Room with a View
Exhibition Text:
My piece was configured differently many times, but the meaning was always focused around the feelings that arise when you visit the lake. To be more specific, the feelings of being closed in, but then tranquil. I wanted my piece to have elements that provide a closed off feeling when you first get there. Then, as your eyes travel further along the piece, you become peaceful and tranquil. I thought that this would appropriately demonstrate emotions brought on by the lake.
Meaning:
The meaning behind my piece is the feelings that arise while at Lake Michigan. When you go to Lake Michigan, most people feel peaceful and calm. The sound of crashing waves and the soft breeze make people feel a sense of tranquility. But, when I go to Lake Michigan I don't feel this as much. When I go to the lake, I feel some sense of tranquility, but I also feel closed in. This is mainly due to the water being so overwhelming and large. I wanted to represent the feeling of being closed in, but also being somewhat peaceful when you get past the feeling of being closed in.
Artist Inspiration
"Guggenheim Museum Bilbao." Encyclopedia Britannica , 10 June 2016. Web. 31 Mar. 2017. <https://www.britannica.com/topic/Guggenheim-Museum-Bilbao>.
"Guggenheim Museum Bilbao:Frank Gehry." CSU, n.d. Web. 31 Mar. 2017. <http://cua6.urban.csuohio.edu/~sanda/pic/travel/spain/basque99/bilbao/>.
The artist I chose to emulate is Frank Gehry. Frank Gehry is a Canadian-American architectural artist. He is known to have designed the Walt Disney Concert Hall and the Guggenheim museum. He is known to use bold, postmodern shapes and unusual fabrications. Gehry was interested in unconventional shapes and materials since he was young. This highly influenced my piece. I decided to emulate the outside of the museum. The bold, geometric shapes reminded me of my emotions while at The beach. The geometric shapes seemed sort of unnecessary and I enjoyed that. I liked the way the pieces just created problems for the viewer of the museum. I also liked the closed in feelings the slabs gave me as a viewer.
Journaling, Planning and Process
My first idea while planning was to just focus on the emotions of peace and tranquility. I thought that since the emotions I feel aren't everyone's, a person may be able to easily identify with the piece. I decided against this idea because it didn't really interest me. I finally decided on incorporating both elements of being peaceful and being enclosed. Both emotions/ideas would give my piece more depth.
Planning Sketches:
This first planning sketch is basically the one I enjoy most. It starts out with the narrow tunnel to a large open area.
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This second sketch I also enjoy. It focuses more on the curves of Gehry. This is just a bunch of rooms/open areas.
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This last piece also starts with narrow areas then gets larger. I thought this was nicely done on the board. It also represents the emotions depicted.
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Experimentation:
These are perspective pictures. I wanted to demonstrate a human to the height of the walls.
Planning on board:
This first picture is one of my first ideas. I eventually decided against this because I wanted to focus on the emotions and their relationship with the lake.
This next one was my second idea. I wanted to have it start smaller then finish big. I liked this idea because it demonstrated the emotions that go along with the lake as well as the geometric shapes of the Guggenheim museum exterior.
This next one was literally only curves. This one, by far, demonstrated Gehry as my inspiration. I liked this one but it doesn't aptly represent the emotions that go along with the lake.
This next one I am not to fond over, but it does represent the feelings brought on by the lake. You can have two pathways or the two emotions I chose at the lake: peace or overwhelming.
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This image was more of an experimental one. I tried out spirals. They did not work out so much. I thought it looked very generic and when I finished, kind of looked like a face. I don't really like this but it demonstrated some different, more experimental ideas.
This next idea was representative of the emotions that go on during a visit to the lake. I thought it looked nice as well. This idea focused more on curves to represent Gehry.
This one is also representative of Gehry. I liked this one because it represented my inspiration, both the exterior and interior. The curves on the sides were bothersome, which I liked and coincide with the emotions at a lake.
This next piece is very representative of the emotions brought on my the lake that I described. I think it looks nice and also represents Gehry. The curved lines represent the peace or vastness of the lake. It also represented the interior of the Guggenheim museum.
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Actual Process/Tools:
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The tools that I used were cardboard, X-Acto knife, chip board and wood glue.
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Comparison:
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My final piece and Frank Gehry's museum are similar in multiple ways. One way they are similar is the way curves are used. My entire piece really focused on either harsh or soft curves. My piece was also similar to the Guggenheim museum because it had geometric shapes. The exterior of the Guggenheim museum has a geometric shape, much like the end closest to the black "water". Our pieces are also similar because of the color scheme. The Guggenheim is mostly black, white and gray. My piece is black and white.
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Reflection:
I am, overall, very proud of my piece. I think it correctly emulated my inspiration, mostly due to the presence of the geometric shapes. My piece looked clean and neat as well and it didn't have too many unclean sides. One problem that I had was cutting the board. The board was thick and if you cut it even slightly incorrectly, the sides would look messy and unclean. I used a kitchen knife the first time which worked pretty well as long as it wasn't serrated. Another problem that I had was cutting the chipboard. It was very hard to cut since it was stiff. It was very difficult to cut. The last problem that I had was getting the board to stick. I used both slits in the board as well as glue. A success I had was making the sand. That part took long to cut but it looked great in the end. Another success I had was keeping everything clean and neat. This was no easy feat because cardboard doesn't just cut neat.
Questions for MIAD critique
1) How does your work create a relationship between land and water?:
The open, vast feeling when you are near to the end of my structure represents the openness of the water/lake. The closed in feeling represents how overwhelming the lake is, how much bigger it is then you.
2) What feelings will people have upon seeing,entering, and walking through your structure?:
The feelings of unease and overwhelm will be the first emotions you see when you see my structure. Entering my structure, you will get a sense of claustrophobia or the feeling of being closed in. Walking through, you will slowly feel the structure opening up and lastly feel peace and tranquility.
3) How does your structure relate to our world physically as well as with our mind?:
In relation to our world physically, it represents the lake and the vast, openness of it. It compliments the land with the soft feel of the structure. In relation to our mind, my structure gives off the feelings that may go through your head when looking at the lake or being in the lake.
4) How does your structure embrace the lake?:
My structure embraces the open feeling of the lake. It embraces the unpredictability of the lake and how overwhelming it feels to be near such a vast body of water.
5) How does your structure use the fundamental architectural components of:
Path- the structure has walls that lead you, in a path, towards the water
Portal- the structure has two openings/portals, both giving off different emotions
Place- the structure gives you a sense of place by the closed in walls and the direct path you follow.
6) How does your structure embody meaning?:
My structure is closed in at the beginning of the piece and open at the end. This embodies my meaning of the lake being overwhelming, but after a while it becomes peaceful and tranquil.
7) Describe at least three meaningful decisions?:
One meaningful decision is having the piece closed in at the beginning instead of at the end. I originally wanted to demonstrate how peaceful the lake is when you arrive, but then slowly turns overwhelming as you walk towards this great body of uncontrollable water. I thought that it would be better reversed because it makes more sense and more aptly represents the water. The second meaningful decision I made is choosing to have three sand masses. I originally planned to only have two, but changed it to three so it would be more representative of the uncontrollable, overwhelming feel of not only the water, but the sand. The last meaningful was actually adding the overwhelming part to my structure. I was only going to do peaceful and serene at first because it is more relatable since more people feel comfortable around the water. I decided to add the overwhelming sense as well since it should reflect the emotions of myself as well as others. Containing both in my piece became the most approachable and effective option.
ACT Questions:
1) Since my inspiration used curves and geometric shapes, I used curves and geometric shapes.
2) Gehry believes architecture is an important art form that should reflect the "aura" of the space.
3) A generalization I made about people is that architecture can effect how people see the piece as well as the mood they have.
4) The central theme was nontraditional architecture.
5) The way the place is structured is very important to the mood and aura around a building.
2) Gehry believes architecture is an important art form that should reflect the "aura" of the space.
3) A generalization I made about people is that architecture can effect how people see the piece as well as the mood they have.
4) The central theme was nontraditional architecture.
5) The way the place is structured is very important to the mood and aura around a building.