Summary 4-5 Broken English 6-7 Data visualisation of the poem 8-9 Migration research 10-11 Kintsugi research and thoughts 12-13 Playing around with Kintsugi and candle wax 14-15 Kintsugi inspiration 16-17 Process of breaking teacup and a plate 18-19 Said tea cup and plate broken 20-21 Playing around with the broken pieces 22-23 Thoughts on the ceramics and its research 24-25 Thoughts on the hand in 26-27 Font workshop 28 Attempt of a cover during a workshop 29 Pecha Kucha 30-31 Pattern Research 32-33 illustrations of Kintugi 34-37 Research for the cover and double page spread 38-39 Artist book project 40-43 Process of the double page spread and cover 44-45 46
Summer Project Evaluative Statement
Broken English by Rupi Kaur
I think about the way my father pulled the family out of poverty without knowing what a vowel was. And my mother raised 4 children without being able to construct a perfect sentence in English A discombobulated couple that landed in the new world with hopes that left the bitter taste of rejection in their mouth. No family no friends, just man and wife, Two university degrees that meant nothing, one mother tongue that was broken now, one swollen belly with a baby inside. A father worried about jobs and rent coz no matter what this baby was coming. And they thought to themselves for a split second was it worth it to put all of our money into the dream of a country that is swallowing us whole. And papa looks at his woman’s eyes and sees the loneliness living where the iris was. Wants to give her a home in a country that looks at her with the word visitor wrapped around their tongue. On their wedding day she left an entire village to be his wife and now she left an entire country to be a warrior. And when the winter came they had nothing, but the heat of their own bodies to keep the coldness out. And like 2 brackets they face one another to hold the dearest parts of them, their children close.
They turned a suitcase full of clothes into a life and regular paychecks to make sure that children of immigrants wouldn’t hate them for being the children of immigrants They worked too hard - you can tell by their hands, their eyes are begging for sleep but our mouths were begging to be fed and that is the most artistic thing I have ever seen. It is poetry to these ears that has never heard what passion sounds like and my mouth is full of likes and uhms when I look at their masterpiece ‘coz there are no words in the English language that can articulate that kind of beauty. I can’t compact their existence into 26 letters and call it a description I tried once but the adjectives needed to describe them don’t even exist so I ended up with pages and pages full of words followed with commas and more words and more comas only to realize that there are some things in the world so infinite that they can never use a full stop. So how dare you mock your mother when she opens her mouth and broken English spills out. Her accent is thick like honey, hold it with your life, it’s the only thing she has left from home. Don’t stomp on that richness, instead hang it up on the walls of museums next to Dali and Van Gogh Her life is brilliant and tragic. Kiss the side of her tender cheek. She already knows what it sounds like to have an entire nation laugh when she speaks. She’s more than our punctuation and language. We might be able to take pictures and write stories, but she made an entire world for herself. How’s that for art
What is important here is the migration flow from India to Canada as it is Rupi Kaur’s journey and we need to focus on the one post 1947.
Kintsugi made me think about how broken english was broken pieces from one country put back together in another (if that makes sense?). RK's family had to leave their home country- *broken* They had to stop talking the language they always knew (Punjabi)- *broken* They had to start learning a new one out of scratch- *broken but put back together*
I’ve used an old broken glass that I’ve kept for sentimental values, and covered the broken parts with wax from a candle. Fauve being a bar that I use to go to a lot, named after a french band that stopped playing. To me, it represents a cycle that ends. Going to a bar with someone, listening to a band, everything comes to an end.
inspiration
Tea cup and plate(s) that I bought in a charity shop and then processed to break down with a hammer in order to represent Rupi Kaur’s mum broken english. Before putting some of it back together using the Kintsugi method.
Tea cup and plate after breakage and drilling for some of it.
interesting as a 12 pannel imagery
I’ve decided to take the 12 pannels narrative a tiny step further and turn it into some sort of puzzle that just like my final piece, you unfold to discover something else.
Thoughts on the hand in: In the earlier state of the project I wanted to put the broken plate and teacup back together and create a whole new piece on itselft. However thanks to a tutorial with Paul I realised that the pieces worked well together as the 12 pieces of narrative.
playing around with the tea cup
When I went out looking for some ceramics to break for this project, I really wanted something that would be openly link the UK to India due to its history of colonisation. Hence why I picked a tea cup with King George VI and Queen Elizabeth. George VI was the last Emperor of India as UK left India in August 1947. I think that a country’s history is an important research to do when you’re working on it. Especially when it has been colonised by a western country. In 1982, Canada adopted its own constitution and became independant from the UK. However it’s still part of the Common Wealth.
Thoughts on the hand in: I have a piece of indian fabric that I will use to wrap up my abstract pieces. There will be 3 times the same plate in different state: one that is in perfect condition, one that I drew some Kintsugi on it and the last one will be in a broken state. They will each represent the different learning stage of the poem. From the knowledge of Punjabi (plate in perfect condition) to learning English and struggling (Kintsugi plate) to finally Rupi Kaur’s mum overcoming her struggles with the english language and punctuation (the broken plate)
I’m not very pleased with my font to be transparent with you. However I made font before based on my friend’s handwritting or mine. (as well as my summer work, please look at the last pages as I’ve put it there) But it didn’t fit into any serif or sans serif sort of box. I loved the lecture we had about fonts. It’s something that is really interesting to me as I’m leaning towards graphic design more than illustration.
A mixed patter of water and Kinstugi. An in between the travel from India to Canada and Rupi Kaur’s mum broken english.
an idea for the cover of the double page spread
Ideas for the double page spread text: #1 an ad to learn english, in punjabi made by the uk ambassy in India
Found on the internet
Translation of it that I made
Ideas for the double page spread text: #2a working with these two quotes from the poem. I could work with tracing paper and a photograph of her mum?
“She’s more than our punctuation and language.” “[...] she made an entire world for herself ”
What language doesn’t really need punctuation? None apart from Morse Code Should I work with Morse Code? Write the poem in Morse? Just the quotes?
... .... . .-..-. ... / -- --- .-. . / - .... .- -. / --- ..- .-. / .--. ..- -. -.-. - ..- .- - .. --- -. / .- -. -.. / .-.. .- -. --. ..- .- --. . / ... .... . / -- .- -.. . / .- -. / . -. - .. .-. . / .-- --- .-. .-.. -.. / ..-. --- .-. / .... . .-. ... . .-.. ..-.
Book I made for the artist book module
Ideas for the double page spread text: #2b working with these two quotes from the poem. I could work with tracing paper and a photograph of her mum? but pushed further
For the artist book module I worked with people’s deepest darkest secret that I printed onto folex. I sew the pages with the kettle stitch technique. By doing so, I’ve created an overlaping of all the secrets which made the front and back cover. I wanted to use this technique again for the cover and double page spread part of the brief and push it further. At the end of the poem Rupi Kaur says: “She’s more than our punctuation and language.” What is punctuation? What is a sentence? How does it work? How can we deconstruct it?
Unfolded it looks it’s just a poem with a couple of letters misplaced. Folded it’s the title of the poeme with a couple of sentences misplaced. Just like Rupi Kaur’s mum, it’s overcoming the rules of punctuations, sentences, languages. It’s a whole new thing on itself, a whole new language, a whole new sentence. “she made an entire world for herself”
Summer Work Je crois que la magie est de l’art, et que l’art est littéralement de la magie. L’art, comme la magie, consiste à manipuler les symboles, les mots ou les images pour produire des changements dans la conscience. En fait, jeter un sort, c’est simplement dire, manipuler les mots pour changer la conscience des gens, et c’est pourquoi je crois qu’un artiste ou un écrivain est ce qu’il y a de plus proche, dans le monde contemporain, d’un chaman. citation d’Alan Moore trouvée page 41 de Sorcière de Mona Chollet
Evaluative statement I’ve found this module quite challenging. As an illustrator I’m not doing much of abstract work. But before doing illustration I did a year of Fine Art at La Sorbonne and I think it came in handy. Thanks to that I managed to think outside the box and work with objects more than illustration. I loved using the university’s fabrication studio to break and drill into my pieces of ceramics. I think that if I had more time (and money let’s be honest) I would have taken my work with the ceramics further. I would’ve properly sew it back together, as well as sewing it to the fabric. If I had more time I think I would’ve explore more my ideas instead of straight up focusing on one. Even if I divided the time we had for the two modules equally, I struggled more to work for word and image than process and practice. I really enjoyed playing around with font and letters for the double page spread and cover. I think it’s the part of the module that I loved the most. I’m glad I based it of the book I made for Artist’s book in first year. I loved the process of it and reworking it to take it further was great. I think I could’ve done better and put more of myself into the abstract work but I struggled doing the workshop I missed (by being home for my VISA) online. I think it would’ve helped me getting more into it. I didn’t like working through a blog hence why I decided to hand in my Notion link as it’s what I’ve been using as a digital sketchbook. I really enjoyed putting some sort of book/zine of my research together even if it wasn’t asked for.
