Domains, Precedents, Research
Domains of Interest:
- Fabrication
- Sculpture
- Digital Modeling
- Surrealism
- Animation
- Satan
- Data Visualization
- Anti-comsumerism
Most of my projects in college have been dark and sometimes surrealist pieces leaning toward satire and novelty rather than commercial marketability. Pieces such as my Bus Water Bottle Top and my Walpurgisnacht could have been taken in more utilitarian directions but instead were made surreal or dark. This mask also falls into the domain of Satanism.
Most of my projects have had been influenced by surrealists and occultists. This started earlier with my love of HR Giger‘s works, as well as the works of Polish artist Zdzisław Beksiński. I think this stemmed out of my dislike for easily accepted things because of their tendency to become commercial products. I have always abhorred the commercialization of society and the tendency to forget the impact of one’s own consumerism.
However, as a designer, my projects have been more refined and less emotionally raw than their source material. So I started to look for precedents for my domains of interest.
Precedents
HR Giger
HR Giger’s art works include several sculptures and two bars that he designed. The first bar, located in Chur, Switzerland I visited while I was in Europe.
The second one is in Guyere of the cheese fame. Both of the bars interested me because of their “biomechanical” nature and dark themes in physical form. I would like my capstone project to include some intersection of the occult and fabrication.
Freehand Profits
While I’m not as influenced by this artist, the mask I made was heavily influenced by the use of shoes as well as the “gas mask” aspects of it. His masks are usually made from brand name sneakers and are made in collaboration with the companies. While being a shill is the last thing I want to do, the corporate tie-ins I would like to emulate but in a sardonic manner befitting our post-Andy Warhol art world.
Felix Colgrave
This animator does some wildly strange animations that often have dark themes such as Pigpen and Double King. His most known piece is rather tame comparatively.
Others
http://www.emojitracker.com/ – Tracks all emoji usage on Twitter in real time
https://mewo2.com/notes/terrain/ – Generates a random fantasy map
Research Questions
My research questions should somehow incorporate the domains that I’m interested in. I would like to ultimately have my project be some sort of data visualization art piece that is dark and surreal.
- How often do people think about the impact that their personal consumerism has on the world?
- How much would people change their buying habits if they were more cognizant of their effects?
- How edgy can a piece of industrial design be and still be commercially viable?
- Could interactive art be used to change buying behaviors?