IB HL Visual Arts CS | David Quek

COMMUNICATION OF IDEAS: Searching for Peace and Order Background of my Art Journey

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Isolation (my own photography series)

After moving back to my home country of Singapore after eleven-and-a-half years living overseas in four different countries, I was met with perhaps ironically the hardest culture shock I had ever experienced. I felt as if speed and chaos had pervaded every aspect of Singaporean life, from a suffocatingly competitive school environment, a dog-eat-dog professional world - even the winding queues at local food centres, called hawker centres, seemed to have this haunting mentality of hecticness and rapidity. This journey thus follows my different attempts and approaches at searching for peace and order amidst an overwhelming and frenzied world. At the same, I also wish to prompt viewers to consider their own views on peace and order; in what ways do they find solace and calm in their lives.

Initial Ideas: Quiet Spaces My most immediate and tangible thought when contemplating how I could search for peace and order in the world was to search for spaces in my daily life where I felt at peace. I searched for spaces devoid of mess, distraction, and chaos - exploring the distilled and reduced. In a world of complexity, stress, conflict, and injustice, I wished to search for a world that was far more simplified than the actual world is.

Photos I took of rooms in my house which I found to be peaceful

The ironic loneliness and quiet loss of identity that I felt amidst the dense, bustling crowds of Singapore.

CRITICAL INVESTIGATION: Kevin Krautgartner and Geometries Photo from Libraries

Photo from Reduced to the Max

KEVIN KRAUTGARTNER REDUCED TO THE MAX and LIBRARIES

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I found a visual connection to Kevin Krautner’s Reduced to the Max and Libraries photo-series, as I further developed my concept of “peace and order” through architecture. From his photo-series I was inspired by how he was able to portray the architecture in such tranquil and peaceful moods, as well as seeing how he varied and diversified his compositions in a visually engaging manner.

Photos from Reduced to the Max and Libraries (https://www.kevinkrautgartner.com/work/)

I also liked how some of Krautgartner’s minimised photos often made you look twice and wonder what feature or at what angle you were viewing the building from. He said to have looked at architecture “as objects in nature,” reducing the photographed elements as a part of a whole, wider picture. From this, I found that taking zoomed in, filled-frame photos allowed for the easiest communication of my concept, allowing the entire subject to draw equal amounts of attention.

Initial attempts at photographing architecture around Singapore

From these initial experiments I found that exterior spaces and surfaces had evoked far more than the interior ones, as interior spaces distracted the frame with decorations, furniture, and sometimes people. I also found that massive built structures such as hotels, office buildings, shopping centres, and roofs achieved the best effects

EXPERIMENTATION: Peace, Order and Space in the Built Environment Selected photos from my first to fourth photo trips

TRIP ONE AND TWO | STRUCTURE

TRIP THREE AND FOUR | PATTERN

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REFLECTIONS FROM TRIPS: ONE THROUGH FOUR From these initial tests, I began to decide which architectural elements and features I wished to focus on. I also wanted to play around with different compositions and to pick one or two to visually bind the entire series together.

I chose to focus particularly on the facades of massive structures within Singapore’s urban core, such as the Esplanade Theatre and Duo Towers, as I found a certain juxtaposition between the calm and peace evoked from the pictures, with the business and speed of the streets beneath them.

Photos I took of Duo Towers, Singapore

For the initial trips I focused mainly on capturing the structure and forms that made up the architecture, experimenting with different framing and compositions, as well.

With every trip I took, I aimed to portray architecture in a different way. In these trips, I particularly focused on looking for patterns and repetition to convey order in uniformity and replication.

Furthermore, I especially liked the photos which portrayed the architecture less as physical structures and more as 2D patterns or flats. However, I was careful to not reduce the architecture too far as I still wished for the identifiable subject of the photos to still be architecture. I also noticed the order and uniformity that the contrast between light and shadow created. As such, I decided to explore this peace and order created through light and shadow further in my next photo series.

CRITICAL INVESTIGATION: Hiroharu Matsumoto and Playing with Shadows Raw

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Monotone

Photos from quiet tokyo

As I transitioned into exploring light and shadow in architecture and spaces, I found Hiroharu Matsumoto’s quiet tokyo photo-series which looked at portraying the unique loneliness of people hidden in the crowd of the largest metropolitan area in the world. He aims to “express loneliness of metropolitan in artificial space by simple composition.”

However, from looking at Matsumoto’s photos, I decided to continue to remove people and animals from the frame, as I found them to distract the peace and order evoked by the pure architectural forms and shadows created. With these things in mind, I set out around Singapore to try and take my own photos which evoked peace and order to me.

My photos

Edited photos

https://www.hiroharumat sumoto.com/quiet-tokyo

I also decided to experiment with making my photos black and white post-production as Matsumoto did. However, when I did this, I found that a lot of information and detail regarding texture and material were lost from the image, somewhat reducing the emotions evoked from the scene. I also found that shadows sometimes blended and merged into the features and structures I photographed. Although, I did find that slightly less vibrant and less saturated frames distracted far less than those with brighter colours, especially as I arranged them in a series.

EXPERIMENTATION: Light and Shadow Photography

First category

Contact sheet of my photos focusing on light and shadow

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Second category

From this first phototrip I collected many different views of locations and spaces in my neighborhood. I had initially tried to emulate and apply the same techniques and compositions from my first photo series, playing with the facades of massive buildings, looking for spaces with highly repeated structures and elements.

REVIEW

After looking over the photos and with each new photo I took, I eventually found every successful photo to fall into one of two categories. The first category looked at the interplay and balance between architectural forms with light and shadow, showing clearly how sunlight was cast onto the architecture and the shadows that followed. I found this to be an apt metaphor, communicating In comparison to the last studio, as well, I found myself that peace and order may be found both in light and in darkness. needing to play much more with lighting settings on the DSLR camera. The challenge with photographing these spaces was The second category of photos focused on capturing the beauty of the the high contrast between light and dark areas, ensuring that temporary, seen through the short-lived yet stark shadows which are imprinted dark areas could still be seen and light areas were not onto surfaces and structures. Some photos also focus on the coexistence over-exposed. I was also only able to take photos on very between these surfaces and the shadows cast upon them, where repeated sunny days as the small aperture I had to use to ensure that shadows overlapped dirtied and imperfect surfaces to create a peaceful and orderly scene. details at all distances were captured darkened the photos.

EXPERIMENTATION: Refining Light and Shadow

Strange perspective X

Distracting X

Overexposed (details lost) X

My contact sheet of photos focusing on light and shadow

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Interesting shadows created ✔

Diagonal lines created ✔

Following the last phototrip, this phototrip I focused on developing the ‘second category’ of photos, being heavily focused on shadows cast on surfaces, where an imperfect and dirtied surface could be made peaceful through an overlap of patterned shadows. This brought me further from architecture and towards almost complete reduction and complete embracement of pure light and shadow. I felt that if I simplified the photos any further or removed any more physical forms and structures from the photo, it would become desensitized and detached from my original intentions. Thus, I aimed to achieve a balance between forms (staircases, window frames, pillars, benches, railings, etc.) and cast shadows.

Example of a photo I took which was too reduced with no physical forms or subject

Identifying shadows cast by lamps, overhangs, decorations, and wall supports

COMMUNICATION OF IDEAS: Simplifying

< My own experiment at creating a 3D minimalist sculpture on Google Sketchup

Sol Lewitt (1928-2007) Incomplete Open Cube

My sketches where I attempted to reduce and simplify the scenes in front of me

As a balm to the complexity and overwhelmingness of life, I wished to see if I could experience an understanding of simplification through the observing scenes around me. I wanted to find how I could reduce and minimise forms without reaching a point of desensitization of concept, to be able to communicate spatial ideas and emotion with reduced form as my medium and metaphor.

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My attempt at recreating Sol Lewittâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Incomplete Open Cube

From the sketches, I identified that one aspect which made it engaging and interesting to me was its ability to incite imagination and thought in the viewer, where the extremely simple shapes and forms acted almost as a blank canvas for one to fill in negative space, and induce messages and ideas.

I also enjoyed seeing how the different forms played with each other in a harmony and balance; as well as the effect of asymmetry, such as in Sol Lewittâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Incomplete Open Cube. In fact, I believe that this asymmetry to be a further tool which I could use to push my concept of simplicity in life.

Concept: Simplifying Complex Ideas As a part of my search for peace and order in life, I wished to practice the simplification of complex things - the act of distilling ideas and emotions. I hoped to view and display this sculpturally, taking on abstract and minimalist forms so as to further convey my journey of simplification. I was inspired by the Japanese term, “Gitaigo” which is a linguistic communication tool that defines actions and motions, states, and emotions in a two-word expression.

Often times, gitaigo is used when one wishes to communicate this certain action, emotion, or stat; which is the reason why there is an extensive glossary of gitaigo which all convey extremely specific and precise concepts. I was inspired by this to try creating forms which I felt expressed these different expressions, taking a specific gitaigo and trying to draw what I associated with its definitions.

EXPERIMENT: Physical Forms Out of the Metaphysical

http://www.nendo.jp/en/works/chocolatexture-2/

Oki Sato’s ‘Gitaigo Sketches’ where he takes different Gitaigo expressions and draws what sort of pattern or image he sees with each corresponding one. (conceptual inspiration)

“Guru guru” A spiralling motion, feeling like things are going round and round, dizzying.

“Buchi buchi” A ripping or tearing sound or motion, a head splitting feeling.

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/5 1650726960588129/?lp=true

“Kuru kuru” Something cyclical, twirling, whirling, used to describe someone who changes their mind often.

Isamu Noguchi’s Marble Statues (visual inspiration) > (top) Study in the Classical, 1958.

Marble and Wood > (bottom) Noodle, 1943-44.

Marble and Wood

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https://www.pinterest.com/pin/5 4043264256401506/?lp=true

“Gaku gaku” Something unstable, wobbly, shaky, the act of losing heart.

Definitions of different Gitaigo taken from: http://thejadednet work.com/

REFLECTION: Minimising not Minimalising I, now, embark on this resulting stage of my art journey; finding connection to my own personal life – taking my wide-reaching, anecdotal intentions and transforming them into concepts which I could find manifested in my own personal life. I began investigating the genius loci or “spirit of place” of Singapore, asking myself what I found significant, iconic, and memorable in my life in Singapore.

Photos I took of HDBs in my neighborhood

Less is More

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I have also chosen to follow a sort of minimalist design direction. Though many people find that minimalism subjects artworks to become lacking in meaning, I find that minimalist art can still impart a strong feeling; a sense of space and light, for presence and absence. I also find that in an especially rapid, complicated, and cluttered world, minimised forms can act to truly communicate peace and order. However, I have chosen to very carefully tread the line between minimalist and minimised art; I wish to focus on how far I can reduce an object such that its core forms and integral features still remain, whilst still reaching a state devoid of decoration and distraction. In this way, I hope for audiences to be able to recognize the subject that had been reduced, while at the same time allowing the neutrality and blankness for the creation of their own understanding of the piece.

I decided upon public houses managed by the Housing and Development Board, commonly known as “HDBs”. No matter where I went I always found myself seeing these extremely iconic building types in Singapore, where though each of these structures had differed minimally in appearance to one another, I was fascinated by how each of them had seemed to radiate a sense of peace and order through its uniformity and repetition.

HDBs, though unique in terms of arrangement, colour, and size can be seen to share the same core features and architectural elements between one another: the central elevator shaft, walkways connecting units on the same floor, and open shared spaces on the ground floor, for example. I wish to use these types of recognisable architectural features in my next studios to attempt at creating more commonly recognized model, to not only further the cultural connection, but also to emphasize the uniformity and continuity of HDBs across Singapore, and the peace they evoke.

Models from Enric Mestre’s sculptural series http://enricmestre.com

CRITICAL INVESTIGATION: Faris Nakamura and Hidden Spaces I recently went to the Southeast Asian (S.E.A) Focus exhibition and came across a feature exhibit by Faris Nakamura. I was at first quite curious about the exhibition as I looked at the gallery space because it seemed quite empty and almost boringhowever, as I continued to walk around the exhibition space and look at the works up close, only then did I realise the fault of my hasty initial judgment. http://cargocollective.com/cul turepulse/Faris-Nakamura

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Impact onto my Artworks Especially from my own personal experience with the artist, I was inspired to also aim to achieve a similar initial effect in audiences that view these few artworks; where their initial impressions of the sculptures would say close to nothing about the inner meaning behind the work, and only through interaction with the work is meaning evoked.

Photos I took at the S.E.A. Focus Exhibition http://cargocollective.com/cul turepulse/Faris-Nakamura

Photos I took at the S.E.A. Focus Exhibition

Faris Nakamura explores ideas of privacy and mimicry, in which man chooses to hide himself by mimicking the gestures and behaviours of other men. This is seen by how the audience must peer and peep through the artworks to uncover hidden spaces that represent the suppressed emotions of man; isolation, confusion, and the need for privacy.

Photo I took of an HDB in my neighborhood

I wished to utilise this in my own works where I investigate the HDB flat, in which I can create sculptures that all visually look the same, and where audiences would be able to peer inside, above, below, and within the models to discover what was initially hidden. This way, I was able to extensively reduce the exteriors of these models, hiding doorways, windows, and other decorations inside the model.

EXPERIMENT: Construction of Minimal Forms

Joint testing with foamcore

To begin constructing the models, I first had to understand not only how the joinery worked, but also how the material worked together visually. I also had to experiment with how I could reduce the models while still retaining the feel of it being from an HDB building.

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Varied joinery experiments with foamcore

In the end, I also chose to further emphasize the uniformity and orderly manner of HDB units, creating three identical models of section cuts from traditional HDB. This posed quite some difficulty as I had to ensure that each model was as precisely cut as possible.

Ensuring that the structure dries properly and at right angles

Three identical models in progress

An example of one of the three identical models

All three constructed models

Three different views of the set of identical models

EXPERIMENT: Texture and ReďŹ nement of Initial Constructions

Pictures I took of HDB walls I achieved this effect by painting the models with a thin layer of white acrylic paint and quickly blotching the painted surface with a dry sponge.

This created a unique matted texture on the models, allowing me to both mask the imperfections and gaps, as well as ensure a uniform coating of paint on the model without distracting brush strokes.

Unpainted foamcore model with gaps between joined pieces

I also decided to retain some of the bumps and bits of foamcore that may have rubbed off or become embedded beneath the paint, as I found it to draw further similarities to that of the HDB walls I had observed in real life.

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The assembled models appeared quite uniform, however, there were noticeable cracks and inconsistencies between the three models. I had decided to mask these with polymer glue and white paint. The paint also offering a nice texture which took away from the slightly unusual glossy texture of the raw foamcore material. When observing HDB walls in real life, as well, I noticed that the walls had a certain bumpy textured white surface, and decided to experiment with mimicking this same textural effect on my own models.

Texture from paint and foamcore

Using sponge to texture the assembled model with white paint

COMMUNICATION OF IDEAS: Wabi Sabi Moving from my previous ideas which had explored, firstly, observing the world, and secondly, creating and constructing order and peace- I now chose to explore how order and peace could be found through the disorderly and the dismayed. https://www.rituals.com/en-us/m ag-home-living-wabi-sabi.html

I was inspired by the Buddhist ideology of “Wabi Sabi” a common lifestyle and mindset adopted by the Japanese from ancient to modern times. Wabi sabi is an ideology surrounding the acceptance and embracement of natural ‘imperfection’ and ‘inherent flaw’. It centers around certain governing principles that differentiate it from similar pedagogies such as www.kinfolk.com minimalism, as well a certain distinction from “messiness”. Wabi Sabi pays great attention to the treatment of materials, accepting the natural weathering processes and signs of time, accepting the natural course of growth and decay. It reveres authenticity above all and alludes to humble beauty, preferring to embrace the history of an object with its many cracks, creases, and damage rather to ignore or cover it up. A common saying, “Nothing lasts. Nothing is finished. Nothing is perfect.” summarises the intents and principles behind wabi sabi.

Influence onto my Artworks

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The initial impact that wabi sabi had onto my artworks was the choice and treatment of material. I chose to use recycled wood which I had gone around my school, neighborhood, as well as dumpsters to find. To create the next pieces, I also put effort into caring for them to further embrace wabi sabi: cleaning, restoring, and sanding the materials without covering up or removing the signs of wearing and prior use of the wood.

Before and after washing found clay mounting boards

Washing recycled broom sticks I collected from classrooms

Example of the damage and splintering from past usage

Removing nails and screws from the wood

CRITICAL INVESTIGATION: Tadao Ando and Messages Behind Material Use Self-taught Japanese architect Tadao Ando uses a “haiku” effect with his designs and structures by emphasizing nothingness and empty space to represent the beauty of simplicity. He embraces the design philosophy of ‘wabi sabi’, which down to its barest essence, is the act of finding solace in imperfection and revering authenticity above all.

ANDO MUSEUM (2013)

WABI HOUSE (2016)

https://www.superstock.com/stock-photosimages/1801-83133

Design Style of Tadao Ando: (1) - Contrast between natural and industrial materials (2) - Natural and geometric forms (3) - Alternates between light and dark (4) - Use of open versus closed spaces and forms

https://www.archdaily.com/788480/wa bi-house-tadao-ando-architect-and-as sociates?ad_medium=gallery

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Impact onto my Artworks

Tadao Ando’s work primarily served as a conceptual influence for my own works through his utilisation of wabi sabi - through his respect for the unpolished and natural materials. It was this that inspired me to use found, recycled materials that I could find in my piece, rather than polished, highly refined and pristine materials. I played around with this idea of using these reclaimed materials by experimenting with how these materials could work together, setting planks and scraps beside one another; looking at them in horizontal arrangements, vertical stacks, and so on.

Experiments of arrangements with wood I collected

EXPERIMENT: Modelling a Window Reference photos of HDB windows

The first iconic HDB feature I chose to model was the large back window found in many units. I found that attempting to reduce and simplify windows quite challenging, as HDB windows were already significantly simple features already.

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INITIAL TESTS AND MOCK-UPS Test arrangements of window model

http://www.mydigitallock.com.sg/products/aluminium-win dow-grill-and-door/

Simplified sketches of observed window

I decided to keep the primary features of the window, namely the window sill and head.

However, I found that exaggerating some of the vertical and horizontal forms to contribute to the composition and visual interest of the models.

https://www.hdb.gov.sg/cs/infoweb/windows_safety

Photo of my friendâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s HDB window

Initial tests trying to model the structure and composition of the window using reclaimed wood which I had found so far. I played with extending vertical and horizontal beams that cut through and beyond the model which created an almost abstract effect.

EXPERIMENT: Modelling an Elevator Shaft

HDB Buildings with elevator shafts (highlighted)

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The next iconic feature I wished to model was the elevator shaft which is featured in every single HDB building in Singapore. I found these to be very strong elements in HDB buildings as they seemed to directly juxtapose the many horizontal forms found in these buildings. I also found them to subtly compliment the many individual floors as well.

Concept sketch of HDB elevator shaft and floors Unnecessary elements

Too reduced

Too complicated

Sketch of resolved design

After these test models I found the asymmetry visually more interesting than a perfectly symmetrical model, however, I found that there were too many â&#x20AC;&#x153;decorationsâ&#x20AC;? and decided on a simplified, more orderly design.

Resolved model design

EXPERIMENT: Modelling a Staircase For this final wooden model, I wanted to focus on an often forgotten feature of HDB buildings, primarily due its lack of use as well as the removal of them in newer constructions of HDBs. The staircase hidden on the side of an HDB which I pass everyday on my way home (left) consisted of these perfectly ordered and repeated forms which housed the stairs between its levels (below). This feature had particularly piqued my interest as I found it to be the one place where I identified a clear diagonal line amidst the rest of the entire building; which was made up of almost only vertical and horizontal forms perfectly perpendicular to one another.

Test arrangements of the general structure of the model

Exposed beams

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Hidden beams

Large empty space

Views of the side of an HDB I pass on my way home

Interior views of the staircase within the repeated forms

With this very simplified model design in addition to the large overbearing wooden panel which hides the internal levels and beams, I found the model to be slightly lacking visually. I had to think of a way to retain the modelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s orderly style as well as introduce visual interest.

EXPERIMENT: Modelling a Staircase (continued) 1

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Staircase design tests on photoshop using sample wood textures Pyrography (process)

Pyrography

Charcoal

Pencil

First, I experimented with different ways in which I could add the block numbers â&#x20AC;&#x153;257â&#x20AC;? onto the large front panel. Ultimately, I was inspired by the existing burn marks on the wood to use pyrography to burn the numbers onto the panel.

Another design choice I made was to make these ordered square cut-outs from the large wooden panel to not only allow for easier viewing of the internal beams hidden behind the panel by creating layers and open spaces, but also to mimic that of the balconies and walkways seen from the side of the HDB building.

2

Square cut-outs

3

I ensured that each cut-out matched each of the individual floors behind the panel to further emphasize the uniformity and order I found in this HDB staircase.

Resolved design of model

After a few tests on photoshop with digital textures, I decided on a design and proceeded to assemble the final model. Finally, I introduced the diagonals into the model, connecting the right-side of the exposed beams with diagonally cut planks of the reclaimed wood I had collected.

COMMUNICATION OF IDEAS: Peace and Order in the Singaporean Skyline Photos I took of worm’s-eye views of the skyline

“Terraced” forms

After these studios, I expanded my focus past these quieter residential areas, challenging myself to find peace and order in an almost antithetical setting: Singapore’s Central Business District or Downtown Core. After multiple visits to the area, I found close to no peace or order in the region as I walked its streets, however, as I began to admire the architecture surrounding me, I began to experience a sense of calmness peering at the buildings that towered above me.

I found peace and order not whilst walking the streets of the Downtown Core, but rather when looking up at the skyline that formed in my field of vision. This inspired me to experiment with reducing these forms to attempt to further emphasize this feeling of peace and order the skyline evoked, considering architecture more as a collective than an individual form.

Single mass, not individual buildings

“Vanishing” into the sky

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Terraced forms

Models and sketches of my attempts at reducing and simplifying buildings from the Downtown Core skyline

Drawing with one continuous line

Silhouette drawing of a few buildings

EXPERIMENT: Creating a Sculptural Skyline

A sketch and concept maquette of the reduced skyline design

Design of the central support and structure of the piece

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From the previous initial experiments attempting at simplifying the skyline, I had found the repetition of the cylindrical dowels to evoke the most order between the others. I also found the juxtaposition between the sharp, rectangular forms of the skyline and the cylinders in the experiments to allow for less emphasis to be placed on the individual architecture itself, and more focus to be placed on the forms and density of the scene.

In this way, I could continue to expand my stimulus away from the independent building and further towards the broader view of the skyline. I also designed the sculpture to be in a slightly precarious form, attempting to communicate metaphysical peace and balance communicated through the physical balance of the sculpture.

Constructing the main structure of the model

Assembling process using restored broomsticks I collected

A concept mock-up and a preliminary sketch of the form of the sculpture

Laying out the materials I had collected to understand the scale I could work within

Test arrangement of the broomsticks around the central support pipe

EXPERIMENT: Creating a Skyline (continued)

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Constructing the central support

Thick cardboard pipe

One problem I had to overcome was fitting the recycled bamboo pipe to the heavy metal base I had available. In the end, I wrapped the metal base with layers of string and lined the inside of Bamboo the bamboo with epoxy glue to bind the pipe bamboo to the metal base. This created the main structure from which the sculpture could be created from.

Central support Wrapping the metal Testing the joint between Joining the support structure base with string the bamboo and metal pole With the central structure finished, I structure to the metal base began to construct the design itself.

Photos of the construction process of the support structure of the model Constructing the skyline design

Joining broomsticks to central support structure

The first major concern whilst assembling and attaching the wooden broomsticks and other materials to the central support structure was considering the weight distribution of the sculpture. I also tried to work away from having a perfectly symmetrical arrangement, where the attached materials radiated uniformly from the central support. I had overcome this issue by attaching additional out-jutting materials to the sculpture, also acting as a visual element to break the monotony of the wooden broomsticks. Further, I ensured that I did not place broomsticks and material of the same length and color next to each other to emphasise the conceptual transition to embracing imperfection.

Short out-jutting wooden dowels

Resolved model

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REFLECTION: Moving Beyond Architecture

My resolved models (left-side) and their respective architectural inspiration (right-side)

As I reach the conclusion of my art journey, I find myself asking the question: “Which studio evoked the most peace and order to me?” Between each of the different studios and series -- I could not choose one which I found the most effective at communicating this idea. To me, each different approach, whether it be observing the world around me, constructing uniform and unvarying models, or the act of creating out of recycled and restored materials, had its own qualities and validly varied messages.

For my final studio, however, I wished to utilise the principles and concepts from previous works across my art journey, which I found effective - consolidating their successes and strong-points into this one work: My sketches of reduced architecture I had 1. Reduced and Simplified Forms observed (top-left/right) and the

As such, for my final studio, I wished to create a piece which could communicate the different attempts and approaches to searching for peace and order I had explored in a subtle and slightly abstract way, moving beyond architectural forms and using a broader subject, instead.

I also wished to continue to adopt the philosophy of Wabi Sabi into this final studio, collecting recycled materials, restoring them, and using them to create a piece which both communicated my concept as well as appeared beautiful through the material’s imperfections.

The first design style I wished to continue to use was the reduction and distillation of complicated forms into a less cluttered one, removing blatant distractions and decorations which were not integral to the portrayal of the subject.

2. Recycled, Reclaimed, Restored Materials

remaining of my found materials (bottom)

COMMUNICATION OF IDEAS: The Perspectives of Peace and Order I wished to explore how I could express and communicate my various attempts at searching for peace and order (flowchart) in one studio, allowing for parallels between this final studio and my previous works to be drawn whilst still standing on its own.

Constructing with existing material

Observing a subject

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Dawn Ngâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s different views and portrayals of Singaporean life and nostalgia from her childhood seen through watercolour, photography, and installations. Though her artworks appeared different and varied, her message can still be consistently seen in each work.

Constructing with found material

Photography: Everything You Ever Wanted Is Right Here (2012) Watercolour: Art Rafflesian (2014)

Non-architectural photos which I found peaceful

Installation: A Thing of Beauty (2015) https://www.pinterest.ru/pi n/95631192073776285/

From: www.dawn-ng.com

Experimenting with observing and creating in diďŹ&#x20AC;erent mediums www.thibaultroland.com/

https://www.pinterest.c om/pin/345440233900 387381/?lp=true

(Too complicated)

https://www.pinte rest.com/pin/508 76608915/

I began this brainstorming process of how I could convey these ideas of peace and order by considering things outside of architecture which I found peaceful. Of these, I found the photo of the chair the most peaceful, where the subject itself spoke of peace without relying on its surrounding.

Original chair

Minimalist mock-up I made with balsa

My model of a Deconstructed chair

My concept sketches of different varieties of chairs

My attempts at visually portraying a simple chair I had observed through sculpture, assemblage, and drawing

CRITICAL INVESTIGATION: Oki Sato and Mass Variations

Oki Sato’s concept sketches

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Displays of different designs from Oki Sato’s 50 Manga Chairs series (http://www.nendo.jp/en/works/50-manga-chairs/)

I took inspiration from an interview I watched featuring Japanese architect and designer, Oki Sato, on his design principles and his opinions on the maxim of “Less is More.” I was particularly intrigued with his Milan 2016 exhibition where he displayed 50 chairs, based on the elements, lines, and uniform grids often seen in Japanese manga, or comic books. I found it incredible how he took the simple subject of a chair and created entirely different narratives with each of the fifty variations, however, still retaining the ability to recognize that this was, in fact, still a chair.

My own attempts at designing mass variations of a simple chair

EXPERIMENT: Constructing Different Forms of the Same Chair

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Remaining found objects

Disassembled IKEA chair pieces

Remaining misc. material

Three variations of the chair model utilising a recycled half-broken stool and reclaimed wood

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I had used a half broken stool that I collected to try and reconstruct a chair using other reclaimed material I had left over. From my previous initial designs, I tried to reduce a chair as far as possible without taking away from the fact that it was a chair. This design was meant to parallel my search for peace and order by constructing through recycled materials.

Attempt at constructing new chair

I also experimented with using an old IKEA chair that was left in a dumpster at school to construct a new, simplified chair. However, I found the curved forms of the chair to be distracting and inconsistent with the original chair I referenced.

The final chair that I constructed attempted to emphasize my search for peace and order constructing with reduced and distilled forms.

Resolved final studio: Three Chairs