Dot Cloud - He Kai-Xun's portfolio for MArch I

DOT CLOUD

Floating dots form everything

COVER IMAGE:

Dot cloud (or point cloud) is a technique used in measuring or recording the shape of a 3D object.

In the technique, the form of the object (and also its surface properties) is recorded via a set of data points floating in the space. The character of the dot cloud – changeable, unsteady, light, precise, etc. – becomes the reason to summarize the characteristic and style of my works. Let’s explore them now.

The Portfolio of He, Kai-Xun Contents: Project 1 - Air and Flow..................................................2 Project 2 - Bauhaus.......................................................10 Project 3 - Tap Dance....................................................18 Other Drawing...............................................................26

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Project 1 Air and Flow

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Air and Flow is a project beginning by doing observation of an architectural exhibition – the 2018 GIA Project Review, selecting any feature, observed object, or something you are interested in for the further transformation. And here is what I choose for the design project:

The whole exhibition place is divided by the irregular curve-shaped curtains to symbolize the core concept of the exhibition – floating boundaries, showing the vagueness in any defined area, location, and architectural design.

The curve-shaped, curtain-like separational gauze in the exhibition site.

The curve-shaped curtains in the exhibition site.

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Idea forming The next process of this project is finding a way to transform your observed object. And here I adopt association method to form the idea – the flow and the air.

The Flow – The irregularly and randomly curved lines bring the image of a flow or a current. A flow can be the form of either gaseity or liquid.

The Air – Apart from the streaming character of the curved lines, the white, soft, and floating curtains also bring the images of air, cloud and mist when standing amid them. 貝茲曲線

Characters and connections

鉛筆

Focusing on the flow and the air to be the main elements of the transformation, I analyze more detailed characters and connections of the air and the flow. main: Flowing and Fluidity – the dynamics and the manner they move might be the most significant characters of both air and flow.

Mixing and Changing – in the aspect that both gas and liquid have no particular shape, and with the fluidity and flexibility they have, it is simple to find that they can blend with each other and have an ever-changing characteristic.

Spreading and Pervading – for an important character of the air, it is a vast, immense, and empty state surrounding and overwhelming all around us, also reaching and penetrating to everywhere. also: Ch'i – the Taoism meaning of energy, which is literally the air, has the quality of being soft and powerful in the same time.

Smoke – the connected figure having all the qualities of flowing, changing and the characteristic of air.

Mist – natural phenomenon being not only vast and pervading, but also varying and changing.

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2.5D relief presentation In the following process, I combine the formerly analyzed characters together, making the first transformation work of the air and flow in a 2.5D paper relief form. The relief format provides an easy gate from presenting in a 2D plane form to making a further 3D representation.

Flowing, Mixing, and Pervading The concept of the work is a continuously mixing and changing air mass, which flows through the vast and immense space in a high speed, and runs directly toward the face of the audience.

The swirls in the central cloud or smoke-like air mass present the movement of the flow and the qualities of mixing and changing.

The two tracks of the movement express the speed and the dynamics of the movement, demonstrate the power of the air in Taoism’s Ch’i reference, and also express the largeness and the distance of the space surrounding it.

And the outer-folding edges on the four corners create a gradation of the space, together with the plain and white background, expressing the pervading, spreading, vast and boundless properties of the air.

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3D wiry presentation The last step of the project is to transform the former relief model into a three dimensional linear model. I choose stainless wire as the composing materials for its strength and flexibility to shape.

The core of this transformation is making the 2.5D relief model fully three dimensional, and representing into a linear format that keep presenting the characters of flowing, mixing and pervading.

On the wiry model, the storming of the air mass in the center is transforming into spirals and swirls of connected wire line, together forming a sphere of spirals to present the flowing, mixing and changing properties of the air and flow.

And the two tracks of the movement are transformed into two elegant 20# (Ø 0.90mm) wire line curves that contact to the two sides of the spiral sphere, extend backward and upward, and gradually combine together. The lines express the same meaning of the speed and dynamics of the movement, and the distance and largeness of the space in a 3D way.

The spreading and pervading characters are shown via the way of the model display – hanging in the air by fishing lines. In this way, the space around the model is emphasized, and with the moving and speediness qualities of the model, the vastness and spreading of the air are presented.

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Hanging and Floating of the model One special trait of the model is that it has to be displayed by hanging. Instead of being displayed by putting, placing, or sticking, it must be hung from the ceiling by strings like fishing line to display the floating effect, the lightness of air, and the outreach and spreading properties of it, just like it really runs out of the frame.

Different angles of view.

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Review and comments For this project I made in the Fundamentals of Design, NCTU, Spring 2018, the methods I used in the idea forming and transformation are mostly image, characteristic, and connectionbased, making the transformations from what it looks like and the properties and connection to it, rather than using more form, shape, organization, constitution, and ratio-based methods. Thus, it might decrease the accuracy of the transformation and tend to be more subjective in this way.

Apart from this, the instructor of the class, Professor Chang Chi-Yi, appreciated the specialty of the display form of the 3D wiry model.

He regarded this as an interesting way that broke through the boundary of thinking, and a daring try at the presenting format.

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Project 2 Bauhaus

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Bauhaus is a project named after the early 20th century’s movement of architecture and design in Germany. In the movement, advocators tried to combine art and crafts together, emphasizing the rationality and functionality of forms, and thus creating a new industrial aesthetic suitable for mass production. The methods and ideas in the Bauhaus movement soon evolved into the modern design procedures that we apply to various aspects today.

The project The project starts by choosing a graphic art, poster, or print from the Bauhaus movement, then transforming it into a three-dimensional spatial model according to any design principle or method. The poster on the right is what I choose to do the transformation. It is a poster for the first exhibition of the Bauhaus school in 1923, Weimar, designed by Joost Schmidt, a teacher of the school.

The poster is designed to draw the attention of the view’s eyes through a z-shaped movement: from the top left of the title of the school – STAATLICHES BAUHAUS and the school emblem, to the middle word – AUSSTELLUNG meaning an exhibition, and finally to the bottom right information of the month, location, and year of the exhibition. These directions of the sightline are accomplished by the composition of the poster, different eye-attractiveness of the colors, and the arrangement of the shapes and words.

Joost Schmidt / Bauhaus Exhibition Poster / 1923.

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Analyzation

The concept

Since the poster is design to direct attention of eyes by the arrangement of different components and colors, the transformation starts by analyzing the eye-catching parts on the poster along with their reasons, and also the relationships between the components drawn by auxiliary lines to point out the coordination in each part.

According to the analyzation, I make up a concept of the transformation. It turns the poster into the form that it is observed and noticed with the emphasis on different levels of eye-attractiveness, and the relationship between the components is also considered to make sure it keeps in order and balanced.

Eye-catching parts

brightness of the color; headlike circles and logo

Different colors indicate d i f fe r e n t l eve l s o f eye attractiveness: Red – most attractive.

Green – medially attractive.

Black – baseline.

Gray – d e t a i l p a r t s t h a t merged into the c l o s e r a t t ra c t i ve portion.

Auxiliary lines Indicating correlational parts. Any changes on them should be coordinated.

Ratios Revealing the ratio relationship in each part.

brightness of the color

sticking out from the main part; brightness of the color

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The first transformation – from 2D to 3D The first stage of the transformation is turning the original poster into a three-dimensional model. The concept form is then transformed from a plane diagram to a spatial model, making the abstractive eye-attractiveness solidify with different rectangular solids, strips, surfaces, spheres, and a cube to demonstrate different levels of intensity.

Unsteady or steady placement The model is special in the property that it can be placed in either unsteady state or steady state. In the unsteady state, it appears the original look of the poster with a 30° rotating angle from the vertical line, and the whole model tilts backward with another 30° angle with the support of an A4 size transparent plastic plate, forming an unsteady state of balance with the effect of lightness and floating.

In the steady state, the model can be placed steadily in horizontal way with the support of the cube and the pillar on the model, forming another feeling of asymmetrical balance, and it looks like a strange tower or an antenna.

Left, top right, and middle: unsteady placement. Bottom right: steady placement.

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The second transformation – from 3D to 2D In the second stage of the transformation, the objective is to transform the 3D model into another 2D format of work. Firstly, we have to construct a drawing of the observation of the model with different thickness of lines, and then, representing the drawing into a collage form. And here is my observation of the model below:

In the drawing, it shows the lateral view and frontal view of the model placed in unsteady state. The thickest lines show the solid parts of the model and the thinnest lines point out the relationship between each part.

To bring out a collage from the line drawing, I focus on the constituents that compose the figure. They are basically: circles, L-shaped strips, single strips, squares, and intercrossing lines.

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The collage presentation The collage is composed of the previously analyzed components from the line drawing: circles, L-shaped strips, single strips, squares, and lines. The composition of the collage is based on the rule of the line drawing – rotating 30° to the left from the vertical line, constituted by particular geometric shape components, and composed with strong emphasis on the relationships among each of the components, that means, in each of the components, you can find specific corresponding relationships with the others.

The materials of the collage are wholly clipped from the newspapers on their original appearances; they are separating bars between columns, decorative lines, circular frames around articles and titles, and square labels indicating different pages of the newspapers. It is the multiple lines I can use that I choose the newspapers for my collage materials.

The colors of the components are chosen and arranged by following the guidelines of harmony and colorfulness, distributed as equally as possible by the hues of the three primary colors, bringing some feeling of delight and energy; meanwhile, the tones of the colors are selected to look soft and light, making the overall picture has a feeling of lightness and floating, just like the original model in unsteady state.

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Review and comments This project made in the Fundamentals of Design, NCTU, Spring 2018, is a series of continuous transformation, from transforming the original poster into a 3D model according to eye-catching effect, to transforming it back to a 2D graphic in the form of line drawing, and finally to a collage form by using the composing rules and the constituents of the line drawing.

The transformation method in the start tries to be more systematic and methodical in the approach, rather than doing the transformation by subjective opinions or simply making it associated with something. However, the result it produces, the 3D model, might have an appearance too similar with the original poster; it would look more ideal if it takes on the form more impressive and more creative, and that will change the outcome of the following transformation, too.

Nevertheless, the transformation of the model received an unexpected comment from the instructor, Professor Chang Chi-Yi. He said the model shares a correlative trait with the wiry model in the Project 1, Air and Flow, for they both challenge the state of unsteadiness, displayed in a way out of the frame. That’s an aspect I didn’t notice myself while I just take these the instinctive choices I will adopt. And that’s part of the reason why I set the theme of this portfolio as “Floating Clouds”.

Keep challenging the state of unsteadiness.

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Project 3 Tap Dance

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Tap Dance

Features of the Irish tap dance

is a project transforming a dance into geometric and spatial presentations.

The project starts by selecting a kind of dance, a dance troupe, or a dancing performance as the target of transformation, and the dance I pick is – the Irish tap dance.

Steady on the upper body Different with the British and American tap dance, the Irish tap dance doesn’t have upper-body movements. The dancers usually put their hands on their hips or stick them on two sides of the body, making dance steps only on their legs and feet. (Yet, this custom is sometimes broken by modern choreographers like Michael Flatley.)

Irish tap dance is derived from the traditional folk dance – the jig, which is prevalent in Britain and Ireland. And it has been well known since the creation of Riverdance performed by Michael Flatley in 1994, and the following work Lord of the Dance and Feet of Flames, making Irish tap dance famous and popular.

Preparing position of legs In Irish tap dance, the legs usually start and end in a position of “crossing” – putting the left foot in front of the right foot.

Movements of legs and feet Steady on the upper body, the Irish tap dance focuses on quick movements of legs and feet. The dancers step, tap, jump, spin, and wave their legs up and down, making typical tip-tap sounds by wearing metal-sole tap shoes.

Riverdance – one of the iconic works of the Irish tap dance.

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Body pose.

Movements of legs and feet.

Big array

The dancers form into a big array, dancing side by side synchronously in a powerful and imposing manner. This character was first created in Riverdance and made the dance a completely new appearance, making people fascinated.

Sequence of the steps The sequence is recorded from top to bottom, so the footprints on the ground indicate what the dancer is going to dance, not the footprints he has already danced. former

Tracking the dance steps Knowing the characters and the formation of the Irish tap dance, the next step is to analyze the core movements of the dance.

Left or Right foot Indicated by different colors to distinguish them easily. (Blue – left foot, Black – right foot.)

Relative position The position of the steps is classified as the left, middle, and right position because the dancer might bend his legs or do a spin movement, so the left foot might be in the right position, vice versa.

Dance steps as the transformation element Since Irish tap dance includes only the legs movements, the dancer tends to dance in the same position, many legs and feet movements happen in a short period of time, the frequency of the movements is high, and the accompanying tip-tap sounds occur in every tapping movement, I focus on the dance steps patterns as the transformation element.

Time span The interval between two footprints indicates the time lag between two steps. If the steps are rapid, the intervals get closer, vice versa.

Elements of the dance steps To do the transformation from the dance steps, the diagram on the right shows how I track and record the dance steps patterns. There are six keyelements to revcord: Sequence of the steps, Left or Right foot, Relative position to the body, Time span between each steps, Step by the toe or heel, and Leg-raising or kicking.

Toe or Heel Tap dance includes two kinds of tap – tap by the toe or tap by the heel, and also doing both of them. The record shows the front, the back, or the complete part of the footprint to indicate steps by the toe, the heel, or both of them. later

Leg-raising or kicking The lines connecting two footprints indicate the large movements of the leg. These lines show the special movements like: kicking back or forth, raising up the leg, or doing a spinning or jumping by waving the leg.

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Transformation work 1 Created by paper-cutting, the first transformation work integrates all the characters of the Irish dance with the analyzed dance steps patterns, constituting a 2D re-presentation of the dance. The following are the main concepts of the work: Formation The composition presents five dancers standing in a row side by side, posing a united position, and dancing different kinds of tap dance. The footprints show in different colors of dots beneath them demonstrate different dance steps patterns they create. The frame work of this composition refers to the iconic big array formation of the Irish tap dance.

Image of the dancers “Being steady on upper bodies and moving legs and feet only” is the main concept in designing the image of the dancers. The dancers put their hands on their hips, forming a series of firm and connected diamond shapes together, while their feet pose a flexible crossing-position instead.

Dance steps patterns The five different dance steps lines are five different Irish tap dance performance sections extracted from video resources. They are all recorded by the previously mentioned tracking method, and the length of them are all approximately 10 seconds long only. The different colors not only show the different foot of the steps, but also show the different emotional feeling in different snatches of the dance.

“Steps” into “dots” The footprints are transformed into different colors of dots made by paper puncher. Since the single tap is usually made by the toe and the double tap includes both toe and heel, so they are re-presented by single dots and double dots respectively. This transformation makes footsteps more collaborative with the unique tip-tap sounds of the tap dance, and it also derives the main theme of the portfolio – the dot clouds.

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Turning the picture into a model The next process is turning the original plane work into another presentation form in a 3D model.

The method Since the tap dance limits its movements to legs and feet only, and the movements are rapid, short-period, and small-scale, the transformation thus tends not to develop in formal and spatial ways, and tends to develop in functional and characteristic ways, instead.

The concept – typewriter and music box The typewriter The most stunning character in the transformation work 1 might be the rhythmic dot lines which re-present the dance steps of the Irish tap dance. These dots have an effect that they bring tip-tap sounds corresponding with the dance steps to the viewer’s mind when watching. Together with the quick and shortperiod legs and feet movements of the dancers, these traits let me make an association of a typewriter, which also makes tick-tock sounds through frequent and small-scale movements.

The orientation It is important to notice the orientation of a typewriter and the work. In a typewriter, new letters come from below to above through the producing area, and in the work, new steps come from the imaginary producing line below, not from the dancers’ feet above; the step near the dancer’s feet is the first step of the dance, not the latest step produced.

The music box To alter the producing line to the dancers’ feet, the sequence of the steps has to be recorded from the last step to the first step. And then, the re-ordered record of dance steps is rolled up into a cylinder, making the dance steps rotatable.

These changes bring up another association to the work – a music box, in which the cylinder looks like the rotating drum that records the melody, and the dancers look like the hammers or the teeth on the steel comb.

Original work

Typewriter Old Targeted producing zone

Similarities between Irish tap dance and a typewriter:

Old

New Producing zone New

Producing zone

Reorder

Rotate New

Linear formation.

Linear generating direction.

Rapid, frequent, small-scale movements of feet.

Rapid, frequent, small-scale movements of typing.

Accompanying tip-tap sounds.

New

Accompanying click-clack sounds.

Old Old

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Transformation work 2 Derived from the transformation work 1, the transformation work 2 interprets the Irish tap dance in the form of a spatial model. It extracts the traits in the transformation work 1 and transforms them into a combination of a typewriter and a music box; meanwhile, the spatial characters of the model are also demonstrated and introduced.

On the top, five pairs of legs aligned side by side as the linear formation in the work 1, perform as the typing components in the typewriter by their stepping and tapping movements.

Beneath them, there is a floating cylinder rolling outward and displaying the dance steps that the legs ‘type’ on it. The series of dots typed by the legs are transformed from the work 1 by the methods of re-order and rotation mentioned in page 23. Besides, the cylinder of dance steps also acts as the rotating drum in the music box; it brings the model more images of music and sounds, and also means the circulation of the rhythm.

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In the spatial configuration, the large volume of the cylinder hanging in the middle of the space, supported only by four slim props on two sides, creates an effect of floating and levitation.

The row of the repeating legs on the top defines a space between the cylinder and the wall; the legs can serve as a series of undulatory ridges of the roof, and display a beautiful effect of light and shade.

Review and comments This project is a transformation practice assigned in the Fundamentals of Design, NCTU, Spring 2018. The purpose of this assignment is transforming a dance or music into a space or experience, training sensitivity of observation, and connecting different things in a sense like synesthesia.

In this point, the transformation work 2 might lack some direct spatial connection to the work 1 or to the original dance. It looks interesting in its appearance and idea, but it should take on an appearance having more connection or relationship with the movements or spatial distribution of the original dance.

It should also avoid taking on an appearance that looks concrete, like the dancers in the work 1, and the legs in the work 2. It’s better to find more abstract connection and turn them into the work.

Part of the reason to these problem might come from the dance itself, for it limits its movements to quick and small-scale legs and feet motions only, has many rituals in the performance, and the performance emphasizes a large part in the tapping sounds it creates. These might be the reason that the instructor of the class, Professor Chang Chi-Yi, suggests us better choose modern dance for the project, for it might be easier to transform into a space.

Formation of the dot clouds And just like the previous projects, this project contains the elements of floating and unsteadiness, too. It is the cylinder of dance steps in the work 2 that has an effect of floating and levitation.

Together with the light and changeful dots that play an important role in this project, the floating and unsteadiness characters revealed in all three projects combine into the theme of the portfolio – the Dot Clouds, implying the characteristics of my works.

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Other Drawing

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Scientific drawing As a student in the realm of biology, there are lots of chances to touch on scientific drawing. It is like a kind of sketching, but it focuses on the accuracy and correctness to the observed specimens. Although the rule is rigid in portraits, it still needs a sharp observation, delicate sketching skill, and a great amount of patience to accomplish the work.

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