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Introducing O.P.I.N.E (Observe, Ponder, Investigate, Nurture, Express)
Mohammed Din Mohammad, Mystical Journey 1 2001. Deer head and tail of a horse, squatting figurine, keris handle, head figurine of Arjuna on bicycle stand. Dimensions unknown. Image courtesy of Mdm Hamidah Jalil.
This is sculpture that was rather fascinating and interesting and many of my classmate had different interpretations of them. We observed it in different perspectives. For me I felt like the guy in the middle was driving a women who seems like a royalty in a carriage. Upon listening to some of their interpretations, I realise that everyone has their own interpretations and we can freely express our mind through it.
Which period of Art movement interested me?
Personally for me I was in love with the renaissance period, it was a revival of intellectual and artistic movement inspired by classical period and it was also the introduction of perspective in art. The renaissance period refers to the era in euripi from the 14th to the 16th century in which a new style of painting, sculpture and architecture was developed. Writers such as Petrarch (1304-1374) and Giovanni Boccaccio (1313-1375) looked back to ancient Greece and Rome and sought to revive the languages, values and intellectual traditions of those cultures after the long period of stagnation that had followed the fall of the Roman Empire in the sixth century. Many works of Renaissance art depicted religious images, including subjects such as the Virgin Mary, or Madonna, and were encountered by contemporary audiences of the period in the context of religious rituals. Today, they are viewed as great works of art, but at the time they were seen and used mostly as devotional objects.
The renaissance period increased prosperity and caused weakness to the church, it was an age of exploration. For me I think what’s most interesting for the art movement during this period is there is a blending of pagan and religious iconography but with humanity as its focus.
Mary Magdalene by Donatello, Donatello (c. 1386-1466 CE), for example, experimented with sacrificing technique and finish to capture the emotion of a figure, a strategy best seen in his wooden Mary Magdalene. I picked this sculpture because I find it very interesting , firstly because it’s a very bronzed figure and the posture of the sculpture is almost as if she is tired and she is holding her hands together praying and wishing for help. The facial expression
show despair and tiredness with no hope.
The Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci (1495–1498). Leonardo’s Last Supper is one of the best examples from the Renaissance of a painter incorporating the tools of linear perspective to create a highly rendered illusion of deep space on a two-dimensional surface.
This is actually known as the greatest masterpiece of the renaissance era.
Industralization and Age of Discovery:
Industrial revolution was a change from agrarian civilization to using machine there was a period of advancement in science and technology. As a class we researched on different art movements and my group we researched on neoclassicism.
The industrial revolution influenced a shift arts and design became a profession. As designers how can we bridge the OLD and the NEW?
In the past the products designed were through the process of handicraft and they had talented artisans to execute it. However, as time evolved, with industrial revolution and machine, machines stole all the headlines. At exhibitions across the city, robots were fabricating chairs, computerised metal presses were stamping out lamps and rapid prototyping machines were spitting out everything from coffee machines to food.
So from this how can we bridge the old and the new?
My thinking thoughts were mainly..
Good design learns and predicts human behaviour, their understanding of the product as well as their needs. I believe that’s what bridged old and new because for any product designed there is a targeted consumer. Modern design also makes use of good ideas out of the past so until modern design has developed fundamental improvements on that specific product we will still pay tribute to the past artifact. Some designers were excited by new technologies and lifestyles and others by the past, with the spirit world and myths- it forms a bridge between arts and crafts and Modernism.
Modernism & the Machine Age:
My research on CUBISM...
PROTO
Paul Cézanne, Château Noir, 1903-04
ANALYTICAL
Pablo Picasso, Girl with a Mandolin,1910
SYNTHETIC
Glass and Bottle of Suze,
Pablo Picasso, 1912
It is style of art that stresses abstract structure at the expense of other pictorial elements especially by displaying several aspects of the same object simultaneously and by fragmenting the form of depicted objects.
Cubism was a revolutionary new approach to represent reality invented around 1907–08 by artists Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque. They brought different views of subjects (usually objects or figures) together in the same picture, resulting in paintings that appear fragmented and abstracted. Cubism opened up almost infinite new possibilities for the treatment of visual reality in art and was the starting point for many later abstract styles including constructivism and neo-plasticism.
There are 3 phase of cubism: Analytical, Synthetic and Proto-cubism
Proto-Cubism is the experimental phase between Impressionism and Analytic Cubism that occurred from the start of the 20th century until around 1906.
Analytical cubism ran from 1908–12. Its artworks look more severe and are made up of an interweaving of planes and lines in muted tones of blacks, greys and ochres.
Synthetic cubism is the later phase of cubism, generally considered to date from about 1912 to 1914, and characterised by simpler shapes and brighter colours. Synthetic cubist works also often include collaged real elements such as newspapers. The inclusion of real objects directly in art was the start of one of the most important ideas in modern art.
Pablo Picasso - Les Demoiselles d'Avignon, Museum of Modern Art
Les Demoiselles d'Avignon, painted in 1907, is considered the essential “proto-Cubist” painting. This art shows an unusual distortion of the women’s body mixed with geometric shapes used in an innovative way. The painting is flat which brings the background and foreground together. The use of geometric shapes actually simplified the forms and the use of multiple perspectives showed the subjects from several simultaneous points of view. The painting to me looks like a brothel with women lined up to show off their feminine body, there is one on the left with her hands up who looks like she is dancing while the other in the middle are posing. For the one at the right front I think is interesting because even though we can see the body from behind we can also directly see the face, creating an impossible contortion. What was eye-catching from this painting is that, I feel like no one would actually paint a female body the way this was painted. One reason "Les Demoiselles" is revolutionary is the artist's omission of perspective. There is no vanishing point, nowhere for the eye to move beyond the women and their pointed glances.
4 characteristics of cubism art
1) Multiple perspectives
2) Geometric shapes
3) Monochromatic colour palette
4) Flattened picture plant
Week 3 Assignment: MODERNISM
1.Get a quote from the video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifbbaqwteEU
2. Connect to your domain.
3. What does that quote means in your own field of design practice
"The picture of the ideal man disappeared from the 19th and 20th century"
In the fashion world, there is nothing known as ideal or perfect. It is to each of their own and each craft as an individual interpretation. This quote in the video really caught my attention mainly because for many years people have always tried to achieve the ideal look. However, being unique is whats interesting, being different and producing something out of the box and unconventional can also be the perfect way of showcasing the idea. Perfection is the enemy of progress. The imperfection in fashion is what makes it beautiful. If fashion was perfect, there would be nothing special about it. Nothing would stand out as well.
Post modernism & the Space Age:
During class we were introduced to this sentence from the 12 precepts of modernism, “Modern design should express the methods used to make an object, not disguising mass production as handicraft or simulating a technique not used.” And was told to think of an alternative to it and what this precept mean in design practice. Technical advances in 19th century led to new production processes where design of mass produced products was often overlooked. They rejected the old style of designing based upon natural form and materials and believed in machine aesthetic - which celebrated new technology, mechanised industry and modern materials, they preferred pure geometrical forms over decorating surfaces.
Art Deco through Singapore Buildings
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A mindmap of what Art deco means to me in fashion
A visit to the Nation Design Centre:
Singapore 50 years of Design
Image taken from blackdesign.world
Visit to national design centre: 50 years of Singapore design exhibition
It was an exhibition of the development of Singapore’s design scene from the early years in the 1960s into today’s vibrant industry. To look through Singapore’s design timeline was fascinating to see how much the design has developed and it keeps getting better. It presented 300 iconic, popular and pivotal designs that have shaped the industry, bringing together for the first time, design works gathered from the fields of environmental design, fashion & accessories, product & industrial design and visual communications in a span of fifty years. Design is considered not only as a critical component of innovation but is also a sector that can unlock value in other sectors.
Something that caught my eye was the 20/20: movement that happened in 2006 at the black studio. From year 2000 onwards, the Singapore’s design scene very much moved towards the future, there is a sense of reflection and continuity from the past. 20/20 attained a milestone in 2006 when it travelled outside of Singapore for the London Design Festival. Some 20 creatives were shortlisted from the previous two editions to showcase the “Movement” of Singapore designers and their overseas successes. The unusual showcase attracted some 5,000 visitors over three days and was even named as one of the best in the festival by British Icon magazine.
As I walked further down the exhibitions fading into designs of the past, I saw the SMRT logo and route map that was shown in 1983. The 1975-1985 was the economic boom, on the back of the nation’s economic success, the local design industry began to take shape. When I looked at the SMRT logo, the two lines actually symbolizes the main two MRT lines which is the North-South line and the East-West line. It is so interesting how the SMRT logo is still the same even today but we have several more lines such as the circle line, downtown line and now the most upcoming the brown line. I feel like the MRT is very important for Singaporeans as it is usually the main mode of transport, to see it slowly expand shows how far Singapore has come.
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Movie screening 'ILO ILO'
Observe how the set or costume designers used everyday objects to create characters
Characters:
Father, Mother, Child, Domestic Helper
I think the relationship between Jia Le and the helper was strained because it was someone new in his life and he was not able to adapt to the changes and wanted to have the upper hand in the relationship. He took advantage of the situation and saw that the helper was engrossed with the book and used that as a opportunity to put something in her bag. That left her dumbfounded as she did not know. His intentions was to get her into trouble so that it would create fear around him and he will be able to get rid of her.
The set and tone of the shop was a vintage book store set in the 90s, the tone and colour of the scene is yellowish which gives it a warm tone. It bring us close to home and let us relate to it because we all had rebellious years in our childhood.
When the helper came back after she got into trouble, she should not have approached the boy in a way that was defensive but she could have approached him in a more gentle and understanding way. This would allow him to be less angry and teach him to be more understanding of his situation.
Design as Semiotic Construction & Vernacular
Objective : To gain understanding with use of signs and symbols in visual communication
WHAT IS SEMIOTICS?
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Study of signs and symbols used as means of communication
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Design conveys meanings
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There’s meanings aside from the obvious
WHAT IS VERNACULAR?
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The language or dialect spoken by the ordinary people in a particular country or region
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Everyday Language
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Common language spoken by average citizens
VERNACULAR ARCHITECTURE
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Concerns with the domestic
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Defined as a type of local or regional construction, using traditional materials and resources from the area where the building is located.
VERNACULAR DESIGN
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Folk design
PICTOGRAM TASK
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Work in your group
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Choose a sport (Chope and ADD AN ICON to a sport)
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Construct Singapore Olympics pictogram
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Your pictogram to exemplify Singapore vernacular
For my group mates and I, we chose volleyball as the sport and drew a pictogram by spelling out each letter with some element of Singapore in it. We tried our best to corporate the sport and the essence of Singapore in it. The use of the Singapore flag and volleyball was very interesting and spot on. Everyone could understand it straight away.
V - shape of art science museum
O - Singapore flag with volleyball
L - Stickman hitting a volleyball
E - shape of Marina bay sands inverted
Y - upside down woman hitting a volley ball
Video Showing & Reflection
Video: Design for All (55mins)
Target “Design for All” Documentary (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SSydJAOkbQ)
Complete all 3 questions:
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Great design is to design for and with people. Do you agree or disagree? Why? (80-100words)
I completely agree with this statement. When we design something, we should always have an intent and a target consumer which we would want to meet. Understanding what’s the consumer needs will help us give the right direction of designing the product. Design has to be made more accountable and responsible and we need to understand what it actually means. By designing with people and the target audience, we are co-creating and it is designed by someone with a high degree of exclusion. It is also a way of creating diversity ways for people to share ideas and participate in an experience where they share a sense of belonging.
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Designing for Functionality or Designing for Aesthetics? What is good design and why? (80-100words)
Designing for functionality is way more important that designing for aesthetic. A good design is making a product that is accessible for a larger audience, it is about creating a community. There is a sense of democratization where designers and consumer work together to create a product. A good design is also about empathy and humanity we need to understand the emotions that comes by with the product. I believe that’s the core of a good design. The products that are designed have to speak for the community we are designing for, it has to be age appropriate and developmentally appropriate.
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In the video, Tiffany Denise Brown shared that there is a disconnect between designers and the public. Explain what she meant and why is it important to address this disconnection. (80-100words)
I think what she meant is that as designers we have become so important because we have the opportunity to create something new and even reshape landscapes. However, there is a bridge between the designer and the public because I believe the intended message of the designer does not reach the recipient. For example in terms of fashion, we ideate so many different ways of clothes and assisting technologies together but we don’t narrow down to who is it for, is it going to help a community? I think it’s really important to address this disconnection because design is part of our everyday life, it helps to permeate everything because its everywhere. To design something and identify our target consumer we need to include the consumer and design with them. This will give the consumers a sense of belonging and allow them have hope with the product and continue to support the design as well.
Essay preparation:
800-word report discussing your Social Design approach using one of the historical periods of Art & Design as well as a Southeast Asian example as case study references, while reflecting on the concepts and practice of design covered in class.
Mindmap:
Comments and discussion with lecturer:
Very good identification of your target audience. For your perspective in solving this problem, I advise you to focus on one aspect. Will you want to address the issue of:
1. Overconsumption in fast fashion
2. Irresponsible Denim Production
3. Ignorance of fashion Consumer
4. Apathy towards irresponsible fashion practices
- Irresponsible denim production because the problem i am trying to solve is to up-cycle denim products to reduce the effects of producing denim.
My question then is are you using your fashion to communicate this? Are you trying to raise awareness about this issue (irresponsible Denim production?)
Yes, so my problem is irresponsible denim production and the solution i am proposing is to up-cycle denim garments as one-offs. Therefore, i am using fashion to communicate this to my target audience
Excellent way of framing your solutions through the lens of FUTURISM.
Please read the FUTURISM MANIFESTO.
You must be able to articulate:
1. What is the intention of futurism
2. What is the context when futurism was formed
3. What futurism wanted for changed
4. How they influenced change
Reading: Futurism Manifesto
https://www.italianfuturism.org/manifestos/foundingmanifesto/
Reading: Influence of 2001: Space Odyssey
My research on FUTURISM
Italian poet, Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, wrote the futurist manifesto in 1909 and with its launch futurism came to life.
Futurism is an art movement that celebrates the energy and dynamism of the machine age. It championed speed, technology, science, youth and violence. Futurism glorified war, power, chaos and destruction. It freed humankind into novelty. The movement captured dynamism and energy of the modern world art through aviation, cinematography and urban landscapes and technology.
There was an excitement of speed with combusted engine which represented sprint of the age speeding from the past. The ideology also focused on breaking off traditional style and the insatiable desire for modernity. It was one of the most politicised art forms of the twentieth century. The eclectic style was much inspired by post-impressionism. Even though it was not usually a good mix, there was a direct relationship between politics and art. The universal dynamism glorified the idea of combining human with machine.
Legacy of futurism:
Vorticism was inspired by cubism and futurism
Characteristics:
Focus on technical progress of modern machine age, dynamism, speed, energy, vitality and change.
What was the intention?
The celebration of machine age represents a dynamic vision of the future.
What is the context when futurism was formed?
Futurism is to reflect the goal of discarding the art of past and celebrating change, originality, innovation in culture and society. Marinetti's manifesto glorified the new technology of automobile and the beauty of its speed, power and movement.
What futurism wanted for change:
The movement emphasised the importance of the future, mainly as it relates to the advancements of the machine age and the importance of the urban environment propelling people forward into a progressive state of mind.
Forefront members of futurism:
The famous futurist artist
1. Umberto Boccioni
2. Giacomo Balla
3. Carlo Carrà
4. Gino Severini
1. Umberto Boccioni, Unique Forms of Continuity in Space (1913)
Umberto Boccioni’s Unique Forms of Continuity in Space is a “Cubo-Futurist” figure striding in forward motion. The figure’s powerful legs seem to be marching ahead, carved by forces such as wind and speed.
2. Giacomo Balla, Dynamism of a Dog on a Leash (1912)
Dynamism of a Dog on a Leash is Balla’s best-known work, and shows a dachshund on a leash and the feet of the lady walking it in rapid motion. Balla achieved this motion by blurring and multiplication of their legs and feet.
3. Carlo Carrà, The Funeral of the Anarchist Galli (1910–11)
The Funeral of the Anarchist Galli is one of Carrà’s most famous works. Angelo Galli was an anarchist and labour organiser in Milan who was killed by the police during a strike in 1904. Carrà witnessed the event and captured the intensity and chaos of the scene, as well as the rapid movement, in this painting.
4. Gino Severini, Dancer at Pigalle (1912)
Gino Severini’s dancer is depicted in the centre of the painting and is composed of dynamic intersecting lines and swirling fabric. It is meant to capture the essence and dynamism of the performance.
Giacomo Balla, “The Anti-Neutral Suit: Futurist Manifesto”, September, 1914, Futurism
The Anti-Neutral Suit was designed and created by Balla to be apart of his vision for the Utilitarian future. In his eyes men’s clothing was mundane and outdated, the anti-neutral suit was supposed to ignite the Futurist Movement along with other Futurists’ work. It's asymmetrical cut, bright colour combinations, and overall dynamic look, captures the essence of the Futurist aesthetic.
' 2001: A Space Odyssey ' 1968 epic science fiction film
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Introduced the public to the concept of robots and science fiction not built for factory work as well as to the emerging fields of natural language and understanding, computer vision and reasoning
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Presented future humans as space travellers
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Its existence as the intersection of art, science and technology is testament to the fact that fields have never been mutually exclusive - inform and approve each other
What have I learnt from design theory & history this semester?
As someone who is an history enthusiast, I was very intrigued with the weekly lessons that covered different historical art movements. I loved learning about the different art movements at different era and how they have influenced the next few art movements and some of there have even inspired designs and artists today. Design history is really important because it allows us to think how each movement is influential and it is a visual marker for societal changes. Understanding the design history and movement will make me a better designer because it gives me a chance to compare and recognise more patterns and sort designs into good, bad, and not sure. Knowing design history gives context to our contemporary visual culture and we can use the past to decode the present and forecast a stylistic future.