Week 3 Studio.
At the end of week two we were told to get some color swatches. And we had find objects of the same color as our swatches.... well it wasn't that bad. i got a few nice ones here :

Week 3. Comments on Miriam Stannage : Sensations

I was standing in the gallery, weeping as I was gazing into the eternal benevolence the artistic compositions. Well not really. But I did find it incredible errrr... awesome (super duper, really really great). It was a true mixture of creative works and technology. My true favorite was the light switches on the wall. I was totally blown away with an interactive piece of art. To be honest, I have never thought very much of art galleries. I always thought it was just a bunch of dumb paints of really crazy people. Its either I was a really stupid kid or the galleries I have been to were really shocking. The galleries have made me think about art in a totally different way. The contemporary works really intrigued me. Those lights are so fun to play with. Although it is a work of art on its own, its like so cool because you can make you own piece which is totally unique. It makes me want to buy 50 push lights and stick them on my wall. Unfortunately, I have no money. So, I just made a cute little animation for what I think it would look like.

It animates if you click on it!

Aww… if only I did have that, that will be cool. I think the artist’s intention in creating this piece of work is allow for some amount of randomness. People will “play” with the lights to make a pattern of some sort from time to time. They will write their name, make simple shapes or patterns. In reality the artist hold ownership of the piece, but we are really the designers in this piece.

Week 2. Comments about "Case of the Color-blind Painter" by Oliver Sacks

"Case of the Color-blind Painter" by Oliver Sacks tells a story about Mr. I, a 65 year old artist who runs into a misfortunate car accident. It soon comes to his attention that he had completely lost his sense of seeing color. Even for a normal person this must be devastating, but for an artist... it must something that goes beyond my words. I feel sorry of the poor guy. He absolutely adores color, and his life and livelihood revolves around color. I think it’s bad enough watching Schindlers' List for two hours.

The text gives initially painfully and unpleasant insight to Mr. I‘s damaged receptors. The value of colors in things that normal people do not appreciate at all become obvious and disgusting, as described by Mr. I. Through many tests and procedures, the narrative provides us with information that color, is not necessarily physically existent, but created in our own minds. Sure enough I knew that different objects emitted different wavelengths of light, but it did raise questions to why objects appeared differently in alternatively lit environments. The article did clarify some of these issues, but then conclusion raised a few more… so it’s helpful, yet now I got more things to think of.

The text does throw a lot of scientific facts at you, and I do feel they are very long winded and sometimes it there leave me in a daze. I did do a humanities degree, not a science course. Nonetheless, the facts presented about how color is how we perceive things really made me come to a realization about how we view things.

As a designer, I think it’s fair to say that without color, we will be stuck on a very two dimensional plane. Void of life and relevance. In the texts, colors is defines as our total experience and how it is link tour own values and categorizations. The relevance of the texts is that we should not take color for granted and really start looking around and remembering colors. We need to learn to absorb their emotions that are associated with it.

Rather than saying what everybody else saying about how sorry we feel for Mr. I, though he is in an unfortunate situation, I’m going to go on a tangent and prove the much lesser quality of the world if we were not given the gift of color. We couldn’t even picture the mere thought of color, it’s like a forth dimension that that never really existed. There will be a definite void of variance in nature. I don imagine a grey rainbow or waterfall is really pretty. However I guess it will be perfect of a robot world. Everyone does their job and everything is formulated. Designers, if they would even exist, will have to be really creative with shapes and tones. Therefore, based on the world that Nordby and Mr. I described, life would be pretty dull without color (pretty dull… hmm punt intended).

Week 2 Studio.

mmm week 2. We played with ink and just randomness take place. Well can it be any more simple. Pour ink on paper. Fold paper in half and wala! I still made a mess though. :(

Heres a few that I liked :

Arh this one reminds me of those gates you walk through when u enter like China town. Or ever like those Chinese tourist attractions. I don't know how many are in Australia, so I hope you guys know what I'm talking about.

This one is my favorite. Its so unique you can so many things from it. It kind of reminds me of your funny glasses you can wear with the moustache and nose.

This gone is like two mystical creatres(like argolyes or something) whom are just about to fight. Or you can see it as a blot of ink on a piece of butcher's paper.

After that we traced over magazines, which was fair enough.

I tried to stay away from detail and only get the general shape of the figures in the magzines. I liked this exercise.

Do you have the need for speed? Well if i was in a car i suppose it would be ok, but I'm a really dodgey fast drawer. See for yourself.

No comment.

Well the last one was an activity where you would put random dots on a piece of paper and your would have to forge an image. You could say I took the easy way out, but I like it.

Week 1. Comments about "How to be Idle" by Tom Hodgkinson.
I was thinking about this challenging text recently. It goes and proves that modern society has become is almost a blur of routine and redundant work. We live out our lives with specific goals. The only focuses are those goals and the journey is forgotten. We cannot negate our emotions and impulsive behaviors in our world. Or we will become far too formulated and precise, why don't we just become robots?

An important part of being a designer is to observe the moving world around us and stand out in the crowd. When many are walking up and down a busy street, I am certain many of us will miss out of fascinating things. Pasting by inspirational art that can be labeled as graffiti, the beautiful range of colored flowers that the florist hand picked, and the list will go on. This reading is very relevant to us, because once we get too caught up in a busy world, we start to lose inspiration. Creating and designing, I would imagine, for designers is fun and enjoyable. If we ever lose our passion in that and the only drive becomes money, I believe the quality of work will also diminish.

Well one day I decided to take a walk in the park nearby my house. It’s odd that I can rarely find the time or effort to walk 5 minutes and take a look at the beautiful scenery. But anyway, the sun was setting and the wind was dying down. I came to a stand still when staring across the azure sky as the sun drifted into the distance. It was one of those moments I dearly wished I had a camera. The mix of reds, blues and yellows was extraordinary and natural. The gentle breeze was nice and refreshing as well. It was as if I had entered my own reality.

Recently, my sister who is rushed for time asks me if I want to have a walk in the park. I reluctantly agree, but I decide to take my time and enjoy the park at a slow and steady pace. However she was grumbling and saying things like time was of the essence and we need to get all we can out of the park in as little time possible. We jogged past the same spot I was when I saw the sunset last time. It was neither as spectacular nor enjoyable as the last visit. I would like to believe that is due to my sister's rush for time that we are not able to enjoy this scene, and hence I feel that there was no point of coming to the park.

I have come to an understanding that staying still and taking time to absorb the environment around us. It is important for us to return to times when we were children and the world is ours, and no one else is boss. Through this our work will be better and our quality of life enhanced.