Tuesday 31 March 2009

Self directed (in translation)




These are just a few images taken from my flash video they are stills of the transitions or tweens that flash created. These images are the actual interpretation of the hand crafted forms. What i really love about these images is just how wild and natural they appear to be. I am hoping to create some rhino models based on these forms. 

Wednesday 25 March 2009

Self Directed (Growth conditions)







Moving on from the last post in which i was discussing invisible forces that shape our very existence i decided to take a look at my living environment in this case my studio space. I decided to use thermal imagery to best explain the environment from the point of view of a plant/fungi. The areas in the red are areas both too hot for plants and fungi however the areas in green/yellow are perfect for the growth of plants such as ivy areas in green/blue are zones best suited to support fungi areas that are dark slightly more damp. I like the way in which a living area is portioned off into zones of heat and zones of cold using thermograph and how you view an environment differently than before.
Above are some examples of images taken from my studio space.

Tuesday 24 March 2009

Self directed (invisible forces)






This video is an  award winning video using computer generated imagery that shows us the invisible force of magnetism that exists all over the Earth and is key to our survival. i chose this video because there are forces at work in nature not entirely invisible but just as influential such as warmth, water, space  and air. These forces especially in plants and fungi influence how and where they grow for example fungi grow in dark and damp areas however ivy require light and moisture. My final concept in some way must address this issue or highlight it. Perhaps my final concept could be influenced by such forces that bolster or hinder growth

Self Directed (transformations)


 
      

Above is a quick video i made using flash. The video is a research/development video that is looking into a more natural transformation of decadent florals. What really caught my attention was how the computer has tried to translate the transformation of handcrafted forms.

Music by Nick Cave, Warren Ellis

Monday 23 March 2009

Self directed (high end low end )


This post is about the similarities and differences between high end decadence and low end imitation decadence. Through out fashion and design there have always been imitations of high end goods a great example of this has to be the high amount of Louis Vuitton imitation bags there are on the market some good some not so good. These imitations exist because people want to have nice things and to live the high life. But perhaps there is a deeper more cultural link, when you take into account the imitation Neo-classical designs that exist maybe they exist because people are looking to the past, honoring their ancestry or a wish for a return to better times. Maybe people want to be apart of history or feel like they are at least or maybe they just want to feel like tehy own an artifact of history. Take the tacky imitation Greek garden pots for example, the Greeks were among the greatest thinkers in history perhaps this perception of Greece has not changed for thousands of years and to this day we place these pots in our gardens as an homage to their brilliance.

In my project i must keep this concept of looking to the good old days close at hand throughout.

Friday 20 March 2009

Self directed ( Angkor)



Angkor is the name given to a region of Cambodia which was thought to be the center of the Khmer empire. The city was abandoned thousands of years ago and since then the city has surrendered more and more to the jungle. The image above shows just how versatile plants can get when trying to survive.The second image is of some baroque detailing taken from a roof. What i think links the two images is how they both depict nature or a natural form encasing an existing structure. These aspects of how plants/nature occupy space and what a living thing will do to survive appeal to my project.

Wednesday 18 March 2009

Self directed (plant growth)



This above video is a time lapse of a vine plant struggling to grow. What really appeals to me about this video is how the plant which we all know is a living thing really appears to be living. Also the sense of intelligence that the plant has.

Self directed (mushrooms)



. There are over 38,000 different species of mushroom in the world.

.A mushroom in fact is the above ground component of a massive network of subterranean life. In parts of the United States some mushroom colonies are over 2000 years old.

.Mushrooms are some of the first forms of primitive life that existed hundreds of millions of years ago.

.Mushrooms prefer dark/damp areas in order to thrive.

. Mushrooms can rapidly expand the territory in which they exist by sending off spores into the atmosphere. These spores settle in the right conditions and begin fruition.

Self directed Project


For my self directed project i have decided to look at the decadence formerly found in design and the inspirations behind this style of design such as art nouveau. I have also decided to look into Bio-mimicry but not the complete replication of natures design but more the replication of natures behavior such as the struggle that plants have for the occupation of space and how conditions and terrain dictate the movements of plants/fungi.

I have chose plants and fungi because of the way they can occupy and survive in extremely odd places but i have chose to look at plants and fungi because to me the way they can cover and encase spaces and objects has a striking resemblance to the way that Georgian ornate designs cover spaces and objects.

Sunday 15 March 2009

KRAMA



Above are my two winning  boards that i submitted to the NCR chief designer for the joint design competition between Dundee's Duncan of Jordanstone 3rd year product designers and the infamous Grays school of art product designers. The final concept was a web based application for IKEA however the application could be adapted for many different furniture retailers. Basically its a web based application that allows the user to select his or her car both make and model and  then select the items of furniture they intend on buying before the visit or the items of furniture they have bought after the visit. The computer then calculates the best combination and order in which the boxes should be packed into the car this would be shown visually as a flash animation and also the user could print off a step by step guide on the best way to pack his or her car for that specific trip to IKEA. The hope is that a better packed a car  will free up what i like to call stowaway space for those odd impulse buys such as a 4ft tall cactus (thanks mum). A better packed car also prevents needless store to home deliveries that increase your carbon footprint. 

Krama ( Swedish word for squeeze )

Thursday 12 March 2009

Terra incognito


Terra incognito is my final outcome for my Balmoral plastics design project. The final concept is simply a range of perforated tanks that are placed under the the landscape in areas such as flood plains. These forms simply prop up the landscape changing it to funnel, trap and divert flood waters. The concept came to me after i was setting my dinner table when some forks an glasses were stuck under the table cloth i noticed how a terrain like form took shape. It was this that influenced my outcome. These subterranean implants are perforated to allow the filtration of water through the form in order to allow the implant to become more apart of the existing soil and not make a totally alien object.

To put it simply it is cosmetic surgery for the landscape