Artist statement

For my first design project I worked in a design team with Noble Stultz. We created a modular relief wall hanging/room divider. Our wall hanging was inspired by architectural structures along with shadows. As a design team we both really enjoyed working together and the end result of our project. We enjoyed the depth our piece had when hung with natural light. One of the hardest things to do technically was to find the best way to link the pop-ups together without them getting flat. We tried different things but ended up using jewelry links to connect them all. The idea of structure and unity really informed our work process. Another issue we had was if we should incorporate black popups. As a design team we felt that the black was just thrown in and we would like to work more to find a unified way to incorporate it. The pop up itself had a simple structure but when repeated it created unity as a whole. In the end the piece plays a lot with the depth it creates when held up to light, the shadows play within the structure. This was not something we originally planned for but I really enjoy the way it turned out.

My second project was to create three different serial plane samples and one curvilinear foam core sample. For both of these projects the biggest technical challenge was keeping the construction clean. I feel my serial planes transition nicely through different organic shapes. The vertical one I had more trouble getting the same fluid transition. By adding more planes it really helped the transition. The curvilinear structure was based off of diagonal movement. My structure experiments with different materials to create a different kind of interaction with the structure and for stability.

Last was an architectonic sculpture with re-purposed materials. My concept for this project was nests. Originally I chose this because of the structure and the way that nests incorporate many different materials to build a whole. As I researched I found more that nests are for protection, they are a home. I took the idea of protection or a safe heaven and created a nest. This nest has a serial plane structure that helps keep the structure while keeping the idea of a structured home. The inside of the nest is a warm, safe inviting area while the outside is protected, it has a harder look. The material on the outside is still translucent enough to see both the structure and the inside. My sculpture has a nice balance between hard and soft. By taking the concept and letting it develop on its own I feel my piece became more successful then my original design.

Book 3&4 Reading

1. Describe interaction and stability in 3-D form. What is the “three plane rule?” Give an example?

Interaction is the way that planar forms mix or connect with one another. Planes do 3 different things: meet at a common edge, one edge could be adjacent to another, planes could pass through one another. Stability is the way that the structure holds its self up physically. Using the “three plane rule” is the simplest method for achieving stability. It states, “a stable structure results when any three planes meet so that each plane interacts with both of the other planes. 

Raw Edges

LEMA

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2. What is an environmental plane and planar structure? Give examples and describe it.

Environmental plane is a space where a planar object finds itself and the object is experienced. Planar structure is any surface that is mounted. 

Vladimir Tatlin

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3. Define an architectonic form. List three examples given in the reading: 

Architectonic form is a specific category of planar form, it is a formal category of architecture.

(A). Regular geometric shapes, using rectangles, triangles, and simple curves

Carney Logan Burke

LSR Preserve, Wyoming

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(B). Primary emphasis, horizontal/vertical orientations and usually orthogonal 

Kengo Kuma

Albert Kahn Museum

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(C). Strong contrast for interior and exterior space, transitions between two spaces.

Vincent Callebaut 

Agora Tower, Taiwan

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4. How can a reflective surface effect the transition of space? 

Reflective surfaces effect the visual transitions by creating illusions of space in a closed surface. 

Mut Design

Zigzag Mirror

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5. How can planes define volume?

Planes divide and shape space, they define volume by their shape.

G. Mazars

Reveal the absence: the unbuilt

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6. Describe the following organizational principles that relate to 3 dimensional forms: (Give your own visual examples)

1. Organization is the overall pattern, the structure that brings the different parts of an object together to create a united, sensible, purposeful whole. 

MID and Playmodes

Radial and Blaus

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2. Synergy shows the capability that can emerge in an organization, “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.” 

Atelier Zundel Cristea

Transforms power plant into architecture museum

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3. Order and freedom, order is the natural direction or instruction that humans create in their mind to create something. Freedom is letting the creation take its own form not being bound by direction. Too much of one of theses can create a dysfunctional design, but one should chose one to emphasize but still have aspects of the other. 

Order

Donald Judd

Chair

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Freedom

Liang Shaoji 

Art of a silkworm's weave

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4. Structure and unity, structure defined in different ways one is an pre-set organizational device that shows the relative position, direction, and scale of all the visual elements in the design (systematic); others include on visual interplay and past experience to create a composition with a sense of order (intuitive). Unity brings balance, repetition with variety, proportion, continuity, focus and emphasis, and economy, together to create a whole in the design. 

Elisabeth Lemercier

Magnetic steel block instillation

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5. Symmetry most symmetry is mirrored symmetry, where one half of the composition is repeated by its reflection to the other half. Radical symmetry is also common in 3D forms that repeat from a central axis. 

Louise Campbell

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6. Repetition within variety is using the same or similar elements to create order in a composition while giving it some excitement to catch attention. 

LMarchitects

Restaurant in Piraeus Karaiskakis Stadium

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7. Rhythm and gradation are important to repetition with variety, rhythm gives short successions in a repetition, while gradation changes the progression of the path. 

Gestalten Publishers

Ink on paper

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