Research(And complete and utter lack of direction or ideas)

After quite a bit of thought, and research into climate, bees, and the state of the world's flora, I've come to a single conclusion: I have no idea where this project is going, nor where I should take it, or if I even should bother continuing in this direction as opposed to starting anew, or if I could even come up with another idea that would even be half as far fleshed out as my current line of work (that admittedly isn't even fleshed out at all.)

~I can't think of meaningful ways to tie the scenes together.
~I can't think of meaningful interactions with the piece, using traditional input devices(mouse + keyboard) or special input devices (touch screen, pressure pad, ect.)
~I can't think of a backstory or concept or anything that would make this piece anything more than a complicated flashy toy
~And honestly, the more I try to figure it out, the more I try to think about what I can do, the more I start to freak out, and the more my thoughts become a constant stream of "I don't know what to do I don't know what to do I don't know what to do..."
~And beyond that, stepping back and trying to take my mind off it doesn't help, because it either stays in the back of my head and freaks me out because I'm not actively thinking about it/working on it, or leaves my mind completely, and the freaking out due to not working on it all hits at one time once I remember about it/try to work on it again.

As such, I have signed up for Heather's office time tomorrow at 9 a.m. Also hoping that because I've signed up for the office time, and because I've put up this post that's basically a cry for help, maybe some idea will just come to me, though I doubt it.

Design and Testing

Up to this point, I have managed to get a base landscape planned out, and although I plan to revise the artwork and style a bit, especially as I move into scene into multiple versions of itself (differing times/states), I am rather happy with what I have currently:

It's a bit tough to try and resolve the ink-style painting with the woodblock style, or color, or honestly even itself. Further research into the sumi-e style has given insight to multiple different approaches.

But being as this is an early stage model that was intended more for layout reasons, so I'm not so worried about getting the style exactly down as trying to nail down exactly what I want for the style, and being able to start loosely laying out objects on a page.

In fact, I currently have a test page that is mostly laid out, and I've been fiddling with javascript interactivity, though more in an attempt to remember exactly what I'm doing than anything else.

Unfortunately, I also lost about an hour and a half of work time to an attempt to create a subtle animation of the big yellow tree (like a light rustling in the wind). Mostly I learned that that the liquefy filter in photoshop does some weird things to an image besides the intentional distortions.

Progress for Monday: Sept 16

Spent the weekend writing down interaction words (such as push, pull, kick, grab, ect.) and words that were actions that created change (Destroy, repair, crush, erode, build, so on...) and trying to think about how I could incorporate different types of physical interaction with my piece that could have a meaningful effect on the environment in my artwork.

Admittedly, I had a bit of a block, but I'm starting to piece together various ways I could make it work (such as a pressure pad that a viewer could step on near the first scene that could maybe crush some plants, causing some changes in flora, such as type, placement, size, or abundance, in the future scenes).

My goal is to have a range of consequences that range from minor/natural (for example: trampling of plants creating a natural path over time) to long term disaster/devastation (perhaps building a city in the distance that causes enough pollution that plants eventually just stop growing)

Obviously the exacts are still being figured out.

I've also started work on creating the primary scene for this artwork. More on that when it get's further along.

BFA Contract

What I'm working on:

I will be working on a multi-page interactive website that will be displayed on multiple, side by side computers, each displaying a different page. Despite the multiple computers, and pages, this will be a single work.

The concept behind this piece is unintentional consequences, or more specifically, the idea that an action not only has an immediate, obvious consequence, but can have potentially far reaching consequences that may be difficult to connect to the original action. This will be in the form of three to four environments that are connected in some way, most likely, the same area at different times in history.

The final result will be visually reminiscent of the sumi-e brush style, but with more of a focus on color that will be used to visually distinguish between different states in time.

As for the final format of the piece, it will be displayed on up to four computers, side by side in the gallery space against the wall.

Production Equipment:
Drawing Tablet
Scanner?

Display Equipment:
4 Computers with necessary accessories (keyboard, mouse, power cable)
Pedestal/platform/table that can hold each computer side by side

Calender Dates:

Mon Sept 16: Have necessary research/plans finished/ Have preliminary environment design finished
Wed Sept 18: Have expanded original design into variations for different time periods


Mon Sept 23: Have fine tuned designs for interactivity.
Wed Sept 25: Have significant progress on the piece's back-end code.


Mon Sept 30: Make sure all sites are at least laid out correctly.
Wed Oct 2: Have 1 page's interactivity started

Mon Oct 7: Formal defense
Wed Oct 9: Formal defense


Mon Oct 14: Have at least one page's interactivity finished, and another page started.
Wed Oct 16: 2 pages finished.


Mon Oct 21: Third page at least started, if not significant progress/finished
Wed Oct 23: Third page finished. Made progress on forth.

Mon Oct 28: Forth page done.



Wed Oct 30-Dec 3: Revise artwork/debug code/add more interactivity if possible.

Mon Dec 3: Final Presentation of completed work to DA faculty
Tues Dec 17: Final Exam/Body of work due in Exhibition Format

Self-Assessment Essay

Interactive art is most definitely my strongest medium. My technical skills with designing, drawing and digital painting are not as strong as I would like them to be. To make my art stronger, I create the strongest visuals that I can, and use coding, a skill I find myself more proficient at, to push my artwork to new levels.

Theme-wise, I find myself inspired primarily by ancient Japanese mythology and traditional East Asian art styles, such as shodō (Japanese Caligraphy), sumi-e (Ink wash painting), and ukiyo-e (Woodblock print). I often find myself trying to create interactive environments as well, trying to avoid leading the viewer, but instead trying to invite them to explore.

Style-wise, Tenshō Shūbun's artwork provides a great example of the type of artwork I draw inspiration from. He had painted some absolutely beautiful ink landscapes.

BFA Strength's Presentation

Just leaving this here for quick/easy access in class:

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/13GSjKUROj949pgQCycJScVafwwGeSRKlWn9ZioWT0Yg/pub?start=false&loop=false&delayms=3000