J2- Brainstorming Project 1

Project 1: Series of Treated Metal Surfaces in a Theme, Concept Brainstorm

I was given a project in class yesterday to make a series of treated metal surfaces that portray a theme. I jotted down a quick list of about 20 different themes. I think three of them are pretty viable: Space, Childhood and Dreams. I am thinking about imagery but, I am also very concerned about presentation. I think that way you present something really makes a difference on how it is viewed.

Dreams-

I was thinking of the dichotomy between dreams and nightmares. The word nightmares got me thinking of dream catchers. They would make wonderful surface textures for some of my pieces, but, beyond that I was thinking it could also provide a mounting surface. If I made a large enough dream catcher it may be possible

to mount the pieces to it like the beads are placed on it. I don't think this is really a final solution but, I will keep looking into it.

The imagery of dreams would be quite interesting. I was thinking of mixing images of monste

rs with butterflies. The landscapes of dreams are usually very bright and co

lorful mixed with swirling patterns and shapes from all the pieces about dreams I could find. That makes me think of images of swirls and possible patinas that could be placed on the metal.

Space-

This one is more of a challenge for me to conceptualize. I seem to mix space and night together in my head. Images of galaxies

mixed with icons of stars and planets. I was also

thinking of the texture of the moon and the texture of a night sky. This leaves possibilities for soldier inlays and patinas (especially oxidation of the metal). I don't really know how I would present this type of imagery to be honest. It seems to present a challenge because of the vastness of space. It would be like containing all of space in a single form.

I was also thinking about the meaning of night. I could take this into a different direction and do the beasts of night. That could be an interesting mix of textures and forms as well as incorporating some of the iconography of stars and moons that I was thinking of before.

Childhood-

This was inspired by two images of butterflies that I saw while looking into the subject of dreams. Childhood presents a lot of different images depending on what gender the imagery is targeted for and what aspect of childhood you represent. I like the idea of mixing images of dolls with footballs. There are a lot of textures and things that could go into this as well. I was leaning with all my imagery more towards the side of whimsy and fantasy of childhood. The texture of a teddy bear or the wing of a bug would make very interesting textural pieces. There are a lot of bright colors and contrasting colors that could really lead to a lot of experimenting as well.

I was really inspired by the image above. It made be think of ways to represent forms without all the details. I think a soldier inlay of something like this would be very effective. As for presentation I was thinking it could be done in an introspective fashion. My initial thoughts are to mount them around a mirror of some sort, like onto a wooden frame around a mirror, so that when you look at the images you also have to look at yourself. I would hope it would provoke a retrospective of your childhood.