3D to 2D

“...I'm innocent still -inside me are stained glass windows that have never been broken- and when I see your light it stains my soul with color ...” 
―John Geddes, A Familiar Rain

Stain glass is usually in color, but it's black and white because I've learned a lot about myself this semester. Each photo is a representation of my hard work that blossomed over time and how far along I've come.

Memento

I dedicated this project to my little sister, she is my best friend and I care for her immensely. The memory I based my memento off of was her first roller-coaster ride. According to my family, she always wants to be like me and asked me to take her on Rip Ride Rocket at Universal Studios Orlando. I've always taken care of my sister and so as one can imagine, it was incredibly scary as I wasn't sure how she would react. We both recall that I kept promising her that I wasn't going to leave her side through the duration of the ride. To show this memory, I wanted to have a ring to symbolize the promises I keep to her, because that's something our relationship is based on. The wood material is to show how sturdy that "promise" is. The chain that links us is a resemblance of us holding hands on the roller-coaster and the roller-coaster itself. The chain is manipulated to whoever holds it as they make their own "track" of the roller-coaster, but the rings remain static on the hand. I personally put one ring on my index finger on my left hand when demonstrating particularly because it represents family and shaping character and beliefs. 

Fluxus Box

This Fluxus box was based on the ideologies of the movie "Poltergeist" in the 1980s. It was said that they made it to represent the typical suburban home and how it was shifting from the 1950's societal "norms." This left many uncomfortable with the introduction to new technologies and lifestyle comforts. I wished to capture some of our "comforts" and add a hint of the apparitions that haunted the family. The chair slides back and forth  when pulling the tags from side to side, giving the effect of "it's moving by itself" when it's really just us in our own minds. The curtains represented the Halloween costume and how we always dress up as ghosts during Halloween, but we're terrified of the thought of being haunted by the past. The carpet is a reference to the carpets of the homes, they were all the same back then. Each drawer had something special inside: the top had marbles to make noise as Poltergeist means "noisy ghost" in German, the middle had "ectoplasm" to stimulate our touch sense, and the bottom played on our sense of smell as there is paper that was doused in tequila (based on the fathers drinking habit whenever he was stressed out). Lastly, I wished to capture Carol-Anne's innocence through the toys; the clown and the blocks that spell out SAFE. We are sheltered in our childhood from the reality of the world and we get a brutal awakening when we get older. 

Soap Carving

This project was meant to force observational skills and put them to use. The supplies used were small carving tools and tooth picks for details. Admittedly part of the project was to name the soap animals; therefore, this is Steve. Steve's fur coat was primarily tooth pick scratches after carving his base shape out. The tail, a paste from a separate bar and glued down by wetting the soap.

Balsa Wood and Paper Sculptures

As paper is more fragile, I wanted to make a delicately balanced, yet dynamic composition of manipulating paper. The paper sculpture is twisted and cut, but held together by wood on the inside and represents the idea of balance.  

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The balsa wood sculpture is incredibly geometric in shape. Primarily focusing on odd, modernistic ideals of architecture. I chose this piece to represent symmetry as this shows how sturdy those two concepts can be

Masking Tape Shoes

These shoes were made completely out of tape. The objective was to utilize the tape and mold it in different shapes using various techniques. This was meant to build our creative problem solving skills while making a replica of our own shoes.

"The body is the primary mode of perceiving scale."

When gazing down from what we commonly refer as the "nose-bleed" section of an arena. It's quite honestly intimidating to see how big the arena is, but feel so small at the same time. We speak of people 'looking like ants' when we're towering above at an incredulous height. Arenas such as the Amway provide a huge contrast in scale; something that is unforgettable and quite beautiful when full.

Touch Exploration

Not only are enthralled by touch sensations, we rely on touch to understand objects. On page 80 of natural history of the senses it is said, "We set in motion our complex web of touch receptors making them fire by exposing them to a sensation, changing it, exposing them to another. The brain reads the firings and stop-firings like Morse code and registers smooth, raspy, cold." My attention was drawn to the word sensation and receptors. It was talking about physical reactions to something. When I pet a dog for example, I tend to get very happy and giddy. The chemical reactors in my brain released endorphins that reflect positivity. We tend to rely on animals, especially when in need of comfort, to aid with anxiety and depression-- service dogs are a great example. Then I got to thinking about this quote on page 77:

"Scientists can study people who are blind to learn more about vision, and people who are deaf or anosmic to learn more about hearing or smell, but this is virtually impossible to do with touch. Touch is a sense with unique qualities, but it also frequently combines with other senses."

Blind people have completely different lifestyles, they rely on touch way more than someone who can see; It's their own form of communication. I wanted to do an experiment where I'd try to write something out in braille and get a feeling of what their language is like. After writing a simple hello and poking the dots through with pencil, I was amazed at how something so simple can mean everything to someone. This got my train of thought going as to pop up books and images. I drew a picture of my dog and then used hot glue to make the outlines of it. If someone were to close their eyes and feel the image, there's a good possibility that they can eventually make out the picture.