Foundations of Design : REPRESENTATION, SEM1, 2017 M2 JOURNAL - FLATNESS vs PROJECTION Sandra Lin
915202 Carl Areskoug: Studio 15
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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) Pictorial space is space that cannot be circulated or entered through. This means it is 2D space and has no depth no matter what angle or perspective it is viewed from. The space itself is the representation of an object viewed front on. Hence is always parallel to the picture plane or “resigned to frontality” (R. Krauss on Le Corbusier, Leger, Le Corbusier and Purism pg 5) and dimensionality is only inferred.
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)
1. Rigid frontality of all objects experienced from a distance. The viewing of objects from afar slightly removes dimension (to the physical eye) and Le Corbusier exaggerates this frontality. 2. Frontality and distance combine to allow knowledge of real by inference. Meaning the artwork is compositionally arranged to create a sense that dimension should be present however via the artist’s use of frontality and distance, the artwork remains physically flat. The mind and eye try to create depth however this only imagined. Juxtaposed against: “proximate space by rotation through it” - meaning the experience of space (rotation) is contrasted against the ideation of space (frontality).
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MARIO’S WORLD
Front of world
Back of world
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1ST MARIO’S WORLD
The most time consuming stage. The type of tracing paper and graphite darkness created issues. I did not fine line each world separately but did multiple of the worlds joining at different points. I extended my elements further to add more depth and areas between existing elements that could be reimagined. Initially I projected each layer at the same depth and had a square top on the catci to assist with the placement of the final curve. With each following projection I adjusted the depth and placement of each level and its elements. For efficiency in drawing, I left the top curve of the cacti until the final stage.
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COMBINED MARIO’S WORLD
The Mario Worlds collide via cacti. Two desert worlds colliding means desert is inescapable for Mario. The two flying monsters prevent him from leaving and the vines, tunnels and entrances all loop around in a cycle, like a mirage.
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WEEK 4 READING: PRACTICE ARCHITECTURE,TECHNIQUE AND REPRESENTATION Question 1: Explain the difference between Pictoral (in this case perspectival) space and Projection? (Maximum 100 words)
“Perspective records what already exists whereas axonometric projection [parallel projection] constructs that which does not exist yet” (Stan allen, Practice Architecture, technique and representation pg 19) Perspective space is subjective and immeasurable due to the idea of anamorphosis (when projectors are aligned [to a vanishing point], the “correct” perspective is seen but when not aligned, perspective is distorted) is present. However, Projection is objective and has no vanishing point, and so is measurable.
Question 2: Where did Axonometric projection first arise, and why? (Maximum 100 words) Axonometric projection arose from the need to calculate “three dimensional trajectories of artil-lery projectiles” from times when cities still used city walls and cannons as defence around c. 15th Century. It is measurable projection and can “transmit abstract information” but also remains measurable hence constructible. It represents space that is imagined. It was then used by 20th Century avant garde artists to explore and imagine new limits of the world and spatial relation-ships and now in patent drawings.
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ILLUSTRATED MARIO’S NEW WORLD
This world has been designed with the idea that it is a desert landscape adventure for Mario. He must reach the star, however each path, tunnel and entry way might be a mirage. Weak moonlight coming from the top left hand corner to gently illuminates the night landscape. The castle, mushrooms and tunnels provide places for Mario to rest and hide from the flying creatures that guard the world. In line with the theme, there are mirage question boxes and false Mario (blue hat).The desert provided opportunity for exploration of the underground. A series of tunnels and escape routes run amongst the soil layers. In particular the section cut around the waterfall base. The section was not cleanly cut on one layer, instead this area has been carved out to add dimension. The original colour pallette has been preserved with the gradients adjusted to add dimension and curvature. In particular the cactus gradients vary to create an area of shadow on teh left hand side. There is no specific point of light since the original images show a night scene. The simplicity of the base images allowed for proper imagination of a narrative. A story based on what the view expects (visible from the front), to the hidden and unexplored (the projected space behind).
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APPENDIX
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The joining of the worlds. Finelining as is meant that too much detail was lost because my projections did not fit within the 20x20 space since I chose to add more depth to elements. Hence I had to adjust which level elements
Drawing process. Note the difficulty seeing the details through the 50gsm paper. To fix this I used a lightbox and bought new 70gsm tracing paper.
Pencil projection drawn after final rough fineline. I used this to adjust curves of cacti tops and geometry of the tunnels along the back wall and 20x20 base area.
Initial first projection test. At first I had this drawing as the back one however this was too simple, as the wall on the second image covered most of the elements, so I redrew the projections, rotating the world view.
Final rough fineline sketch before proper one. It includes added elements in pencil that were projected between the existing elements. Construction lines remain.
Fine line drawing working with the space the worlds join, in particular the placement of the cacti. This is the final placement.
Here I work with the rounded top of the cacti. I did not draw the cacti like this on the final drawing, it was only to indicate what would be hidden and provide perspective. Note arr ow is hidden by cactus dome.
Experimenting with drawing style of cactus. I chose to remove the line running through the centre of the cacti and remove the base line. In the end I chose to leave the basic arch outline and add dimenesion on illustrator.
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