MR
Contents
Research Report
Minor Digital Craft ’16 /’17 Emma Rijk – 0880827
Intro
I am a spatial designer using the minor digital craft as a tool to create work that follows my vision and goal.
My goal is to help people find hidden wonders, magic, and beauty. My vision is to provide an escape from a stressed society that people experience every day and give the user dreams and aspirations.
I see many people who are strained from their overbook schedules and constantly feel like time is running out. Beautiful inspirational quotes on the internet continuously telling us that we only live once to make everyday count, live each day like it is your last; are frequently used as inspirational quotes. Only rarely do I see a true hedonist. How do we integrate our thoughts about the pursuit of happiness and make it a reality?
Digital Craft helps me seek ways that bring the poetry from my work through the autonomous side of the minor and combine it with the technology and craft I need to give my work the hidden wonders, magic, and beauty that I set out as my goal.
To amaze people with my work I had to experiment hands-on and think innovatively, only then could I create something that has not been seen before, yet stays close and true to my vision and goal.
Description Minor
The first semester evolved around experimentation, trying out different solutions to the weekly assignments. The three projects resulting from does weekly assignments have varied widely in their outcome. Looking back at does projects, I see elements that caught my interest and an overall source where I derived my inspiration from. The works do not feel finished or representative for portfolio work, but that was never the aim, knowing that these projects are guidelines and not graded works allowed me to alter my working style. , I would say more out of my comfort zone and prone to failure.
The second-semester work is inspired by several elements that came up in the previous semester,and combined with my research on origami that was done in my first study year. These aspects returned throughout my work in the following years. The second-semester work is derived from the elements that caught my interest in the previous semester's experimentations. Not only the weekly assignments brought inspiration, the personal statement written at the end about my current stand as a designer and the direction I see myself going brought much enlightenment at that moment and still guides me throughout my research and physical work.
Radiation Projects
Quarter 14 (the first half of the Minor) evolved around the theme radiation. Three different kinds of radiation have taken their place:
- Week 1-2: Electro Magnetic Radiation
- Week 3-4: Light Radiation
- Week 4-5: Pattern Radiation
Electromagnetic Radiation
The electromagnetic radiation project contains two parts. The first part is a searching/research component consisting of a written research. This part is produced in collaboration with Pascalle de Jager (lifestyle designer), the project is created in one work week.
The second project is created in cooperation with Pascalle de Jager (lifestyle designer), Boris Smeenk (graphic designer) and Rens van Pinxteren (graphic designer). In the second project, a more practical approach was taken, the research made beforehand was used to produce a project within a timeframe of one week. The project has been on display in the Scheepmakerswerf in Rotterdam. The project is shown for three days and has been used and reviewed by many people from Willem de Kooning Academy and the public who have been invited, or people that only walked by and wanted to spontaneously investigate. The presented work was part of the welcoming week of the autonomous practices in the graduation year. Not only the Digital Craft department represented themselves through this one week project, but also all the other departments of the autonomous practice took their place and presented their one week project in this three-day exposition.
First project The central research question: How do we 'claim' things we cannot even see?
There are electromagnetic radiation waves that are claimed for political causes but also commercial purposes. A known example when this happens is radio waves. There are radio signals owned by big corporations such, as the military, who use these frequencies to communicate. These waves are not to be used by anyone else, when entering these frequencies without authorization great amerce will be taken.
The commercial waves are sold for huge amounts of money. As we got to learn more about these invisible waves and their power and effect in our physical world, we started to take a stand in the research.
In this research, we found this kind of 'claiming' strange and wondered if it is ethically responsible. Why would one person be allowed to use something when someone else is not? This piece of text describes our thoughts:
We are all working towards something. Contributing and being a "productive member of society". But are we? Are we master and creators of our own life? Or simply a cog in the machine, working and following the rules, the protocol. Never seeing the end result. A OS that dictates our life, telling us what to buy, what to see, what to fee and who to follow. Am I being paranoid or am I observant? I care about what they tell us not to worry about. Don't worry, as long as you follow our rules, we will take care of you, we will keep you safe they promise. But are we being kept safe or being controlled? One thing is clear; privacy is becoming more and more of a luxury. And maybe in time the most valuable commodity
Because we are being controlled by such powerful corporations in so many different ways, we sought ways to take back the power, meanwhile taking the electromagnetic radiation theme along in the plan.
We found electromagnetic radiation all around us and several types of research seeking a link between radiation and the possible harmful nature of it. Many of the researches shed light on electromagnetic radiation and health issues, but the question remained, how do we claim our health back by protecting ourselves against electromagnetic radiation? This form of radiation lives all around us, we cannot live with it or without it, howerverhow can we protect ourselves?
The answer is found in a device that is used for boats, this round object bounces off unwanted electromagnetic radiation that could disrupt the radio signals coming in and out about boat traffic. The device is shaped like a sphere with many angles; it is placed on the tip of the boat. The device allows the waves to rebound off from every angle through its form and material. When a signal enters the boat, it is bounced back in the exact direction it came from.
Inspired by this device, we came up with a ‘body jewel’ that covers the face and ears. This device can be worn to bounce off all electromagnetic radiation that would otherwise enter our bodies. Unfortunately, we did not have enough time to create this body jewel since time was scarce. My teammate and I are still interested in this theme and hope in the future to continue this project with the aim to create the body jewel and test the functionality of it.
Second half of project
The second project made for Electro Magnetic Radiation is called ‘Soul Of The Machine’. The research of Pascalle de Jager and I have been combined with the research Of Boris Smeenk and Rens van Pinxteren. Both types of research are focused on the critical side of electromagnetic radiation.
Our approach in this project was to bring people in contact with electromagnetic radiation in an interactive way. The goal is to create awareness about electromagnetic radiation and thus motivate the audience to ask questions, allowing them to gain knowledge and take a stand on whether the effect electromagnetic radiation has on us is detrimental to their way of life.
In the experimentations of Rens van Pinxteren and Boris Smeenk they made an electromagnetic field meter. After focusing on this meter, we found a way to make an electromagnetic field meter out of an old radio. The old radio made sounds when it came close to electromagnetic radiation, each object sounds different and would increase in volume as the radio came closer to the object emitting the radiation.
At first, we thought the sounds coming from the radio were annoying and recalled memories of broken devices such as ‘snow’ on the television when a channel would have no signal. We were unsure whether to continue working with these sounds as they may be too ‘unattractive.' To continue the research, we collected as many objects which emit radiation so we could make an ‘orchestra’ of different sounds which would eventually be put together in a more attractive combination of sounds.
The question that arose was why we would need to make something ‘beautiful’ and ‘pleasing,' because as far as our research went, the electromagnetic radiation had neither of these aspects. We decided that the raw sound of the objects should not be ‘romanticised’ but rather left in their natural state, this way the electromagnetic sounds are kept closest to their actual nature.
We decided to create a stick with a sensor located at the tip that collects the radiation from surrounding areas, and a headphone that is connected to the rod in order to translate the waves into sounds. This way the user can walk around on a ‘radiation investigation tour’ finding hidden sounds everywhere.
Because the work is presented in a shared space and our work could disrupt other projects, we had to come up with a way to bring the electromagnetic devices that bring all the interesting sounds to the user. The big discussion has been whether we should present the objects in a ‘collection way’ so they would be presented as jewels in a cabinet, or if we should place the objects loose in space through an experience route.
At first, the ‘jewel cabinet’ plan was chosen as a presentation form, but as we entered the space, we noticed that the cabinet did not communicate as we had desired. The second idea was then the optimal choice for our presentation layout,, the experience route. When the people came in to see our work, and they began to interact with the pieces, we were content that the second presentation option was chosen.
The responses on Soul Of The Machine have been surprise, astonishment, curiosity, enthusiasm, inspiration and fear/criticism. People were afraid of the extent these waves had dominated their health and the health of their loved ones. A few of the responses were: ‘’Can my dog hear all these sounds throughout the day?’’, ‘’Does this mean I need to throw out all my old devices?’’, ‘’Do you think diseases such as cancer come from these waves?’’, ‘’Maybe we need to find an alternative, so we do not need these electromagnetic radiation waves anymore’’.
We were pleased and surprised with the comments given on Soul Of The Machine, our initial goal had been to create awareness, however, the participants gave us more than that, they gave input, showed their vulnerability and sought support and knowledge with us; the makers.
Second project
The second-week project evolved around the radiation theme Light Radiation. This project has been done in a two work weeks’ collaboration with Marjolein Stassen (graphic designer) and Lars Noback (Audiovisual designer).
While gaining knowledge and inspiration about light radiation we stumbled upon photo development. The aspect of photo development that caught our interest was how pictures are developed with light but also in time are broken down by light.
The approach in this project has been to gather information and using the interesting results as inspiration to start new experiments so they can eventually be combined and used as an impressive result.
The experimentation started with an analog camera that we used to make pictures of our surroundings. After the pictures were taken we developed the pictures in the dark room. We were all unknown with the development process of photography, so we all had to learn that process from the beginning.
As we were getting to know the development process we made a few fundamental ‘beginner mistakes’ such as skipping steps of the development or leaking light on the pictures. Instead of dismissing these pictures and aiming for the perfect development process of the images we were interested and inspired by the ‘faulty’ ones.
The pictures made with development ‘faults’ were unique and surprising in their outcome. With that knowledge, we decided to focus on ways to change the development of photo-development.
After an extensive range of experiments, we came up with a box that could be used in the process of developing pictures. The box uses different templates that control the ‘light leakage’ during the development, the box also allows several negatives to be developed behind each other, this resulted in one developed picture showing several negatives through each other.
We were captured by the surprise of each outcome and the individuality the development gave to pictures that would otherwise be less authentic.
Third project
This project is an individual project themed pattern radiation. From previous projects, the interest for gathering information and translating them into a visual result arose, especially information that cannot be perceived with the naked eye. Because this project is the only assignment made in an individual form, a personal take on my work became of importance to me.
While combining information that can only be found through a unique medium, with the individual form, inspiration of gathering information about myself that that would otherwise not be seen with the naked eye came as the next step in this project.
The first experiment has been done with a microscope. I explored myself through the microscope while taking pictures of the microscopic images on my face, hands, and arms. The images showed all kinds of patterns created by different structures of my body. As I went through these pictures, a feeling of vulnerability and nudity washed over me. Never have I felt so intimately exposed on pictures before. I then realized that the collection of these microscopic images that I shot had created a very personal portrait of myself.
Because these pictures are so intimate, their presentation requires an individual approach. The display form would need to bring the user close to the work, close enough to create a face to face intimate connection to the work.
Glass is a material that can be used to work with opacity differences. After a few experiments with glass, the microscopic pictures and glue as a medium, the idea to trace the lines of the pictures with the glue on the glass came to life, with that outcome the next steps were focused on semi-opacity mediums to copy the patterns of the images on glass.
Carving on glass came up after some research into that area. Carving glass creates the right patterns in low opacity so the viewer would need to get close to the work to see, yet the patterns would remain identical to their source; the microscopic pictures.
Because the patterns are delicate, thin lines, positioned near each other and require exact copying in order to stay true to the original, this method was discarded, the material did not meet up with these criteria, the density of the material would require too much pressure and so details would get lost and the possibility of the glass breaking in the process was too high.
A material that did meet the criteria was a sheet of transparent plastic used as a substitution for glass in picture lists. The material can easily be carved and has the same transparency as glass.
Because the work represents an intimate self-portrait, a portrait list was used as the outer frame and the foundation for the carved plastic sheets. Through transparent wiring inside the outer frame, a structure was spun that could hold the carvings without distracting the viewer from the carvings.
The result was a portrait that shows only in the right light and distance, a very intimate portrait of myself in ‘a secret language’ unless someone explains that the patterns carved in the plastic were duplicated from microscopic images someone would simply not understand what it is they are seeing.
Intimate Self Portrait
Intimate Self Portrait
Intimate Self Portrait
Intimate Self Portrait
Approach Final Work
Everywhere around us we see people in stress, time is always in shortage while expectations rise to unknown heights. There is a never-ending stream of information trying to catch our attention, such as social media, advertisement, traffic, friends, school, work, sports, family and so on. With so many things going on in our everyday lives our brains become overwhelmed and solely seek ways to get things done as fast as possible.
When there is enough time to get our daily tasks done in a non-stressful tempo, we handle our work differently. Not only the quality of our work will increase, but also the inventiveness/ thinking outside our comfort zone, eye to details, and self-education which will result in the growth of knowledge and skill.
Unfortunately, there is not an easy solution to creating more time and less daily tasks. There are plenty books, courses and other helpful resources that look for ways to organize time in a better way, thus creating more time for the ‘important things.' The problem with these ‘solutions’ is that they try to resolve the problem with the problem, let me explain.
Example:
You need to get your work done, but you cannot focus because of the household that still needs to be done and the children that seek your attention.
The solution that uses the problem:
Give the kids something that will distract them long enough so your work can be done. Explain that you need to work and close the space you work in. Write down all the chores of the household that still need to be done so you can let go of them in your mind until your work is done.
My solution:
Becoming inspired and focused on your work derives from inner peace. When you see your own well-being as important as all your daily tasks you will find more success in everything you do. My work creates spaces and objects that will change the well-being of the user by interacting with it. You can see it as charging yourself with something that has nothing to do with everything you still need to do. After the interaction, the user will be ‘fully charged’ and ready to continue the rest of their day. Definition of charging people: Giving energy, de-stress, clearing the mind, becoming inspired, relieving muscles, fantasizing, feeling emotions, controlled breathing.
Alternative healing methods
Alternative healing methods have taken their place in previous of my works. These healing methods focus on behavioral exercises. The complexity and form vary per requested result.
For instance, in one of my previous projects, the assignment was to create a healing center for ADHD patients. To create the perfect environment for such patients, an alternative method of healing had to be found, one that could be implemented in a spatial design. From the research of healing methods, a strong alternative healing method arose. A method that does not use medicines which can be harmful in the long term, and are widely debated about whether they improve or decrease the value of lives of many children and adults who take these medicines on a daily basis. The name of this treatment is mindfulness.
Mindfulness, the exact definition: the quality or state of being conscious or aware of something.
It is known as the leading healing method of ADHD patients without medication. Mindfulness makes use of behavioral exercises that help the ADHD patient to become aware of their environment and themselves. The activities derive from yoga.
This is the goal of mindfulness:
a mental state achieved by focusing one's awareness on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting one's feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations, used as a therapeutic technique.
Source: google> mindfulness> definition
To implement this healing method in a spatial design, every important part of the healing process was taken apart and examined on his own. The most important parts have been translated into a spatial design. All the different elements came together in a full experience through space in the end.
The conclusion of this example: An alternative healing method named mindfulness is translated into a spatial design. Through this design, the patient can interact with the space, and so heal itself with mindfulness exercises implanted in the experience.
The collective goal in all my previous works surrounding the alternative healing methods and illusionism is to ‘charge people.' Charging people is a term created by myself, it means giving people energy and the right set of mind to approach all their problems in a more functional and inspiring way.
To get people to that stage, some options can be used. Through research in the past years mostly innovative healing methods have proven to work well with spatial design. Other designers that have made similar like work have also inspired my work to lead in that direction.
Examples of designers that used alternative healing methods in their work:
‘’Alexandra Stück's Herbal Kneipp Textiles use scent to promote wellbeing, these textiles by Design Academy Eindhoven graduate Alexandra Stück are infused with different remedial herbal scents to make the wearer feel calm, focused or horny.’’
Conceptual office swaps chairs and desks for experimental work landscape. Medical research suggests that too much sitting down can be bad for your health, so RAAAF and Barbara Visser have developed an experimental office that encourages workers to lean, perch or even lie down.
‘’ Slotted beneath two railway arches in south London, the Burrell Street Sexual Health Centre was designed by Urban Salon to provide a non-clinical environment that encourages more people to come in for a check up.’’
Cox Rayner’s university health centre, Cox Rayner's university health centre aims to reduce anxiety in patients. We were told early on by the professors at the university that there is a very high anxiety associated with the dentistry profession,Cox Rayner Architects director Vallance explains in the film. We looked at ways to reduce that. Casey Vallance of Cox Rayner Architects explains how the firm used natural materials to create a calming environment inside a dentist training facility in Brisbane, Australia.
Sama Vritti
The alternative healing method used in Breath With Me is derived from Sama Vritti.
In several of my works the de-stressing theme arises. With does, projects research came, and they all had different conclusions to the question: ‘How to help people de-stress.' The binding factor in these researches is that they all seek for alternative ways of helping people, through research about existing methods and seeking for possibilities to use their strongest elements,combining them, and incorporating them in a spatial way.
Definition of Sama Vritti:
Sama-vritti is an equal ratio breathing technique practiced by making sure that the inhalation is the same length as the exhalation. This may be facilitated by a mental count to ensure the evenness is maintained. Vritti refers to the fluctuations of the mind, and sama-vritti is generally thought of as a soothing, calming and centering practice, which helps to calm the mind.
https://www.yogapedia.com/definition/8594/sama-vritti
The most common exercise of Sama Vritti is the four counts in and four counts out breathing rhythm. That means breathing in for four counts and breathing out for four counts.
This breathing pattern has been used in Breathe With Me. Through the communication of the single light stripe moving up and down, the rhythm of the four counts in and four counts out has been set. When moving your eyes with the movement of the stripe and focusing on Breathe With Me long enough, the audience will synchronize their breathing pattern with Breath With Me. When interacting with Breathe With Me the viewer will experience relaxation, a clear state of mind and revitalization.
Breathe With Me is a work that will be presented in an exposition where people walk by, and so the audience has limited time, that is why the work had to be easy to interact with and pull people in from a distance. Breathe With Me is not only easy to interact with, it is also mesmerizing because of the light projection that bends the light over all the shapes of the origami.
Origami
The medium used to create the wall piece for Breath With Me is Origami.
Origami, known as a folding technique originating from the Asian culture. With many different styles and possibilities, this technique has made numerous influences throughout the world. Patience, craftsmanship, knowledge, rituals, storytelling and skills are the elements popping up around origami.
Flexibility, no additives (such as glue or tape), strength, beauty, and movement are the qualities that arise when using origami as a building tool.
Origami is the craft that has caught my interest from the first moment I incorporated it in my work. As a major student in Spatial Design I always seek for more environmentally- friendly, functional, aesthetically pleasing ways of building. Origami has a broad range of possibilities and yet to be discovered techniques and methods of application.
Origami and craftsmanship go hand in hand, mastering the techniques of origami can only be learned by continuous repetition and dedication. Origami is unforgiving, and so no mistakes are allowed, the cleaner the fold and the fewer mistakes, the stronger and more beautiful the result.
My interest has firmly gone to the more modern origami, where simplicity is in abundance, and the emphasis lies on clean lines and repetition of simple forms. Since the application will be structural, strength becomes inevitable. After experimentation with traditional ornamental origami versus the modern version resulted in the last overruling strength-wise.
Origami and Light projection
While seeking for ways to combine Sama Vritti with Origami, the concept of light projection on structures similar to Origami came by. The light projection is in the form of a projection mapping.
After folding a few small examples of origami and projecting light on the models, the result came clear. The origami has such strong shapes moving in all kinds of directions, that the light bends around the forms of the origami.
The next step was to see how the light projection would do on a big origami piece. From the small examples one certain fold did specifically well, and so that shape created the base for the form of the origami large wall piece. The small experiments revealed that when the creases are too big or too small,the light either bends too much in little shapes so it cannot be seen or too little, so the effect is lost. Also, the material of the origami was hard to get right; it needs to work well with the light and also stay in shape for a longer amount of time. In previous projects, the material ‘stucloper’ did very well with folding and staying in shape. After a test with the light it also responded well, the decision was made to create the large origami wall piece out of ‘stucloper’.
When the folding started off, one particular shape did well, a repetition of that fold was a natural next step. The piece became three meters wide and two meters long. To test the responsiveness of the wall- installation a beamer was installed and projected towards the piece. The light did bend, but not as much as the example, the folds were too big. The benefit of working with origami is that it can expand and contract as much as you please, so within seconds, half of the piece was reduced. When the piece was smaller, the light effect responded as hoped.
Origami and Sama Vritti
Incorporating Sama Vritti with Origami became the next step. The light projection is the communication tool to bring people in the right breathing rhythm. After trying a few existing videos on the origami piece, the conclusion was that a simple line works the best. The one line works from several sides of the origami piece and has the strongest light-bend effect. With that one line, my challenge was to make people breathe in the right rhythm. The first projection made was a very simple line moving from right to left and back to the right for an unlimited time. In the end piece, the projection was chosen as the strongest, except it was rotated 45 degrees, so the line moved up and down instead of left to right.
That simple line running in such a simple way made the strongest effect, not only with the light bending around the origami piece but it also hypnotized people the most, resulting in people breathing in and out with the movement of the line. The line moves up – people breath in, the line moves down – people breath out.
Breath With Me / Final Work
Breathe with me is a project made to bring people out of their daily stress. I believe that focussing so much on work, the constant pressure restrains our minds and bodies up to the point of non-growth and simple functionality. I would like to see people step out of their comfort zone and seek for better/different ways to achieve success in their lives. Not only will we all become prone to failure, but we will also allow ourselves to be surprised by our potential possibilities and achievements.
Breathe With me is a wall origami piece, projected on by a beamer that creates a single line moving up and down. The line is warped by the shapes of origami lying underneath while creating a hypnotizing, spatial light show, which captures his viewers from a distance up to nose length.
When interacting with Breathe With Me, the viewer will sub-consciously breathe with the piece and eventually become part of a breathing exercise called Sama Vritti, the longer the user interacts with the piece, the more the mind and body will come to ease.
In the end, the user will be brought to a stage of relaxation, focus and be revitalized.
Presentation
Breathe With Me has been presented for four days in Slash Gallery, located in a side street of Witte de Wit Street in Rotterdam. Slash Gallery is a new collaborative initiative of performance bar and the space owners of Slash Gallery. Performance bar is an artistic bar that allows all kinds of people to perform pieces they developed themselves. The bar has a stage and seats, so both performers and audience have the right tools to make the best out of their evening. The gallery space is located in front of the performance bar and has a steady flow of people coming in and out from the lively street Witte De Wit. Slash Gallery has the right light equipment and technicians to make a technically correct exposition. The gallery owners are aiming for young, innovative designers to fill slash gallery.
The studio is naturally light, with white walls and daylight coming in from the windows on the street side. Because Breathe With Me is a work that uses light projection, all that light in the gallery would not do well with this project. The solution was found in the back part of the gallery called ‘Performance Bar.'
Performance bar is a dark space with black walls, in the middle there is a bar that can be approached from all angles. While entering on the right wall, two panels hung from the ceiling that is commonly used for painting performances. After communication with the owners of performance bar the art pieces could be taken down from the panels, and so space was free for Breathe With Me.
The panels were covered with more ‘stucloper’ to give the background rest and coherence with the material of Breathe With Me.
The beamer projecting the stripe going up and down is placed discretely in the bar. The origami piece has been put on one of the panels.
The bar was conveniently set for the work since it offered seating places and a relaxing atmosphere that encourages the public to take their time to see Breathe With Me and slowly interact while slightly being hypnotized.
The light on the origami pulled the audience in to come closer and see from different angles what is going on. While ordering drinks, you could see that they slowly took more time to take in Breath With Me, their eyes would eventually move up and down with the light stripe, to me that was a sign that the interaction with the piece is made.
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Graduation Plan
The goal of my graduation project is to create work that suits my vision and goal entirely.
My goal is to help people find hidden wonders, magic, and beauty. My vision is to provide an escape from stress society experience every day and give the user new dreams and inspiration.
The plan is to use the best parts of my previous projects and gather them, so they become the best project I have made so far. The end project I have created for Digital Craft and Breathe With Me will become the primary starting point.
After I spoke to some people in my environment about my graduation project the advice to ‘stick to what you know’ and ‘use this project to show how good you are, do not open doors you have never opened before’ have brought me to think of my view upon graduation.
I understand that my graduation project needs to show my level of skill and knowledge which has developed over the past four years. However, a big part of who I am as an artist consists of my curiosity to find new techniques, possibilities and to try out new things. If I would stick to what I know (as someone told me), then my graduation project cannot become the best project I have ever made, it would miss the most important part of my drive, which is to always seek for better and different ways to approach my goal and vision.
I do however plan on using my previous gained skills and interest to create the foundation for my graduation work. At this moment I am sure about using origami as a medium since this has become an important and skilled craft of mine over the past years.
A possibility I have considered is to use Breathe With Me in a more spatial way. A few comments from the audience on Breathe With Me during the exposition in Slash Gallery have been ways in which I can apply the technique of folding and light projection on buildings and sculptures. In the approach to my graduation project, I will start from this point and move onwards with new insights and experimentation.
Epilogue
It has been difficult to stay true to my vision and goal with the theme Radiation. Radiation tends to the more negative, heavily loaded discussion side which is not how I see my work. It was especially at the beginning of the Radiation projects where I had difficulty finding ways to make the theme radiation my own. Radiation is not only a complex topic to understand with all the sub themes connected to it (electromagnetic radiation etc.) it was even harder to create a project I felt satisfied with that remained within the topic and stayed true to myself.
When entering this Minor, I expected more freedom as an artist, in the previous practice quarters there has been more space to create work according to your own inspiration and motivation.
The working method in the first quarter did work very well for me. The short projects and weekly assessments helped me find my way. I learned to work fast, make mistakes and step out of my comfort zone. Each week all the other students showed their work and talked about their proceedings and findings, which inspired me and motivated me to keep up the fast and efficient working rhythm.
Breathe With Me has been created in a short amount of time. I would have liked to seek for more ways of application with the origami and light projection mediums. The potential this project has shown me did, however, give me a good start for continuation in my graduation project.
First and foremost I am a spatial designer, and I have had trouble using my knowledge and skills of my major in the small projects of Radiation. This partially had to do with the majority of my fellow students being graphical students and so by collaborating with them, the approach of experimentation and producing became a mix of mostly graphical work.
Breathe With Me is a project that came together as a good starting point. The elements used in this piece have come together because of my experimentation in the earlier quarter. I would, however, like the work to be more spatial, this could possibly have to do with my environment. I want to grow in becoming more independent, so my work can differ from the people around me yet still be inspired and spatial because of it. It is important for me to stay close to myself, in order to be that I need to find similar projects and like-minded people in the making of my graduation project therefore allowing me to reflect and improve.
