Update on 12 week interiors project...

Just a quick update on my line of thought for this project...

Although half way through i cant seem to get very motivated(probably because its such a long project i tend to think... oh i have plenty of time!) . So i think if i update on my blog every so often just so i can see and show my process almost like a written sketchbook!

Just a little background on the project first of all...

We need to re-model and develop a Victorian house for a book conservationist, Emma Fraser. She requires a work space and a studio within the large house, this needs to be 40m2 and somewhere within the house. There are all sorts of restrictions as books need to be kept in a constant low temperature, somewhere without direct sunlight and so on.

As well as a studio we have been asked to design living quarters for her! especially somewhere to relax and entertain her friends!

Emma has spent a lot of time travelling, throughout Europe, China and South Africa where she studied and lived... As different cultures are oobviously quite interesting to her i decided to adopt the feeling of different traditions, and almost merge them together subtly... i started off looking at African design and styles (quite stereotypical objects and prints)... I found that a lot of dark ebony wood is used to create bowls and structures. I came across a lot of stereotypical thing as well such as bone, shells and rich colours.

different prints + textiles...

Activity 2E- Adding text

I felt i didnt need to add text to my photos as my subjects were quite clear on the story...

I dicovered that people can tell a lot through photographs that dont belong to them! At first people look at you and say "oh god i dunno!" but when you tell them to look at anything in the image they can start to reveal little stories and try to uncover what is actually going on in the photo! its amazing how personal photos are to yourself but probably could be understood by an on-looker!

Activity 2D: The fourth image

I decided to add a fourth image to see if doing so would give the same kind of response if asking a different person!
I decided to go with Subject 1's story as i found an image of a couple watching the fireworks!



I then asked the same questions to a different group of people.. the reponce was quite a positive one!

Subject 5-
Im on holiday in Australia with what appears to be my wife/ girlfriend. we are cuddling as we watch the fireworks. It looks like we are older and perhaps on our honeymoon?
- Male, 19, art student

Subject 6-
On holiday perhaps with my parents? We are in Sydney and and standing watching the fireworks.
- Female, 18, art student

Subject 7-
Obviously with someone i care about in australia watching the fireworks display? maybe on new years?
- Male, 20, geography student

Comment...
I found it amazing by adding just one extra picture i managed to give slightly more visual information to people which led to them almost discovering the same outcome! (romance, watching fireworks, holidays?!)

Activity 2C: Talk to people

After selecting my random pictures i then asked a few people to create a story based around them. I let them choose their own order and jotted down their response...

Subject 1-
I was traveling with my boyfriend, somewhere abroad. It was a cold autumn night, clouds formed above us. We looked up to see fireworks shooting through the sky above us! It was very romantic.
- Female, 16, high school

Subject 2-
While visiting friends in Sydney, we sat and sheltered under bushy trees and waiting for the firework display!
- Male, 21, law student

Subject 3-
I had just immigrated to Australia. I arrived in March, coming from our winter to their autumn. I had moved into a lovely suburban neighbourhood surrounded with trees. My first night in Australia, I visited the Sydney Opera House where i watched the firework displays. Almost as if Sydney was welcoming my arrival with a big bang!
- Female, 19, psychology student


Subject 4-
After a long day on the way to watch the fireworks in the city we stopped the car and stood under beautiful apple trees where we rested in the shade looking up at the blue sky through the branches.
- Female, 20, art student

Activity 2B: Select random images

Three random pictures from www.sxc.hu

Book Project, Year 2, Semester 2...

(Follow on from Natural design project... This is almost a project to build up to our first interior/ architectural property development. Ill recieve the breif on Monday so more to come...)

Update on mini project...

Researching into wearable books & book making.

discovered a few designers i liked for different reasons.

doing little sketches to help me decide the over look + design of my peice.

Allison cooke brown <<

















the black spot books, etsy.com >>

This then made me think...

what defines a book? does it have to open/ close?


can it just contain words not sentences?


can you slide it along instead of turning a page?


does it protrude? Is ut static?


does the contents of it give information? if so what kind?





Then i started looking at the form of the fuction... Including materials?
Glass found on the beach? Wood scraps from the workshop?

This quick wee sketch illustrates my line of thought... it isnt a book literally... printed or engraved writing could be used to transform it into a 'book'

Flipper

Recently i have started watching documentaries about wildlife, but in particular the film "the cove" and series like "whale wars".

The cove is a film based documentary, exposing the brutal killing of dolphins and small whales in a town called Taiji, in Japan. After watching this film... i felt angry. What gives us the right as human beings to take innocent animals out of their natural environment and brutally kill them with harpoons and axes.

The lucky ones are selected to perform for our entertainment in sea world and dolphin shows all around the world. Are they lucky though? Swimming around a minuscule tank of water with screaming people cheering and chanting...

Personally when i was younger, on a holiday to Florida with my family i visited sea world. At this age i was,( as every young person is) obsessed with them, They are cute, and friendly and have a permanent smile! Whats not to love... But its not till i watched 'the cove' i realised that they in fact aren't happy. Many aquariums cant keep their dolphins alive. Dolphins can stop breathing and 'commit suicide.'

In Taiji, the dolphins not selected are tied up to boats and taken round the corner and never seen alive again. The water turns from clear turquoise to blood red. They are slaughtered, mainly for their meat. Over 2000 dolphins are slaughtered each year.

Mercury spreads up the food chain into dolphins. (mercury released from factories etc...) When people eat dolphin meat the mercury enters their bodies at an alarming rate...in the town of Taiji, Japan (where 'the cove' is filmed) the people there contain over 10 times the national average of mercury in their bodies.