Modified Accordion Book

For accordion book assignment round 2, I decided to display some of my interests in a mini gallery. I first drew a symbol or an icon representing said interest, and then I made a label for it. Like a lot of people, I wasn't entirely sure what we were supposed to be getting at the first time around; I think it made a lot more sense after I did it again.

Presentation - Outsider art

So for our presentation in two weeks Sisi and I decided to go with the theme of outsider artists, or artists who have their roots outside of a museum/gallery and the general high art "culture". We started with the idea of "escaping the museum," which later evolved into our current theme based on some suggestions and feedback we got. One of the artists that we're considering is actually Banksy, since he is one of the more well known that fit our theme. For our second artist we will probably try to pick someone who isn't a street artist for contrast.


On a slightly different note, I did an art seminar project on Banksy a few years ago which piqued my interest in him as an artist in the first place:

Accordion Book

I wasn't sure how to really tackle this assignment, but I decided to go with the idea of text and image. I created my accordion book using the following steps:


1. Generate a list of 5-8 adjectives using this website or, if you have an alternate method, use it instead.
2. Illustrate each adjective using colored pencils or markers. Try to create letterforms that embody the adjective itself.
3. Pick a shape. Create four different sized versions of the shape (largest can go up to half the size of the height of the book paper, no more). Repeat the four sizes multiple times. 
4. Cut out the words and the shapes.
5. With the words facedown, pick a random one to start with. Using the cut out shapes, try to illustrate the adjective by arranging the shapes as you may see fit. When you find something that is satisfactory, paste it into the accordion book.
6. Repeat step 5 until there isn't any more space left in the book. Different adjectives and illustrations may overlap with each other to create interesting compositions.


Some things that I looked at for a bit of inspiration:

Post Modern Artmaking

One thing that I found really interesting about some of the techniques we went over in class was the concept of type and image. I'm also pursuing a BFA Graphic Design, so this concept of type and image and type AS image is old hat to me; however, it's really interesting seeing stuff like this outside of my GD courses. I have done quite a few projects in my studio classes where I had to explore different ways we could bring type and image together to create a composition, and we actually explored many post-modern concepts such as fusion, juxtaposition, and layering with our exercises and projects, finding ways to express these concepts using type or a combination of type and image.

 

Automatic Drawing

One example of an automatic drawing.

For my first post, I've decided to explore the idea and practice of automatic drawing. This, along with automatic drawing, are part of a practice known as surrealist automatism. According to the Wikipedia page, this is a way of expressing the subconscious. The hand is allowed to wander in a random manner, allowing the artist to free him/herself from the confines of rationality and logic. Eventually, the drawing may come to include recognizable elements or objects.

For my teacher examples, I'll explore two different ways of automatic drawing and post the results.