Territories

05.11.08

After an unsuccessful tutorial it was followed by a presentation this week, I returned to the drawing board and opted for the Take a chance brief. The below is the presentation which took place yesterday.
I was curious about the artificial because of the way we live our lives questioning its sincerity. Realising how we are becoming artificial and how we organise nature within the urban environment.
The artificial is such a broad spectrum, I re approached it by choosing another brief.
Take a chance, The process of randomness interested me because it could be a great way of encouraging my making skills and to use various mediums. It is also a great area for encouraging creativity. By brainstorming randomness I discovered plenty relations, such as religion, artificial, probability, science etc.

John Cage was a composer and fluxus artist. Fluxus artist encourages "a do it yourself aesthetic and valued simplicity over complexity". Fluxus prefered to work in whatever materials were at hand . So this made me think of my flippant and impatient attitude towards, for example, fixing something instead of using a screw driver i might use a blunt knife. Or when I need a ruler, use anything straight at hand.

John Cages philosophy was about " the multiplicity of simultaneous visual and audible events all going together in ones experience and producing enjoyment".

Marcel Duchamp was influenced my fluxus artists;
"Part of the reason that Duchamp's objects were fascinating while Picasso's voice is fading is that the Duchamp pieces are truly between media, sculpture and something else, whilst Picasso is readily classifiable as a painted ornament".


Randomness in material caught my attention. Such as wear and tear, in some way glamorising or bringing to light things we take for granted.
Randomly on purpose, There is an argument as to how people use or perceive the word random. The top item you may say is random or weird, Cause why would you bother doing that? Something not seen before or often. Whereas chewing gum is common sadly, maybe the shape is random , but there is nothing nice about it. Doodling or writing into furniture is also common and done with intention, boredom or a desire. This lead me to think about how its quite nice for documenting memories.
I thought about how accidents, such as is someone was to stain a new carpet with wine would it matter if it happened again ad again. I am often spilling drinks on my parents rug in the living room. What if I designed a tea table that invites mugs to stain the table or any other form of random affect. It creates a history, forms a bespoke piece that's would personally be comforting, as it would remind me of certain things that happened over time. "The lived in look". Instead of an untouchable table from Harrods or an Ikea piece. A stained table would hold more value for me personally, memories of social situations. So random accidents could be positive such as making them into art, or using that formation to apply to a piece of design.


I am curious about random marks . But I think the most interesting are random shapes and patterns that are natural, such as freckles and moles. I read that "the density of freckles that appear on the skin is controlled by genes and exposure to light, whereas the exact location of individual freckles seem to be random". Changing subjects slightly I discussed with a psychology student how randomness could be a form of therapy. For example, for someone with OCD, an encouragement of imperfection.


Continuing with the idea of natural randomness, I wonder whether for the most part nature can be random and the man-made is just intentional. I think randomness in nature is positive. These items are unpredictable in their pattern and shape and also quite therapeutic to look at. Nature is quite fascinating to watch, it creates a sensation nothing else can live up to.
My motive would be to encourage nature and oppose our artificial future as it impacts and destroys the beauty of nature. So I would like to create natural design, to fit within a natural environment.
Dreams; Changing direction completely, dreams would also be an interesting avenue. I have had dreams where I remember things such as to go to the Tate Modern for a meeting overnight. Or how to fix a tyre.. properly.
Repetitive dreams; I don't understand why I have had the same type of dream through my life. I have created places in my mind that don't exist. I would like to make these dreams physical. But because this has been a last minute idea, it isn't researched and investigated as well as I would have liked. However random dreams could be another territory. How do you make a dream physical? I have also dreamed about people I haven't spoken to and know their character in my dream but not in real life. Sporadic thoughts could be a good design tool.

Feedback

"Randomness juxtaposed with something like order, balance, pattern, rules"
"Don't use the word random to describe something"
"A definition will come through activities, explaining what relativity it has to design"
"Refine the general definition of random"
"A clearer definition"
"How it can be harnessed and played within randomization"
"Identify what randomness is to you"


"Carry on..."
Continue to use your drawing.

Task: A week on Tuesday at your mentoring session.
Design and make a map of your territory. A well conceived map to be seen in your show. Condensing everything into one format. It will need most of the aspects of a map, such as a key. Doesn't have to be 3d 2d whatever, use a map as a metaphorical word. Narrow it down to what it is.

On reflection I would like to start drawing and brainstorming again, to confirm my territory to feel submerged and confident with where my project lies.