1-11 Foundations of Design : REPRESENTATION, SEM1, 2017 M2 JOURNAL - FLATNESS vs PROJECTION Monique Hillier
(914836) Emmanuel Cohen, Studio 1
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WEEK 3 READING: LEGER, LE CORBUSIER AND PURISM Question 1: What is Pictorial Space according to Le Corbusier? Le Corbusier understands pictorial space to be areas that ‘cannot be entered’1, only to be viewed as areas of emptiness or recession. He creates this perceived space through the composition and colouring of his artworks - how the objects are placed and coloured in relation to one another and the resulting areas of percieved depth that arise. In this sense, pictorial space is explained as being illusionary spaces, decieving the eye that it sees space when in reality it only observes the same canvas surface shared by all elements in the painting.
Question 2: The flatness of Le Corbusier’s paintings are attributable to two properties. What are they? And what are these pitted against? Le Corbusier achieves a quality of flatness about his paintings through two means: style and composition. Le Corbusier paints each element in a style depicting them as a ‘pure extension’1 of the canvas, creating surfaces that are void of significant depth as well as applying sharp outlines so as to create no ambiguity of where each object starts and finishes. The arrangement and merging of elements in such an unnaturalistic and abstract manner also communicates a two-dimensional property about all objects. Againts his manipulation of these two properties he pits the thoughtful use of colour and texture to further enhance the flatness of the work. His use of colour creates the stark contrast between pictured objects and this sense of empty space, and complementing this is his practice of adding white lead to paint, creating create a chalky, superficial surface that enhances the quality of frontality in this piece.
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Rosalind Krauss, “Leger, Le Corbusier, and Purism,” Artforum 4 (1972):
MARIO’S WORLDS
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1ST MARIO’S WORLD
Each element of the original mario world picture was re-created as a 45 degree projection, maintaining the correct measurements of each object’s dimensions and its relative distance from the ground. The depth of all objects was added while ensuring uniformity in the depth of all similar objects eg. all clouds. The final drawing was traced in 0.1 fineliner.
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COMBINED MARIO’S WORLD
To tackle the design problem of merging the two mario images together, an elevated platform was placed in to separate both worlds clearly. To lead each world to the other, three pathways were created: steps leaving to the sea floor, a slide providing transport to a nearby cloud and a ladder leading into the mouth of a shark. This created a narrative for the mario character, as he is given three possible pathways to move along, yet one ending in a ‘game over’ if eaten by the shark. Additional sea creatures were incorporated into the new world to omit areas of empty space and create a more wholesome, living underwater scene.
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WEEK 4 READING: AXONOMETRIC PROJECTION
Question 1: Explain the difference between Pictoral (in this case perspectival) space and Projection? Perspectival space differs from projection in that it creates objects that are confined within finite dimensions and areas, creating a ‘static “facade view”’2. The infinite and ever-expanding real world is confined into a small perfect box on paper, severely limiting how it may be percieved. In opposition, projection maintains real dimensions and has no fixed vanishing point, allowing for expansion and detail in its depiciton. Perspective is limited where there is only one legible point of view; projection is infinite where it is percievable from all views and limitless in the objects that it can represent.
Question 2: Where did Axonometric projection first arise, and why? Military fields required absolute accuracy in their three-dimensional diagrams of cannons and other artillery as well as thewir predicted firing trajectory. Thus arose the axonometric projection - a system where accurate measurements, shapes and proportions could be maintained within drawings for military precision. Before this, the mathematician used axonomectric projections alongside calculations in geometry. The use of this projection soon spread to scienctific, architectural, engineering and many other fields, wherever predictions, precise dimensions and consitency was required.
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2. Stan Allen, Practice: Architecture, Technique and Representation (New York: Psychology Press,
ILLUSTRATED MARIO’S NEW WORLD
The combined mario world drawing was transported into digital form and coloured. The colouring was vital in creating the percieved depth of the scene; where lighter colours are more superficial and the darker receed. This is exemplified in the sand floor where the top and sides are lighter than the botton. The use of lines of increasingly darker colours creates the sense of the curved surface of the green tube. Greater detail and more characters were incorporated to create a more elaborate and aesthetically pleasing scene. All objects were outlined with a 0.1 line weight, while section cut lines such as the left side of the sand cliff were outlined with a 0.5 line weight.
Insert your annotation
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APPENDIX
Annotation.
Annotation. Insert 3-4 images of your drawing in progress
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