Brief - Research, design and illustrate the ‘MUSEUM of ME’. (That’s it).
6 Week project.
My original idea for this project was to showcase my future ambitions and messages i want to share with the world. Since being at university, my interest of ways we communicate and send messages have risen to the surface. As an illustrator, we are trying to communicate ideas and information to the world in our own unique language. What interests me is the history of human interaction and how technology affects this.
Everyday life is bombarded with information and messages; Internet ads, those REALLY ANNOYING spotify ads, e-mails, texts, facebook updates, post, conversation. Technology has created new ways of communication, therefore in today's society we have a choice of how we choose to communicate.
I never thought as myself as a 'tech' person. I often feel frustrated and senseless when using some technologies. i.e. computer always has a problem, wasting hours looking at a screen. There are days where i feel suffocated and drowned with information from all directions. But i hypocritically go on my computer everyday and spend a fair amount of time on my phone. This is not by desired choice. I try my hardest to only use these tools for communication, music and receiving information from my tutors. I feel i have to change and adapt myself to live on this day and age. I have to learn to deal with my frustration, learn how to stay active, learn how to avoid mislaying important information, learn to seek ways i can fully relax (this is where i think mediation/yoga should step in) and learn to accept i am not alone with these anxieties.
I don't like the idea of spending 'leisure time' on the computer i.e socialising, reading, playing games. Everything has gone digital and i think people need to peel there eyes off the screen for a moment look back on when people were being present with one another. I don't not hate the Internet. I feel very lucky to have a tool that enables me to delve into archives from years ago, listen to whatever music i want, watch whatever i want, find out about anything i want! And it's ALL AT THE CLICK OF A BUTTON! WOW!
But i am just a little concerned on how it's affecting our way of life and well being. It's the power if the Internet which i find alarming and at periods having no control over what your exploited to. After a certain amount of time using these objects i feel drained, numb, achy and tired. 'A day at the office' is what i like to call these computer filled hours.
I never crave the newest version of things as i think 'well what happens to all the 'old' versions?' Probably get dumped in a big hole in the earth somewhere that's where. Fair do's if its broken (which of course it eventually will, as most machines are built to break after a few years, ridiculous silly madness i tell you!). Being an avid recyclers/hoarder/collector, i like to look back on old technologies to see how they fitted in with the social and cultural aspects were happening at the time. I find the fast paced nature of new technology bloody scary. There is a computer now that is apparently as intelligent as the human brain. Meaning it can feel real human emotions. I find this hugely unnerving. Can you fall in love with a computer? Digital love? Computer love? (According to Kraftwork you can) Our consumer culture instructs us to think we need the latest version of everything. But we really don't. When is this rapid influx of technology going to take a breather and think about what is needed of our day and age?
RANT OVER.
Coming back to my MOM piece, I'm aware it doesn't communicate my resolved idea. My final concept was inspired by Marshall McLuhan's 'Meaning is the Massage' book. He says that each medium is independent of the content it mediates. It has its own intrinstict effect which is the unique message. This led me to look at the movement of Fluxus artists. They created flux boxes which contained objects, drawings, letters, games and printed empherema. As i collect similar things, i felt i could emulate this way of representing my ambitions, messages and past times using the medium itself. I wanted the piece to be interactive, so the viewer can be part of a sensory experience - an experience i feel is missing in our digital world. I wanted them to touch, smell and look at the messages. We treasure material objects, like letters and postcards, because the way we receive and transmit them.
Reflectively, i feel the piece came together as i came back to my main idea of 'who would be my messengers', but this time using my collections and findings as the medium. My intentions of creating a tactile and sensory experience was lost, however, i enjoyed making the scenery and characters for it. I wanted to included pieces of paper in an envelope that had my messages written on, for the viewer to take away. However, i couldn't logistically find a space within the narrative composition. Instead, i created rubber stamp stickers for people to keep. The stamp idea steamed from looking at examples Mail Art, where many of them created their own stamps. Stamp collecting and designing is an area i would like to explore further in future projects.
In previous projects, my work pattern goes as such: usually spend too much time in the research/early development stage, which leaves me little time for final development and making. This happened again in this one too! I often felt i was reading irrelevant text, so I'd stop reading and start searching again. For future reference, i need to have a more specific subject and to use the resources efficiently. It was only in the late stage of this project i really got my teeth in something i felt very connected with. I also wish i branched out my sketchbook more and experimented visually rather than just note taking. This would have avoided feelings of being unproductive.
I would like to continue developing characters as i really enjoyed it but left little time for it. I'd also like to continue using photographs as a medium for creating another image. I could look at the Dada artists manifestos to further this interest.
Tape horses RULE!
^ My personal zebra messenger through the years : )
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Keri Smith, The Guerilla Art Book,Princeton Architectural Press, New York, 2007.
http://www.ubu.com/sound/mcluhan.html - Audio recording of Marshall McLuhan's book The Medium is the Massage Columbia Records, late 1960's.
Tom Philips, The Postcard Centuary London: Thames and Hudson, 2000.
http://www.postcards-letters.org.uk/index.php/picturethis/pt
http://www.logolalia.com/mailart/archives/2006_11.html - Dan Waber Mail Art.
More pictures from assesment viewing>
^ The post-its where to give critical feedback for the project. Sami left me a blank one - speechless!
^ The exterior of the box is supposed to emulate a computer, a macbook in this case, playing on the idea of a computer being the dominant tool of how i/we communicate.
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