It has been a While

As originally intended, this blog is supposed to live longer than my academic term, and then I get too lazy. Over the past few months, my life has undergone some dramatic yet imaginable changes; as a result, I have gained the courage to express from a deeper, more personal perspective, and the capability of being honest. I can certainly say this period is a milestone of a lifetime. As for now, I am looking forward into the unknown.

Yet I feared the future, I am intrigued by its uncertain beauty.

Light and Movement: Artist Statement

I am going to make this statement a short one, because I realize I do not need to explain this project in greater details after receiving the feedback and comments from critics. People seem to understand it better than I do.

This video is an experimental shorts about light and movement. Please see the following supporting post for the types of light I had studied.

Different Forms of "Light"

http://monkeywtsketch.blogspot.ca/2012/03/different-forms-of-light.html

In genral it is inspired by music and rhythm, and it explores the relation and distinction between the real and the artificial. Furthermore, there is actually only one thing I would love to explain: the lack of sound.

In an earlier post I made, Light and Movement v1.0 in particular, I stated that there would involve a sound. However, as I was working on the project, I realized several upbeat songs actually matches the video very well, and therefore I decided to leave this part open-ended. In the end, I believed our imagination should be good enough.

Lightbox: Artist Statement

This artist statement comes with an important supporting document which is still in progress.

Generally, the lightbox project is a combination of the light, the box, and the back-lit image. The light and box work together and affect the image. To emphasize their significance, I have experimented with colors, in order to alter the light and to reinforce the existence of the box as a concrete artistic object.

The image itself serves as both a summary of an end and an introductory to a new beginning. For instance, the image is thematically connected to the Interior Drawing.  It explores and comments on the possibility to adapt traditional culture into everyday life, particularly to revive the traditional Han Chinese Clothing. Furthermore, the aesthetic aspects of the image was based on the two video works I have completed during the term, including "Flow" and the Light and Movement experimental shorts. I have used similar visual elements and technique to construct the image, such as by using layers and the integration of hybrid media. In addition, this work marks the beginning of a future series which will centers on the Hanfu Movement, and thus the key words of this project is "landing" and "lightening up."

Lightbox v1.4: the Painting

Ma-mian qun (horse-face skirt; 馬面裙)

This was the digital painting I did for the lightbox, and part of the back-lit image. Initially I decided to add hand-drawn elements to the work to avoid potential copy right issues and plagiarism, because the original photo I had in mind came from a famous advertisement of a well-known merchant (in the hanfu sub-culture at least).
Guess what? I chose it because it was quite iconic in the development of modern hanfu.

Courtesy of Minghuatang

Besides, I thought adding personal touches to the work reinforced the aura of the piece, although some might argued that artistic aura was already lost in the new age of mechanical reproduction. Well! At least I had fun painting it, and I truly appreciated that there were maple-leaves pattern per-installed in Photoshop.

A historical relic (important: the skirt was displayed backward)

Lightbox v1.3: Thinking Inside and Outside the Box

As I have stated in the previous post, both light and box are the essential complements of a lightbox. They are as important as the back-lit image. Moreover, because the sensitive nature of light itself, and the reflective characteristic of the painted surface, all of the complements needed to be taken into account when constructing the object, in order to attain the desired result.

Communication between light and the image is crucial. The box serves as a medium for light to travel, and thus it has significant effects on the latter and then the image. When I was told that I could actually do something different to the box, my crazy mode was turned on, and thus I added a bit surprise to the work.  I really hope it will work!

 Eventually, I am actually excited for the lightbox now.

Lightbox v1.1: What to Do and What I Want to Do?

This post was supposed to be posted before Lightbox v1.2: Sketches. It is recommended to read this one first, although order does not really matter.

Note: the following came from my paper sketchbook. Even though I had already completed the image at this point, I wrote down the following based on my original brainstorming.

Key ideas:

1. First of all, this work will be a pain for someone like me who frequently moves, so it must be absolutely worthy to keep. 
2. Furthermore, because it is the final project, it is going to be a summary of what I had learned from the past projects. Particularly, there will be either direct or indirect reference on the Interior drawing, Flow, and Light and Movement.
3. It is going to form parts of the foundation and/or prologue for my future thesis.

In details: 

1. Generally speaking, it is going to be thematically connected to the Interior drawing, and aesthetically connected to Flow and Light and Movement.
2. It will directly comment on the Hanfu movement and reflect at least one of the central ideas.
3. It is going to be hybrid: contains both hand-drawn and photographic elements.
4. I am going to use either visual elements directly taken from the past projects, or those resemble the elements used in the past.
5. It is going to be a night scene which includes post modern architectures.

Lightbox V1.2: Sketches

This post was supposed to go after Lightbox v1.1: What to do and What I Want to Do? I had posted this one first because v1.1 was not finished at the time. 

Here were the quick sketches I did before I constructed the final image for the lightbox. At this point, I already had a vivid idea for what to do, so I only did two similar one.

Interestingly, the actual image turned out to be a combination of both.

Lightbox v1.0: Q & A

Why to construct a lightbox?

• Lightbox = light + box = both light and box are important elements to be taken into account. 
• Back-lighting creates a strong sense of luminosity and reinforces transparency.
• The box may represent the inversion of architecture

Some historical，ethnic，and contemporary precedents of lightbox:

• commercial billboard and advertisement such as the vending machine in the Sofa lounge
• cinema
• slides
• tracing on a light table
• lantern

Retrieved from Sina News Center <http://news.sina.com.cn/o/p/2012-02-07/072723892250.shtml>

•  Piying-xi play (皮影戲) or Shadow Puppetry

Retrived from <http://hb.sina.com.cn/news/g/2012-03-19/58241.html>

 I might use the last one as an aesthetic reference.

What does it mean to construct an image?

• creating an artificial representation of space
• if the image is fully based on photos, then it represents a man-made reality which is entirely based on fragments from the real world. How real can it be?
• if the form is hybrid, such image implies the integration of the real and the representational. As the creator, I can control the degree of integration, and use it for the symbolism and/or narration of the work.