such art pieces that i come across which i think is interesting is as follows:

RAOUL HAUSMANN (1886-1971)
'The Spirit of Our Time', 1920 (assemblage)
Taken from: http://www.artyfactory.com/art_appreciation/art_movements/dadaism.htm

‘Spirit of Our Time’ is a sculptural metaphor for the inability of the establishment to inspire the changes necessary to rebuild a better Germany. The different details of the blockhead actually shows inadequacies that is lacking to be a better Germany, such as the block out eyes of the blockhead which indicates blind and lack of creativity and thinking out of the box. It does not seem like an artpiece to actually confront Germans but in explicitly these ideas are actually expressed.

week 6 tutorial - negative and positive spaces

Image one - original image

Response

Personally, this image captures the essence of an innocent pet dog having fun outdoors. The grass and the ball encapsulates the idea of having fun outdoors and the theme of "sunny outdoors"

Description

The picture is taken from a digital photograph by a photographer, changed to black and white digitally and contrast increased to bring the focus on the dog itself.

Analysis and Interpretation

This picture convey the ideas of how innocent pet may be and the positivity of having a pet at home and how it could bring joy to the family. A dog would not have ulterior agenda and is more genuine in this sense.

Evaluation and judgment

Usually, only dog lovers would understand the unparalleled innocent love that the dog would provide us with. Normal people might not have the same feelings per se as they do not have as much interaction/experience with a real dog in this case.

Image one - minus negative spaces

I have removed all of the dark features of the dog, such as the eyes, mouth, skin patches, fur and other dark spaces. This is the maximum number of negative spaces (black) I could remove from the image. As seen in the picture, the white distinct shape of the dog is able to tell the viewer that it is still a dog by the white silhouette of the dog. Any further removal of shapes dark patches might result in the viewer to be unable to tell that it is a dog. The white fur intact also indicates that it is a dog to the user, removing it would make it difficult to actually specify which four legged animal the picture is showing. Meanings are generally the same without features of the dog which might decrease the affective element in the picture itself.

Image one- minus positive space

Similarly, the silhouette of the dog has to be retained for the users to actually tell that it is a four legged animal. In the case for subtracting positive spaces, shading the whole dog might have different effects. By retaining the ball in the mouth of the dog, its nose and ears, and some dark fur, it gives certain cues to the viewer to tell that it is a dog and not other four legged animals such as a small fox. Similarly, the affective nature is reduced as it only shows mainly a shadow with lesser features.

Image two - original image

Response

Personally, this image captures the essence of luxury in today's modern society. Everyone is vying and aiming to be rich and hence able to afford luxury sports cars.

Description

The picture is taken from a digital photograph by a photographer, changed to black and white digitally and contrast increased to bring the focus on the car itself.

Analysis and Interpretation

This picture convey the ideas of how individuals work really hard in society and become richer and make use of these material goods to actually flaunt their own wealth.

Evaluation and judgment

Usually, majority of the people would think that having a sports car might be impossible in this life and this reduce the impact driven on individuals. People who are near to their goal of owning the car might feel different about the photo.

Image two - Minus negative space

The bumper, all the way up to the wheels and all the bottom part of the vehicle have been removed. The upper portion is retained so that it resembles a car. By cutting off the whole part would result in a big white block that might be hard for viewers to actually tell that it is a sports car (and not a small van). Car become more futuristic in this picture which resulted in a change of people's mindset that this might be a future invention rather than thinking of owning a sports car.

Image two - Minus positive spaces

Majority of the car's positive spaces have been shaded off. Only the wheels and headlights are left out for users to actually tell that it is a sports car. The dark silhouette also enable users to tell that it is a sports car. Ideas are similar to original picture since it is still visibly a sports car.

Image three -original image

Image three- minus positive spaces

The maximum space that this image can remove its positive spaces is as follows. The lamps still need to be intact to let the viewer actually know that this is actually part of an urban landscape. Removing the lamps provide no clues for the users to actually tell that it is an urban landscape.

Image four original image

Image 4 - removing the positive space 1

The silhouette of the window panels of an urban landscape is retained even when the positive spaces is removed.

Another experimentation - Image 4 - removing the positive space 2

Alternatively, the opposite could be done. Instead of removing positive space in the form of window panels, the positive spaces in the form of its background could be removed instead and viewers could still tell by the forms of the window panels to tell that it is an urban landscape.

week 5 tutorial - Collage, Repetition and Reconstruction

Collage - Original image

The original image is a cottage placed in the middle of a cold, snowy mountainous landscape.

Response
Personally, the photographer is trying to capture the gist off the house. A lone house in the wilderness brings out the element of the house and the house as the focal point of the whole image amidst the wilderness.

Description
The picture was shot in a way that the background, although apparent might not be the focus of the whole picture, instead, the house is the focal point. The image is also black and white and contrast is being fine tuned in a sense that the house becomes more apparent in the picture.

Analysis and Interpretation
The picture is trying to elicit a sense of loneliness as shown by the lone house in a wide space of wilderness. The dark contrast of the house as compared to the lighter contrast of the background make the house much more apparent as the focus, intensifying the effect of loneliness. The mountainous area surrounding it also brings about a sense of entrapment, where the house cannot be mobile and move anywhere easily.

Evaluation and Judgment
Perspective changes how the image is being interpreted. The lone house might indicate "standing out" from the crowd by some people. Another issue is that some people may think that the photo is "photo shopped" as the house in contrast to the background looks different which may change their interpretation of the image itself.

Collage 1

I made the window smaller as the place is snowy and there might be a case of a possible hailstone or ice avalanche and it would make more sense to have a small window, to prevent it from being smashed easily. I also thought that making the base smaller actually makes the overall cottage much more modernised, giving the house a "hovering" effect. The Roof was scaled smaller to give the cottage a much smaller and cosy feel amidst the cold wilderness. Lastly, I scale down the mountain so that people living in the cottage would be able to get out of the place easily without having to climb up the mountain.

This image changes the interpretation by removing the element of "entrapment" by scaling down the mountain. By making the house smaller, it increases the effect of loneliness by making the wilderness in a sense "bigger" as compared to the house.

Collage 2

In the second collage picture, i scale up the roof and base of the house as it is a relatively mountainous area and prone to avalanche and other natural disasters, it actually make sense to have a more sturdy house with a big roof to shelter from snow and a big base to keep it stable

The size of the house make it less lonely as the house is bigger as compared to the wilderness. Interpretation wise, it is still the same.




Repetition - Original image

The original image is a man participating in a powerlifting meet and lifting some weights.

Response
Personally, the photographer is trying to capture the main idea of the sport of powerlifting, which is to lift as much weight as possible. The focus is on the slightly bulked up male and his expression of agony and pain while lifting the weight. The face itself already indicate the pain of this sport

Description
The photo was captured using a typical camera and converted to black and white. The contrast is adjusted so as to give the background a darker contrast while the man a lighter contrast, which make the focus be on the man.

Analysis and Interpretation
The photographer is trying to depict the pain and agony of the sport. The exertion that is require in this sport. The effort that each powerlifters actually put into at the platform while competing at the meet. It also displays the limits a person can bring forward. How the human body can actually do wonders and do stuff that is thought to be impossible by the average people.

Evaluation and Judgment

However, there might be hidden meanings behind this pain and agony. People only see the good side of the sport of powerlifting. The image only portray that one has to exert everything they have during the meet. The image did not portray the sacrifices made by the athlete, the money spend on nutrition, training equipment and time taken to train for the meet, the injuries, blood, sweat that is generated to prepare an individual to step on the platform to compete. People who do not know much about the sport would think that it is just some random overweight individual lifting weights.

Repetition 1

In this particular image, i replicate the weights and piece them together which is apt as people would want to lift as much weights in such an event.

The analysis and interpretation is generally the same just that it reiterate the response, which is to lift as much weight as possible in the sport of powerlifting.

Repetition 2

In the second image, I duplicate the arms of the man lifting the weights . This is also apt as powerlifters need to grip the weights tight to prevent it from slipping off, so it would be good to have many pairs of hands to actually support the weight.

Similarly, meaning did not change much just that it would lessen the pain and agony of the lifter if there are a few more pairs of hands

Reconstruction - original image













This image is an image of a bridge across a water body, with hills in the distant.

Response
Personally, the photographer is trying to capture the bridge which leads to nowhere. This actually is captured by having the bridge as the focal point going ahead across a water body which has no destination.

Description
The photo was captured using a typical camera and converted to black and white. The contrast is darken with the bridge and the mountainous area being lighter contrast as compared to the water body. However, the focal point remains on the bridge.

Analysis and Interpretation
The photographer is trying to capture the essence of the analogy of life. In life, everything seems like it is leading to somewhere, (in this case the supposedly destination is the beautiful mountain), but in fact it might end up to nowhere, which is why the bridge did not lead to the mountain. Life might be more treacherous with much more obstacles ahead of you rather than an easy path from a bridge.


Evaluation and Judgment
The tranquility of the waterbody and mountain might distort the perspective of people. People might think that the photo is trying to embody the sense of relax destination instead of thinking so much about other more complexity in life. Also, the experiences and mood of people might change the perception of the interpretation itself.

Reconstruction 1

I reconstructed the placement of the mountain to put it beside the bridge. This way, it would seems to look as if the bridge is for people to trudge up the mountain. Beside the mountain would be water bodies, which depict that the mountain is in the middle of a water body. On the top, the position of the sky remains the same.

Connecting the bridge to the mountain totally change the interpretation of the image. It might interpret as "aiming for the sky" by climbing up a tough mountainous bridge you can reach your ultimate haven destination which is the sky.

Reconstruction 2















For the second image , i placed the mountain near to the start of the bridge while i add the water bodies to the end of the bridge. This depicts the transition from "land to sea" when a user actually walk through the bridge. This indicates life, which mean that as you enters into a particular part of your life you might exit that phase very much differently.

This image also changes the interpretation of the image. instead of heading to the mountain this might change the meaning also. Cherish while having beautiful things by your side(mountain near to you), but in the future, everything you might have now might be gone and turn into nothing (a pool of water).

Another reconstruction

In this image, I placed the mountain at the bottom along with part of the sky. This is to indicate that an individual must transcend the sky and mountain (arduous journey) before transiting to "heaven" which is a place of peace and tranquility (water), with a bridge.

Similarly, this image portray that you need to go through an arduous journey to reach heaven.