Commue
2.18
Today we are going to the Old Spitafield Market. Even though it was Monday, there were still a lot of people. It is an indoor market with shops neatly displayed. The rule we set for ourselves today is that we can only spend 20 pounds in this market. It's a big market and it sells a lot of stuff, so I thought it would be an interesting challenge. We went around the market so much that we visited almost every shops. Except food, there were many jewelry, artists also selling their works and some shops selling many different materials. It's really hard to make a choice, we even want to buy everything. After walking for a long time, we decided to buy 3D postcards. We think postcard is also a kind of artwork. It is beautifully made with rich details. More importantly, we can find some postcards which related to the theme of our project, from which we can find inspiration and some references. We bought four postcards in total, which is exactly 20 pounds.
2.19
The second market we went to was Portobello market, which was full of antiques and curios. The rule today is that we can only buy one item here. This item should be liked by both of us, and it had better be related to our projects. Portobello Market is also a big Market. It's a long street with different shops. Compared with the weekend, there were fewer people on Tuesday, but this is more conducive to our research. After several hours of searching, we bought a phrenology sculpture. We think that we have spent so much time looking for something we both like, and in the process we are taking our own feelings and considering each other's feelings, so this item should be related to emotions. The brain is directly related to emotion, and my project is also related to the topic of emotion. Therefore, we all think the phrenology sculpture is the best choice.
2.20
In the last market, we chose Camden market. It is the largest market in London, which is composed of three markets. Today, I mainly look for stores related to my project theme and do a survey. Many people in this market sell their own handmade works. I found many interesting items related to my project, which include woollen dolls, illustrations of emotional expressions and collages of busts. However, my biggest prize was a shop called CYBERDOG. This is a store with a future theme. I found a lot of rare materials related to my project. I also found many applications of "lines". It provides a lot of new ideas for my project.
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3.11
Today is tutorial time. I talked to my tutor about my plan of this week and some of my project ideas. The feedback I got in one word was “ the theme was too large and abstract.” Most part of my project is based on human emotions, and I want to use illustrations to show the changes of emotions. My tutor advised me to choose only one emotion for further study. I finally chose "autistic". The reason is that the plot of my illustration of this project is my own experience which my phone was stolen. In this experience, the emotion of "autism" lasted the longest and I feel most deeply. I'm going to do some research on autism and find some illustrations of similar emotions.
3.12
I did a lot of research on autism today. Not only focusing on the mental illness, but also the related artworks, such as autism posters and illustrations that inspire autistic people. The more were emotion-related illustrations. In these illustrations, people can feel very strong personal emotions. I found that in order to express the emotion of "autistic", the first thing to do is to make the image looks dark and do not use too many different colors. The picture should not be too complicated and need to highlight the theme. The main object of the illustration does not have to be a person, it can be some similar object (e.g. lock) to instead of an autistic person.
3.14
Today I mainly focus on the research of knitting artworks. To be honest, I'm not good at making knitted handwork, and I haven't done many similar works before. Therefore, I need to think about how to use it in my final outcome. First of all, I can't make it too complicated, because I cannot finish it well and it will waste too much time. I made some small wooden frames and tried to make some patterns on them with wool. I found it very difficult to control and the number of patterns I could weave was very limited. I learned about the different methods of knitting and tested it on sketchbook. In my final outcome, knitting should be combined with illustration, so I need to choose a faster and more adaptable knitting method.
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4.1
Meme have become an independent culture. There are also many memes about autism. It is mainly aimed at the sentence "I am autistic". This sentence is slightly different between Chinese and English. The Chinese pronunciation of this sentence is "wo zi bi le", which literally means "I closed myself". That’s why there are a lot of memes that are very intuitive to express self-close. For example, the unopened lotus flowers, shut themselves into the suitcase or huddle in the corner and so on. It provides me the idea: by drawing something close, it could be a metaphor for the autistic mind.
4.4
Today, I talked about my project with my friend and got a lot of suggestions. I realized that my research focus was not the real autism. I'm actually looking at the expression of emotions in daily life. Back to my source of inspiration -- my phone being stolen. I would describe my feeling as "autistic" is because of the daily mantra "I'm autistic". This sentence actually want to express "I'm not happy right now." It's also a way to get comfort, relieve stress and motivate myself.
4.5
I adjusted my proposal. The topic of emotions is really large and abstract. Through the conversation with my friend yesterday, I realize that I am actually studying "communication", not "emotion". I changed the nature of autism from mood to language. This makes the direction of my research and project become more clear and the topic more suitable with my major. I deleted the description of emotional changes and added an explanation for the sentence "wo zi bi le" (" I am autistic "). However, I will keep the art form (illustration+knitting) of the final outcome.
Iconographic Explosion
2.25
Today we started a new project, but this project is based on PPP. We have to draw many icons. Icons are very common in life, from mobile phone icons to clothing patterns are inseparable from icons. From my own impression, I draw some icons I like on sketchbook and find their characteristics. In this way, I can design my own icon faster and better. I designed a pupa to express the emotion of "autism". However, the pupa is cracked, which means to break the cocoon and become a butterfly and start new life, which is a kind of emotional change. In the design, I used the form of word map to show my thoughts, so that I could clearly see the changes of my ideas.
2.26
Another challenge in this project is that icons which we designed have to be continuous patterns. It means that when you print it out, each piece of print can fits together seamlessly. I thought it would cost me a lot of time and energy, but tutor taught us two ways to design the drawing. One is to use tracing paper to provide auxiliary links that are convenient for patterns. However, I thought it was easy to make the drawing dirty, so I chose another way. The second method is to cut the paper to draw and then splicing, although there will be a little aching when you cutting your own drawing. However, this is undoubtedly a fast and accurate method.
2.27
It was time for the excruciating glue plate. This materials we used this time is similar to a rubber seal. People around me used to engrave it when I was in junior high school. Unfortunately, I didn't join them at that time, otherwise I could be more skilled this time. I thought we were just going to use an ordinary paper cutter, but there was a special one that could be used. This blade is curved and can easily scrape off the plastic board. Even so, it was hard for me to control. Moreover, there are many pupa in my design, which are round. I think it is very difficult to carve a smooth pattern on the plastic board. However, it was a great experience to be exposed to different materials and art forms.
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3.18
We need to create a scale artwork in 1㎡. It need to based on our own personal projects. I drew four layouts in the sketchbook this morning. These are the representative objects in my project, include the boy who can't speak, the wool, the lock and the pupa. I finally chose the lock because it works best among the four objects in a large area of drawing. The other three objects have too much details. The lock is representative and intuitive. The background is black, which can better express the atmosphere of autism. I chose white pen which has the strongest contrast with black to paint the lock, highlighting the theme. I used reflective black materials to make some small squares. It can enrich the picture and not abrupt. I chose the golden acrylic ink to rich details. These patterns represent the hopes and minds of autistic people, who are creative and imaginative despite their autism. Gold paint can show this kind of feeling.
3.19
In the morning was scale project crit. I looked carefully at the work of my classmates. My favorite one is really special. Most of the works are flat, maybe pattern or some interesting paintings, but this work is directly placed on a chair, at least the form is very conspicuous. There’s a pair of jeans on the chair, stuffed with straw and with a hole in the crotch. A hand which holding a pen stretched out from the hole. There’s a sign next to the chair and said "art fucks me." I think this work is very creative, I can see that the author is a person of great ideas. She is good at expressing the abstract subject concretely, which can make people clear at a glance.
3.20
I have been reflecting on others' works since I saw them yesterday. I think my work is just not bold and the form is not rich enough. I like drawing very much. In most works, drawing is my main way of creation. I really enjoyed the process of drawing and tried many different drawing methods or used different materials to draw. However, I think this is not enough, the art world is so broad, the creation form is far more than drawing. I should try my best to get out of the limit and do something more daring. Sometimes, we don't need to pursue the perfection of details too much. We should pay more attention to the overall feeling of the work and express our thoughts accurately.
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4.8
I compared the mantra "wo zi bi le" to the real autism. They are different in many ways, the biggest difference is the cause of this state. Through my research, I have learned that autism as a psychological illness, may come from genetic or family causes. Saying "wo zi bi le" might just be a little unpleasant. People with true autism we may not be able to distinguish them. People who is saying "wo zi bi le", we can easily feel his/her emotions, because this is what that person try to show to us. They also have a lot in common such as feeling depressed and don't want to communicate with the world, and the biggest common is that they all need people's understanding and care.
4.9
I did a survey online, asking people when do they say "wo zi bi le." Answers are ranged from losing a game to failing a test to walking with friends but cannot join the talk. I've even been told that my current state of being uninspired is "autistic". Among them, I think the answer of "no words with friends" is the best, because it's most associated with autism. Not only this thing makes people feel sad and depressed, but it’s also cannot communicate with anyone. It’s a feeling of isolation, and a deeper feeling of being shut down.
4.10
I drew a set of detailed illustration of my most autistic experience in sketchbook, which will inevitably appear in my final outcome——my phone was stolen. Iconographic Explosion project was also based on the mood of this experience. The despair and anger after the phone was stolen and the happiness of eating and shopping with friends formed was in stark contrast. This was originally drawn as a main plot in my final outcome which express the changes in human emotions. However, for the further study, I only chose the emotion "autistic".
Kamishibai
3.4
The name of this new project is KAMISHIBAI. I was not really understand the meaning of this word, it should be a Japanese word, but I know we are probably shooting a video. The theme still need to be based on PPP, but this time we don't have to create an original story, we can use others stories. However, I think choosing a story is more difficult than creating by ourselves. It has to fit the theme, the story has to be better, and it has to be practical. Finally, I chose a Japanese song, called "僕らの手には何もないけど、" (Although There's nothing in our hands) . The song described a sheep mother who misses her dead child so much that she doesn't want to do anything while lying in bed. When the lamb sees this in heaven, she shears all her wool and makes a rope and comes down from heaven to see her mother one last time. I think this story is very touching, and the key object——rope in the story is also a kind of line with the theme "Lines" of my project.
3.5
My tutor's suggestion for making this video is to shoot stop-motion animation. At the beginning, I plan to use some objects to directly represent the characters in the story, such as leaves, flowers or just a piece of paper. However, I want to make it more neat, that’s way I chose paper cutting. In terms of material selection, besides the common colour paper, I also used felt . The reason is the main character is a sheep, felt's texture fits the character's Settings. The Colour paper is mainly used for backgrounds and small things. After taking photos, I decided to use digital drawing to complete the video. One of the best parts of Digital drawing is that we can adjust the transparency so that my video is smoother and could have more details.
3.7
Today is crit day, and I have read many of classmates’ works, though most of them are only half-finished. Some students chose to shoot the video in an abstract style. The image is very beautiful, even different clips are played at the same time, the background music is also very good to listen. Although this kind of video cannot understand the plot or what the author is trying to express without explanation, it still does not hinder its excellence and value as a work of art. The other type of video is simply storytelling. One of my favorite is a stop-motion animation that a classmate shot with flowers and a poem as the background. In the film, there is even a scene where the petals fall off one by one. The plot and image is very smooth, which shows that she is very patient. With the melodious background music, the overall style is quiet and touching, I like it very much.
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3.26
When I was writing the spring break work plan, I reviewed my works since part 3. The previous several projects were based on my personal project. I think the pattern (Iconographic Explosion) is the most suitable one. The pupa expresses the state that an autistic person refuses to communicate with the outside world, while the butterfly expresses that the person overcomes the psychological barrier and accepts the reality to welcome a new life. However, I think if I don't explain or add an annotation, most people would not associate it with autism. The video of Kamishibai project is the mother sheep is unwilling to communicate with others because of the death of the lamb, which is a state of autism. In addition, the important ropes in the story are related to my project title "Line". However, the atmosphere of the whole work is actually not depressing or autistic. Beyond that I think this story can bring people touching and hope, including those autistic people.
3.27
Today is Group tutorial. I told my group mates about my project. They suggested that I make the final illustration into a booklet and print it, just like Charlie Brown project. However, I didn't like it very much because I wanted to create a texture difference by combining knitting. People can feel the difference between different materials, rather than a piece of smooth paper. However, the booklet has its own benefits, allowing people to have a good viewing experience, print more than one book and store them in a convenient way. All in all, it's a good suggestion, I'll consider it.
3.30
I started to develop ideas on sketchbook and decide to start with myself. I drew a lot of images of my own feelings about autism. I was asking myself: “What am I thinking and wanting to do when I am in this state? ” When I feel autistic, the last thing I want to do is find a place to hide. Hide myself in a closet or cover my head and I can't see anyone and they also cannot see my face. Pretending to be a corpse is also a good choice because no one cares what a corpse is thinking or how she looks. However, no matter in which state, I really want someone to comfort or care about me.
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4.15
Today is crit day, and I found that everyone's work is basically completed, and I realized that my efficiency is very low. My favorite work is a long painting, which I estimate to be at least five meters long. It's about the production of artificial people. In the dark factory, watching the human beings grow out from a little bottle. The image is bold and has a strong visual impact. She used black background, but used the fluorescent green is to paint, reflecting the dark and depressing but fancy atmosphere.
4.16
Tutor suggested put my illustration into a booklet again and I accepted it, because in my online survey, I've collected so many different situation of saying "I'm autistic," and I want to draw all of them. The original set of five A2 illustrations may not fit that well, the picture might be crowded. The booklet was enough for me to draw so many scenes, and connect them together into a complete story.
4.18
One thing missing from my sketchbook is the process of selection. I have never understood what’s that mean. I was thinking “do I have to have examples of failure? “Now I understand that the process of selection can also refer to the process of test. I used sketchbook to test different white paints and the glue. I found the pigment ink white to be very good to use with the white colour pencil. Pigment ink white can be used to paint rich details, while colour pencil can be used to paint natural shadows.
4.20
I had a problem during drawing. Colour pencil can make beautiful shadows, but it is also very easy to smudge. After the drawing, accidentally touched or turned a page, and then need to redraw. I chose to put a piece of acetate between two pages drawing. Acetate is very smooth, it can protect the pencil powder. After I finished all the drawing, use fixative spray to fixed them, it’s very convenient and safe. I didn’t add knitting to every illustrations. The reason is silk thread with glue looks very bad, no matter which kind of glue will leave a very obvious glue mark. I finally chose to draw the red line with pen.
4.23
The last step is to make the cover. The style of cover is consistent with the inside pages. It's all black background with white words and red lines. The cover can be more exaggerated and conspicuous than inside, while I need to consider about protection. Fortunately, the original cover of the cardboard is hard enough. I planned to use silk thread to complete the cover design, but after the experiment, I found that the silk thread was really inconspicuous, so I directly used the red wool. The effect is better than I think. The wool is thick enough so it can cover the glue mark. I still put the main element of my project—lock on the cover. I choose to put the Chinese pronunciation of "I am autistic" which is “wo zi bi le” in the front, because this sentence more popular in China at present. There is an English translation at back, so that people can understand its meaning.