Category: UNIT 1
The thoughts I wanted to work with when creating the final project for unit 1.2 were:
- Keeping the plants as a whole, Treating every illustration/plant as a single unit that has its own qualities
- Collecting those “single units” into selected groups sorted by colours
- Collecting “single units = plants” that were sorted into groups into one whole collection
- Allowing people to interact with all three “subgroups” separately but also together
- Experimenting with digital form
For the final outcome, I selected 50 colours sorted from the Digital Botanical Harvard Collection. I set the Flowers 3D space to create a digital garden as an augmented reality experience, allowing the viewer to interact with the collection, being able to focus on details, a single plant separated flower beds or see the collection together, almost as one big garden. Find below a video of an interaction with the garden in a 3D space. It is also possible to place the garden into space as augmented reality.
THE OUTCOME: https://link.jig.space/Giun5K0Atub
For the second brief, methods of cataloguing, I have chosen to work with one of the Harvard Digital Collections: Botanical Illustrations. The original collection consists of 4147 items, including paintings, drawings, and illustrations from the early 1800s to the mid-1900s. I have selected the first part of the collection featuring 82 plates with various plant hand illustrations.
The first week of the brief was about experimenting with the collection using different methods of cataloguing, such as: sorting, taxonomising, classifying, captioning, framing, recontextualising, adding, subtracting, stretching, compressing, hijacking, subverting, exaggerating, etc.
In my process, I first started by cutting out all the plant illustrations to make it easier to manipulate them and use them in my experiments. That was followed by sorting the plants into five colour groups and experimenting with the idea of using a single unit as a part of “mass” by layering the items.
I also focused on the shape of the bloom and identified four different sections represented by simple geometric shapes. For my second experiment, I used those shapes and masked them over the blooms of my chosen illustrations.
The third experiment focused on distorting & mirroring the plants, creating patterns from the illustrations, and giving them a new meaning and visual style.
Another experiment used the organic plant shapes to rearrange them on the canvas and give them a new context. I focused on the connection between those plants and us people, and through positioning, distorting, sizing and subtracting, I rearranged the collection to create faces. However, I noticed that this experiment was not the right way to go, and I knew I wouldn’t continue with its development.
The last experiment was hijacking the images, as I noticed a lot of the blooms looked like faces or had humane features; I focused on that connection and illustrated simple faces onto the flowers.
Unit 1: Methods of Investigating
Written response
When speaking about everyday objects and places, the purpose behind them is often straightforward, and one would not think about deeper investigations or observations. However, when investigating the ordinary through the lenses of a graphic designer, new perspectives can create ideas, reveal hidden patterns and spark inspiration. This written response identifies similarities between my project and the work of Agnès Varda and Georges Perec. I will describe the connections between their works and the process of investigating my chosen place – one of the fountains on Trafalgar Square.
To find a starting point and begin with the whole process of the project, I got inspired by the book “Species of Spaces and Other Places” written by French novelist and writer Georges Perec in 1974. In his book, he describes the objects of his investigation with notable realism and incredible detail. On page 50 of the book, he notes down his observations of the street “Slowly, almost stupidly” (Perec, 1974), writing down what is “most obvious, most common, most colourless.” (Perec, 1974). I adopted his approach when visiting the Trafalgar Square fountain for the first time. I noted down everything about the place in the closest possible detail, focusing on the first-sight boring and unimportant details such as trash. The same way Perec did in his book. That sparked the inspiration for further steps in my work.
In my project, I tried to visually capture the diversity of people engaging with a site that was originally meant to have a decorative role in the space. To be able to do that, part of the process was collecting “proofs” of people engaging with the place. I managed to gather a number of items, mainly pieces of trash and used those things to create a set of prints and patterns that have been turned into a diagram-like collection. I have seen similarities between that particular idea in my project and the film from 2000 created by a French director and artist Agnès Varda called The Gleaners and I. Varda (2020) in her film follows creatives who use recycled and collected materials to produce pieces of art. She explores the idea of creating new forms of art by using items that seem to be already useless and belong to the trash. In my project, I have worked around the same idea using worthless items to come up with something creative, giving a new life and meaning to pieces of trash found in and around the fountain.
To conclude my writing, I can see the relationship between both mentioned creatives. Perec’s book inspired me in the method of noting and describing the place in the littlest detail. Moreover, I can see a similarity between Varda’s idea and the topic of the film and my approach to collecting and re-using unwanted items.
Resources
Perec, G. (1974). Species of Spaces and Other Pieces. London: Penguin.
Verda, A. (2000). The Gleaners and I. Directed by Agnès Varda. France: Ciné -Tamaris.
The fountain is meant to be a decorative object, but people engage with the place in many different ways. I focused on the fact that even though the fountain is meant to be a decorative object, people have been redefining that through different kinds of activities leaving the purpose an open question with ever-changing answers. “A place to rest, a place to laugh, a place to eat, a place to protest, and a place that has many different ways to be seen…..” The aim was to create my way of seeing the chosen place and visually capture the open question of the fountain’s different purposes that people give to the place through their actions and doings.
I collected several items that “don’t belong”, the proofs of people’s engagement around and inside the fountain. Mostly pieces of garbage. Using paper and paint as a medium to capture and imprint the objects, I created a set of 7 patterns/ prints that have been digitalised and collected together into a set of “diagram/mappings like” outcomes. I used things like a piece of silicon with typography on it, a piece of something squashy and spongy like probably a dog owner left there, coins, a paper cup sleeve from Pret, a wooden fork and a plastic bottle cap.
Those patterns were later on scanned/digitalized and cut into the different shapes of the fountain. Finally, I took the created patterns and put them together into the shape of the fountain, combining those prints and generating a number of original variations.
Based on the first feedback and the tutorial session, I have decided to continue with a method of visually describing the fountain through different categories such as colours, typography or simple pattern. I focused on the fountain being constructed from even geometric shapes. I returned to the place and paid close attention to the three primary materials of the fountain: stone, metal, and water. I closely described what the materials feel and look like, following the methods George Perec (1999) describes in his book ‘The Neighbourhood’ and ‘The Town’ from Species of Spaces and Other Places.
However, after further investigation and feedback, I realised this was not the right way to go. The main point of interest for me that I wanted to further investigate and visually communicate was that the fountain is meant to be a decorative object. Still, people engage with the place in many different ways. Giving the fountain several new purposes. A place to rest, a place to laugh, a place to eat, a place to protest, and a place that has many different ways to be seen. However, the current phase of my experiment wasn’t answering my point of interest and hit a dead end.
References: Perec, G. (1999) ‘The Street’, ‘The Neighbourhood’ and ‘The Town’ from Species of Spaces and Other Places. pp 50-55. London: Penguin
The first brief of Unit 1 was exploring different methods of investigating and “seeing” through the lenses of a graphic designer. Selecting a site or a place of our choice, we were supposed to visit the place and observe it through different methods, coming up with 3-4 experiments to present to a class.
I have chosen one of the fountains in Trafalgar Square. I focused on the materials and looks of the fountain but also on people and their engagement with the place. Through different methods such as taking pictures, notetaking, sketching, mapping etc. Eventually, I created a few experiments to share in the tutorial.