Wilding Out! July 2014
NEWSLETTER
Issue:
06
We dwell into the world of colour, graffiti and urban art
Kabo Chanku
Chief Editor
Cover: “Going In” by DIMA™
insight
H ello. It ’s b een s i x mont h s s i nce we s t ar t ed t h e Ar t Tr ack i ni t i at i ve. Th e Team h as g r ad ually been t r yi ng t o i ncr eas e t h e amount of Cont ent we s h ar e i n each i s s ue. Our focus h as b een on ad d i ng mor e and each t i me p r ovi d ed a ch alleng e for t h e s mall t eam but I b eli eve t h es e ch alleng es s h all not h alt t h e pur s ui t . Si mi lar ly pleas e d on’t l et li fe ch alleng es h i nd er your d r eams . Fi nd a way of fi t t i ng your cr aft and j oys int o your ever yd ay r out i ne. If pus h comes t o s h ove g i ve i t a few h our s of t h e week end . I n t h i s i s s ue A r t Tr ack t akes a mi nut e t o i nt r od uce U r b an A r t , I t ouch ed on t h at s ub j ect i n t h e pr evi ous news let t er (A r t Tr ack 05). Th e i s s ue als o encompas s a look at d ay li g h t i ng i n ar ch i t ect ur e. We h ave als o i nclud ed a s ect i on for our p h ot og r aph y fi end s t o d i s s ect t h e cr aft , sh ar e t i ps and s ecr et s wh i le at i t . Th ank s for t ak i ng t h i s t i me t o r ead ! Th e Ed i t or Kab o C h ank u
CONTRIBUTORS KBC The Editor
DIMA™ Designer
SPECIAL THANKS IJAJA Journalist and illustrator
Amanda Kubuitsile Diamond selektion
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CONTENT photography a starting point
getting into the mix of urban art
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Urban Art
Diamond Selektion
The Arttrack team would like to once again thank you the readers for taking time off
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your busy schedule to read. Don’t forget to
just started reading. Your suggestions are most welcome and enjoy the read!
Productivity get more out
05
for previous issues of Arttrack in case you
04
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Architecture
light in architecture
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UrbanArt wHAT IS URBAN ART? Our Architectural section touched a bit on urban art so I decided to further dissect the art form. The term “Urban Art” is composed of two words, “Urban” and “Art”. Urban means “from the city” while “Art” refers to the creative use of one’s imagination to express ideas and feelings in the form of drawings, paintings and sculpture. Essentially the word Urban Art refers to art in /of the city (urban environment). Most popular examples of Urban Art are Stencil Art and Aerosol Art .This does not mean the other forms of this craft doesn’t exist, they do but not as heavily explored as the ones mentioned above. As I already stated part of this artistic mode of expression uses the urban environment as a canvas. Walls, trains, buses, bus shelters, road signs and any potential surface acts as a platform for artists to share their craft on. In recent times the art has been transferred onto portable canvases. An individual or avid art collector can now take urban artworks home. This move makes it easier for the art to reach a wider audience and in the process creates a commercial gain to the artist. A new world of art collectables has been opened. Banksy’s(street artist) rise to fame can be credited to his famous stencil art across cities throughout the world, his exhibitions have sold many paintings. This was done with the help of well orchestrated documentaries.
Majority of urban artists continue to explore available avenues as they work to make a gain from their craft. The number of galleries in the world is on the rise. Creatives with varying talent are coming forth to share their artistries with the world. These artists also keep the urban environments colourful. They reflect an array of collective sociocultural aspects through individual artistic minds and simply eye catching compositions of art elements. Though this type of art is a recent addition to my favourites I can name numerous who inspires me. That might take all day so let me share a few of those that an one should check out in case he/she is planning on walking in their steps or know more about the art scene. These names are in no particular order; Clogtwo, Erase, Aryz, Etam Cru, Smash137, Rasty, Mak1one, Damien Hirst, Smash137, Banksy... many more can be found online. There is also the illegal and notorious face of the urban art that often raises controversy about the distinction between artistic expression and mere vandalism. There are those people that still vilify the entire graffiti art form and street art as sheer dirt on the walls, vandalism, an eyesore and the most painful glare one can open his/her to. My perspective on that?...Well, the two are undoubtedly worlds apart, But there are certain aspects that have to be questioned before pointing accusive fingers to anyone - Sounds like a discussion for another day! Urban Art exist in many forms. The most beautiful thing is that this art form is free to flap its wings anyhow and any directions, it lives outside the cage and bends the norm without restrictions. In other words artists can do and say what they want with this art as a form of dialect. Preferably doing so without trampling the rights of others.
Photographer: IJAJA | model: EPIC tha Rapper
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S o w he r e is it? Urban Art is renowned to reside in the streets since its inception. This was when this type of art was pursued as a hobby than a career, artists had day jobs back then. Then again some of us still do, the point here is not many were getting enough from the work they put in. Nowadays the scope of products that urban artists work on continues to grow giving artists a diverse selection to offer the consumer.
Locally few Urban Artists are exploring the idea of using stretched canvases though the local art scene is not yet that vibrant. For example Phly Kicks is a concept by local urban artists using their art to customize foot wear. Internationally Urban Artists create a wider spectrum of art related products, the following are some of the items created to gain extra income from their creativity. These include art prints,T-shirts, caps, backpacks, iPhone cases, laptop and iPhone skins, wallpapers, posters, magazine covers, album arts, home dĂŠcor (throw pillows, mugs, wall clocks etc.).
Other than the increased merchandise and commercialization of the craft, urban art continues to exist in the original form it began with, artworks are still found under bridges, basements, pavements, walls, trains and bus stop shelters, the list goes on and on.
INCREASE YOUR PRODUCTIVITY As designers and artists we are often faced with a challenge of juggling more than one task simultaneously against close deadlines. We all want to complete as many tasks as possible to create room for new projects. The simple truth is that increasing productivity is not rocket science. One can actually tweak how they work to be on the project’s proper time schedule. I compiled the following tips and tricks to aid in increasing your productivity. BE ORGANIZED Learn to keep everything you work with in an organized manner. Using a computer you’ll tend to have an increase in files as you get involved on more projects. It will be easy to forget where you saved a certain project if everything is scattered all over the computer. So one needs to come up with a clear filing system to organise everything in folders so that it becomes easier to access files when you need them, this applies for tools as well, it saves time too. TURN OFF DISTRACTIONS In this day and age there are way more distractions that need to be dealt, social networks when used improperly tend to be a problem. So to really focus on the task at hand, switch off these possible distractions and appreciate how much you can achieve. BREAK DOWN TASKS It’s much easier to do smaller tasks than it is to do one huge task, therefore it’s advisable to break the major tasks into smaller tasks that can be done accordingly.
HAVE A LIST OF YOUR TASKS A list to follow for a day or a week is necessary in knowing what to do for that week. It helps to keep one on track and what to push and finish on that particular week. These tasks should not be deferred as this will create a lot of unfinished projects. Some tasks might look easier but if you finish them now at least you would have done something and maybe created free time, one less task to worry about. FOCUS ON ONE THING AT A TIME It might seem like one is doing a lot trying to do multiple tasks at the same time. But if you focus on completing one you will be able to put it aside to fully focus on the next one on your to do list. DO TASKS IN ORDER OF PRIORITY The importance of tasks varies so it’s essential to arrange and execute them in that order. Tasks with deadlines that are close by need to be finished before those with further deadlines. TIME YOUR TASKS Some designs might take longer than they are supposed to, a designer needs to know the average duration of his/her project execution so they have an idea of how much time to take and on which stages of the project. Timing tasks makes sure work isn’t stretched unnecessarily over a long time when it could be finished in a short time. IMPROVE YOUR SKILL SET Projects can be done much quicker when a designer’s skills are sharper, this challenges the artist or designer to practice every once in a while to always be on top of their game. It’s also a way of becoming a better competitor in the market.
Elements of change
The Last Backpackr: TLB (The Last Backpackr) is an initiative about carrying the torch for hip hop, contributing to the revival of the culture through education and entertainment. TLB strives to be a platform aimed at shining light on the culture’s forgotten elements to younger generations as well as the grown folk with love for the culture. The initiative’s focus right now is a clothing line with designs that conveys themes that surround the hip hop culture and push for positivity within hip hop. TLB is about positive change and growth of the culture locally.
Diamond Selektion is a digital art media platform created by Batswana, meant for the world. Our main aim is to promote artists and their art throughout Botswana as well as to offer them a means by which to gain the international recognition that they deserve. We host an online space to help expose the various arts found in Botswana, a centralized location for everyone to access local media such as music releases, art work and poetry. In addition to this we offer a way for artists to both network and reach the public. By establishing an internet source for Botswana’s art we plan to expand the reach of our unique creative culture across the globe. We feel that by encouraging more artists to forge new relationships we can help elevate the quality of Botswana based art, building greater artistic community and raising corporate awareness of the many faces Botswana has to show from its real diamonds.
www.diamondselektion.com
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AN INTRODUCTION TO
PHOTOGRAPHY Photography has since grown in popularity. Those were the days when not every household had cameras and film was the medium, before the evolution of digital. All the pics in Botswana at least had to be taken to the studio to be developed by professionals. Nowadays you can take a pic straight from your camera to the laptop or other compatible medium and retouch them in the comfort of your home. Moreover most gadgets come fitted with incredibly efficient cameras as well as applications for editing! Die hard photographers still hang on to the art form of developing pictures from film. This still has society polarized on opinion as the vinyl is versus the mp3 in the sound industry. Has there been compromise in quality?. Looking forward to discussing that in the future. TYPES OF PHOTOGRAPHY There are numerous ways to go about executing photography and among them are the following: Black and white photography Images are taken or edited to a greyscale finish. Abstract Focus on patterns, colors and mood. Shutter speed Tricks can be used to obtain amazing shots. Macro Subjects are small and focus is on the tiniest detail, among them are insects, plant parts and many more. Landscape and wildlife This category is rather self explanatory, one focuses in the landscape. Flora and fauna.
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GETTING STARTED Ease in access to equipment allows us to skip film as well as preset digital cameras and go straight to entry level Digital Single Lens Reflex (DSLR) cameras which may cost anything from P3 000 to P10 000. This kit allows for use of interchangeable lenses which allows to cater for special situations.
P HOTOG RA PH Y T E R MS - - > A AE An abbreviation of “auto exposure,” a function that allows the camera to set exposure automatically. AE lock Auto-exposure lock: the act of fixing (locking) exposure at the value metered for one area of the frame; while exposure is locked, the photographer can change the composition without changing exposure. This is effective when the area the photographer wishes to use to set exposure differs sharply in brightness from surrounding areas.
Amber A color designating the end of one of the two axes on which white balance is adjusted. White balance settings with higher values for amber heighten “warm” colors (reds). Angle of view The angular extent of the image captured by the image sensor. Aperture The opening in the lens through which light passes. Changing the size of this opening changes the amount of light passing through the lens. Aspect ratio The width of an image relative to its height.
AF An abbreviation of “autofocus,” a function that allows the camera to set focus automatically.
Auto exposure A function that allows the camera to set exposure automatically. Sometimes abbreviated as “AE”.
AF lock Autofocus lock: the act of fixing (locking) focus once it has been acquired by the camera; while focus is locked, the photographer can change the composition without changing focus. This is effective if the subject in question will not be in a focus point in the final composition.
Auto off delay The delay before the monitor or camera turns off automatically; the delay before the exposure meters turn off automatically (auto meter-off). Autofocus A function that allows the camera to set focus automatically. Sometimes abbreviated “AF”.
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2014
NEWSLETTER . March NEWSLETTER
insight
As we journey into the world of creativity we reveal and explore various tips in diferent art disciplines.
Kabo Chanku
Chief Editor
insight
Greetings . . . Well let me take you through a few points why it’s imperative that we as designers and artists know how to sketch or in fact why we should be doing it more often
Welcome back to Arttrack Newsletter! Most of you were looking for a lot more than we put out last time and I remember a friend asking me, “where is the rest of it?” funny?! I know! But on the real though our intentions with these newsletters is to share some knowledge at the same time getting you guys ready for “the rest of it”.
Kabo Chanku
Chief Editor
The Artist Speaks June 2014
NEWSLETTER
Issue:
05
We’ll keep you posted on updates and events
A R C H I T E C T U R E : In This Section We look into light and its impact on architectural form and aesthetics
USES OF
LIGHT IN ARCHITECTURE NATURAL LIGHT FILTERING INTO THE ROOM
Before going any further it’s crucial that one understands that light is a fundamental necessity for vision. Our sight depends fully on this marvel. Without light life would have been a totally different experience. The role of light is not to simply illuminate a room but to create emotion. Light is a dynamic and powerful tool used for expressing beauty, ambience and a heightened quality of a space. It can be used to accentuate distinct architectural features, ornaments and the general experience within a space. Lighting in architectural design can be classified in two; day lighting (Natural Light) and artificial lighting. They are both important in a design as they work at different times of the day and can be used in diverse manners within the same space. For that reason it’s imperative that as designers/ architects we have an understanding of the distinction between the two - their positives and negatives and how they weigh against one another.
There is a huge array of aspects to discuss concerning light and architecture but for this issue I felt I should stress the benefits of Day-lighting more before studying other sides of this subject matter, so I took this time to reflect on the nittygritties of this type of lighting. “A truly great structure, one that is meant to stand the tests of time never disregards its environment. A serious architect takes that into account. He knows that if he wants presence, he must consult with nature. He must be captivated by the light. Always the light. Always.” This quote from the movie The Lake House (2009) acknowledge that a “good” design should encompass nature in its DNA, particularly natural light. Architects before our time have been using this natural element in designing architectural marvels, Noero Wolff’s Red Location Museum in South Africa epitomizes the above quote. The museum harnesses day light in an amazing way to give spaces a unique dimension. In architectural design natural light can serve as a formidable tool in fashioning an architectural experience like no other. Spaces like galleries benefit a great deal from natural lighting in moulding emotion to the end user building sense when going through spaces. Light can bring about an individual experience of architecture to anyone entering a particular space. Buildings should have dissimilar ambience. Fenestration is vital in accomplishing different spatial impressions from design to design. Louis Khan filtered light through skylights to enhance the architectural atmosphere within the Kimbell Art Museum gallery, this is totally a unique experience from Noero’s Red Location but it is equally amazing. Talking of architectural natural light experience, I feel I wouldn’t be doing justice to the subject matter if I not mention religious architecture. One example I can think of is Tadao Ando’s Church of Light, Ando created fenestration in the form of a cross and situated it behind the altar, and this gives the space a sense of heightened spirituality which accentuates the experience.
One significant aspect that shouldn’t be forgotten when talking of natural light is sustainability, the use of daylight helps in saving energy for tomorrow and using it wisely today. In our current power situation in Botswana, we should be thinking natural lighting and green design. I mean we have enough sun to provide us with sustainable resources. Our buildings should at least acknowledge the problems we are having and solve them than become an addition to the long list.
NATURAL LIGHT FILTERING INTO THE ROOM
Lets add light to the world
R O
CLOTHING
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