User:Esra

Esra - For the Present - Martin Margiela, 1989 Martin Margiela was a very anonymous person. He did not appear on interviews and did not show himself to the outside world. His models would often have masks on their faces as well. He was a man focusing solely on his products. I like his necklace made out of broken porcelain. This piece has inspired me to make an art piece as well and in it I want to recreate the wires he used. I like the way that the porcelain are put together with the wires and how they form a new composition that is very different of what they used to be. The porcelain pieces are forced to become a new form, to adjust to the new environment. This piece also made me think about memories. It was as if the person who wears the necklace was keen on having his precious porcelain with him at all times. It was a sacred memory he wanted to keep close to him. For me memories also come from sea shells. Vacation is a time that is remembered with a lot of warmt and positivity by many people. Vacation on a beach has a very symbolic object as well: the sea shells. As a kid I would always love to collect the most beautiful sea shells to take home with me. I want to create a piece with these sea shells and wires. By using existing objects like Margiela an putting them in a new environment/form, I want to create a new piece. The nicely intertwined wires will form around the ball of sea shells. In this ball of shells lies the memory but it is not visible to anyone, what is inside this ball is a mystery (just like Margiela who is a mystery). Around the shells the wires will form a barrier between the viewer and the shells. Nobody will be able to reach the shells, it is something private and mysterious. It is a memory and for everybody has a different meaning. If only you could listen to the shells from up close, they might then provide the sound of the sea…

Past - Anna – Man Ray It is very interesting to think about useless products. While I was looking for inspiration, I stumbled upon a lot of modern products that were made but never really used by people because it just made the task more difficult instead of making it easier. It was a bit more difficult to look solely at the past. What would be an art piece around 1800 or prior, that was playing with irony or criticism? Just like Man Ray in his time. I ended in the Middle Ages. I have always found this period very interesting because it was so weird to see how people could fall into a dark pit like that. How they forgot about all their knowledge and their good, modern habits. The motto Memento Mori was something that was depressing. People were reminded that they would die. Time had a new meaning. Living life to the fullest was not really something that was valuable anymore. With the art piece I wanted to criticize this man made concept of time. We should live how we desire and have joy while doing so. We should really make something of our lives, reach successes for ourselves. So that is why I want to make a clock without pointers. A clock without pointers is useless but it does push you to look for the natural and the internal clock instead of the man made clock. Don’t focus solely on Memento Mori but look at the Carpe Diem perspective as well.

Second idea: The Middle Ages were very dirty times, people lived filthy and messy. Hygiene was unknown and it had bad consequences. Many people died quicker because of this, during operations/childbirth or because of diseases. To criticize this, I want to make an art piece with a block of soap in a glass box. This box does not have an opening. People cannot reach the soap, so they will not reach hygiene. This product is therefore also useless, the glass around it will prevent the use of the soap.

Future - Guido - Peter Struycken Thinking about anonymity versus the identified in relation to the future, I was thinking about how people would want more and more anonymity in the future. Our faces, data, likes and dislikes, everything, is known on the internet. Especially if you are active on social media. People like the online attention and they like knowing about others through social media, yet we get (sometimes mildly) scared thinking about the scope and power the internet actually has. Especially because it is somewhat new and so unknown. It is logical then that people want to have a mask, to hide themselves from the camera’s. Twenty years from now, almost 40% of the population of the world (rough guess..) will be using a Google Glass sort of machine. I want to create a device that is also an accessory for the head. It will be a device that we depend on heavily (especially if it can be attached to the Google Glass), just like how we depend on smartphones right now. I want to incorporate anonymity in this sleek and minimal accessory. If a strip of light can be implemented onto the accessory, it will make sure that the light will block the eyes from the camera’s. This light can be turned on or off and will be dimmable. It won’t affect the eyes of the user since it is on the forehead (I tested it) but it could be irritating to others. This is why it should be a soft light or a strip that functions as cat eyes. It is a thin device and this way people can still be themselves because you can see the rest of their face. With a mask, their whole face will be blocked, however with this idea, only the eyes will be blocked for the camera’s. By blocking the eyes, the person will be very hard to identify.