Foundations of Design : REPRESENTATION, SEM1, 2017 M2 JOURNAL - FLATNESS vs PROJECTION Georgina Barnes
(914642) Emmanuel Cohen, Studio 26, 26.4
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WEEK 3 READING: LEGER, LE CORBUSIER, AND PURISM
Question 1: What is Pictorial Space according to Le Corbusier? (Maximum 100 words) Simply put, Le Corbusier believed pictorial space to be flat space. At juxtapose to the idea of rotation, pictorial space is unable to be moved through. Therefore pictorial space cannot be understood to the same extent as space that can be circulated through, as Le Corbusier believed the geometric spaces must be experienced to be understood. Space viewed from a distance was believed by the artist to have a rigid frontality and subsequent pictorial aspect, as they are unable to be rotated throughout. Therefore, the space could be experienced only through inference.
Question 2: The Flatness of Le Corbusier’s painting’s are attributable to two properties. What are they? And what are these pitted against?(Maximum 100 words) Le Corbusier believed that paintings as a medium were inherently pictorial and therefore objects within should be depicted as such. The artist pitted both colour and texture aginst crisp, flat shapes within his works to help describe them without incorporating traditional depth. Due to his belief in the frontality of painting, Le Corbusier prevented himself from using black to depict depth. Instead, he employed the use of white pigment. Depth is only present in the artist’s works where is describes texture. Texture was utilised to define the object from its surroundings. This use of colour and texture combine to create a flat, yet readable artwork.
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MARIO’S WORLD
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1ST MARIO’S WORLD
This is a scanned image of my original pencil-drawn axonometric.
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COMBINED MARIO’S WORLD
Due to the underwater nature of the mario worlds I began with, I decided to translate my deisgn into a rectangular shape with additional contents that likened it to a fish tank.
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WEEK 4 READING: AXONOMETRIC PROJECTION Complete your reading before attempting these questions:
Question 1: Explain the difference between Pictoral (in this case perspectival) space and Projection? (Maximum 100 words) Pictorial, or perspectival, space is described as limiting space and making it finite through the use of vanishing points. Pictorial space therefore provides a static faรงade view. At juxtapose, projection extends the visual cone to infinity as it removes the both the viewpoint and vanishing point. This drawing style can be extended forever in both foreground and background directions. Projection disregards the idea of rational 3D space, as is present in perspectival drawings, and instead creates an irrational view that is measurable and can extend to infinity.
Question 2: Where did Axonometric projection first arise, and why? (Maximum 100 words) Axonometric projection first arose in a Military context where it was used to plot the paths of projectiles. The original rise of axonometric drawings was parallel to that of cannon use. It was ideal for this use as the dimensions and angles were directly measurable from the drawing. Axonometric drawing was taught in engineering schools in the 18th and 19th centuries, and was later utilised by architects as it extended upon the existing scientific and mathematical basis of architectural representation. In the early 20th century, Avant Garde artists used the style to depict new worlds, free from the restrictions of perspective.
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ILLUSTRATED MARIO’S NEW WORLD
This is my final, digitally rendered axonometric. The use of colour, and shading succesfully seperates objects in the drawing from one another and better conveys my fish tank inspired design. I chose to omit certain details present in the original mario worlds including patterns and the dark water colour. Doing so allowed for visual clarity and a greater emphasis on form.
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APPENDIX
1. This image shows my axonometric pencil drawing of my first Mario world and the set up I utilised to create it. I projected my lines down and drew them up from there. This resulted in the image being reversed which proved difficult to comprehend at first.
2. Here, the pencil-drawn axonometric of my second mario world is shown layered over the first. This time, I projected my lines upward and drew up from there which proved easier than the previous drawing as the image was not reversed.
3. As shown in this image, my next step involved overlaying another sheet of tracing paper over my pencil drawing and using fineliners in varying weights to outline the shapes and create a combined drawing.
4. The next steps I undertook involved overlaying trace paper over the drawing from the previous step and tracing and modifying the design with pencil. This image depicts the final step in my physical drawings in which I traced over my modified design in fineliner on another sheet of tracing paper.
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