Thesis: For my final project, this series captures the intimate and private moments of one young woman who is preparing herself for her evening. She is intended to represent a much larger phenomenon in society and our obsession with beauty, and what these expectations are in order to meet the standard ‘beautiful’. This medium lends itself well to this concept in that the superficial application of makeup and our physical obsession with weight is expressed in this artificial, intangible form of digital sculpture. In this private space, one can see the figure impacted by the influence of social media, and how she responds with her own figure. These isolated scenes are intended to be observations as a voyeur, which is something that is revealed in the very end with an entire audience watching this series, as if it is a live show. I am interested in the juxtaposition between the privacy and behaviors in these spaces, with an audience (society) ever present and always ‘regarding.’

 
 

Thesis:  Public restrooms, public elevators, and public changing rooms are places usually associated with a type of privacy. By observing human interactions in the current technological world, there has been and will continue to be a significant change in privacy, and what that definition means. The relationship between private and public moments is a line that is becoming blurred by technology’s isolating and socializing paradox. We are living in an era dominated by smartphones and their pitfalls- the constant distraction from one’s immediate surrounding and the people within them. With the constant presence of technology, people become blind to their surroundings and become rather self-obsessed with their own digital presence in this media age. The interactions in these spaces will continue to be prevalent, and individual privacy will continue to become sparse.

Public Bathroom:

 

 

Public Changing Room:

 

 

Public Elevator:

 
 
 
 

Thesis: We are living in an era dominated by smartphones and their pitfalls- the constant distraction from one’s immediate surrounding and the people within them.  Everything today is instantaneous and the expectations of immediate gratification/knowledge is assumed. With such advancement in resources, it is rather ironic that we actually have lost some basic skills of communicating and forming personal relationships for future generations. People, myself included, rely on text messaging, snap chat and other social media posts to stay connected as an equivalent replacement for face-to-face contact with people. Whether it’s the constant click of the ‘refresh’ button on your Facebook feed or your best friend’s newest instagram post, we crave to be stimulated by something ‘new’, and see ourselves involved in that ‘new’ post. Unfortunately this hunger comes at a price: our social skills and our isolation.

My research: The relationship with technology (especially my generation) has been a subject that I have been fascinated with,  and I have done a tremendous amount of research in evaluating this relation over the year. For this post-humanism project, I am continuing to evaluate the technology’s role in communication, with a commentary that it has become a distraction. One could argue that we are becoming self-obsessed, and insatiable by the newest information due to technology’s advancements. Technology is becoming a crutch and a handicap for the upcoming population, and we are hiding behind our devices instead of being present in the moment. I took a course last semester that focused specifically on technology in art called “Creative and Critical Approaches to New Media’ that examined how new media influenced the disciplinary lenses of music, visual, art, design and marketing.  It evaluated how technology is changing art, since computers and their advancement hasn’t change art, but rather enabled more to happen. We have higher resolutions, longer lengths of films, and more color variety, more tools, options and new ways to stimulate people’s senses. This new vocabulary within the art world is constantly expanding, and today we are seeing a big breakdown in how people use traditional media and performative installations. The art making experience and art genres are becoming blurred with new ‘mixed’ media, just like our daily interaction with technology versus interaction with individuals are interconnecting.  This second project will be a series of daily life scenes with a text overlay that comments on our lack of recognition of our immediate surroundings, and the isolating behavior caused by our dependence on technology as a species. The scenes will have an incredibly rich and saturated color palette that suggests a vibrant, lively scene like a digitized image, but will appear almost artificial, zombie-like or robotic because of the lack of presence and actual interaction that is occurring.

 

 

 

park scene.2 park scene.3

 

bunny1.2 bunny1.3 bunny1

 

For our first project ‘vehicles designed for harsh environments’, I have decided to design a powerful and fierce aircraft for the one and only Miss Queen Beyonce Giselle Knowles-Carter. This vessel is inspired from her own artistic vision as a strong female musician and performer, as well as a successful CEO, wife, and mother. Her story is two-fold, for she keeps her personal life very private, while her global image is iconic and constantly in the public eye. Her two facades are demonstrated in this vehicle’s construction with the bold, flashy (reflective/visible) exterior, with a simple and more intimate scene inside. In an interview about her most recent album Beyonce, she says:

“I wanted people to hear the songs with the story that’s in my head, because that what makes it mine. That vision in my brain is what I wanted people to experience for the first time. Part 1: The visual album. I feel like right now, people experience music differently. I remember seeing thriller on TV with my family, it was an event, we all sat around the TV and I am now looking back, I am so lucky I was born around that time. I miss that immersive experience. Now, people only listen to a few seconds of a song on their ipods and they don’t really invest in a whole album. It’s about the single and the hype. It’s so much that gets between the music, the artist and the fan.”

Her goal in making music is to create a complete body of work in a narrative fashion that will make a powerful statement about femininity/women with power; I have strived to reflect this in creating my own narrative through her vehicular design and its surrounding. The interior design is greatly influenced by one of her fondest memories growing up watching the Jackson 5 on TV with her family, of which she later tributes a famous live performance of ‘Halo’ to the passing of Michael Jackson.

Beyonce will be entering this scene on a hovering aircraft that informs her personal and public life and her values as a female artist. The speakers above will play her music, representing that her messages are being spread and heard.  She will be standing at the one golden door of access which will be open (in reference to her philosophy on producing music with only one access point and her aversion to leaks/music theft) as the aircraft gracefully hovers en route to land. The vehicle will be placed directly at the head of the conference table so that Beyonce can descend from her private interior (life) and take her throne at the head of the conference meeting. She is often called Queen Bey (Beyonce) and refers to her following of fans/supporters as her beehive. These people who appreciate and recognize her vision and messages will be incorporated to the exterior façade which will take the form of a gold, hive-like hexagonal pattern. The wings will slightly mimic those of an insect (bee) with the intention that her life is always in motion and her work is about movement and being able to influence future generations and spread her message globally. This vehicle will be styled futuristically to reflect her goals of impacting new generations of women as well as her avant-garde approach towards feminism. The exterior color scheme and material are informed by her royal title as Queen Bey with bold, royal colors that are sharp and sleek yet feminine like jewelry or her wardrobe. When she exits her interior living room, she takes charge of the scene in her powerful stance, representing how she takes charge of her sexuality, body, and capacity to be successful without fear of judgment. In one of Beyonce’s celebrated songs “Flawless” from her most recent visual album Beyonce, she samples Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s TED message:

“We teach girls to shrink themselves, to make themselves smaller. We say to girls, ‘You can have ambition, but not too much. You should aim to be successful, but not too successful. Otherwise you will threaten the man.’ Because I am female, I am expected to aspire to marriage. I am expected to make my life choices always keeping in mind that marriage is the most important. Now marriage can be a source of joy and love and mutual support. But why do we teach girls to aspire to marriage and we don’t teach boys the same? We raise girls to see each other as competitors – not for jobs or for accomplishments, which I think can be a good thing, but for the attention of men. We teach girls that they cannot be sexual beings in the way that boys are. Feminist: the person who believes in the social, political, and economic equality of the sexes”

These words inspired Beyonce’s song, and both women continue to address gender inequality in the workforce and empowering women to a higher level. The harsh environment I have chosen is set in a board room meeting space filled with men in suits. Fittingly, Beyonce is the President and CEO of her company Parkwood Entertainment, where she takes the seat at the head of the table after descending her vehicle, however the gender of the board room changes once she arrives, as it becomes mixed equally in gender.  The relationship with space in these final renders is very important for it reflects her career and private life juxtaposed in a societal critique on a woman’s place at a table, figuratively and literally.

 
 
 

For our first project ‘vehicles designed for harsh environments’, I have decided to design a powerful and fierce aircraft for the one and only Miss Queen Beyonce Giselle Knowles-Carter. This vessel is inspired from her own artistic vision as a strong female musician and performer, as well as a successful CEO, wife, and mother. Her story is two-fold, for she keeps her personal life very private, while her global image is iconic and constantly in the public eye. Her two facades will be demonstrated in the design of my construction, which will have a bold, forceful exterior, with an intimate scene inside separated by a partition in reference to her song, ‘Partition.  In an interview about her most recent album Beyonce, she says: . “I wanted people to hear the songs with the story that’s in my head, because that what makes it mine. That vision in my brain is what I wanted people to experience for the first time. Part 1: The visual album. I feel like right now, people experience music differently. I remember seeing thriller on TV with my family, it was an event, we all sat around the TV and I am now looking back, I am so lucky I was born around that time. I miss that immersive experience. Now, people only listen to a few seconds of a song on their ipods and they don’t really invest in a whole album. It’s about the single and the hype. It’s so much that gets between the music, the artist and the fan.”  Her goal in making music is to create a complete body of work in a narrative fashion that will make a powerful statement about femininity/women with power; my goal will be to reflect this in creating my own narrative through her vehicular design and its surrounding.

In one of Beyonce’s celebrated songs “Flawless” from her most recent visual album Beyonce, she samples Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s TED message:

We teach girls to shrink themselves, to make themselves smaller. We say to girls, ‘You can have ambition, but not too much. You should aim to be successful, but not too successful. Otherwise you will threaten the man.’ Because I am female, I am expected to aspire to marriage. I am expected to make my life choices always keeping in mind that marriage is the most important. Now marriage can be a source of joy and love and mutual support. But why do we teach girls to aspire to marriage and we don’t teach boys the same? We raise girls to see each other as competitors – not for jobs or for accomplishments, which I think can be a good thing, but for the attention of men. We teach girls that they cannot be sexual beings in the way that boys are. Feminist: the person who believes in the social, political, and economic equality of the sexes

 These words inspired Beyonce’s song, and both women continue to address gender inequality in the workforce and empowering women to a higher level. We are the products of a society in a world where our ideas of gender have not evolved, and Beyonce recognizes this in her artistic vision. The harsh environment I have chosen is set in a board room meeting space filled with men in suits. Fittingly, Beyonce is the President and CEO of her company Parkwood Entertainment and she will take the seat at the head of the table after descending this fierce yet feminine vehicle. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s message continues in addressing the workplace below:

 “There are slightly more women than men in the world, about 52% of the world’s population is female. But most of the positions of power and prestige are occupied by men. The late Kenyan, Nobel Peace Laureate, Wangari Maathai, put it simply and well when she said,

“The higher you go the fewer women there are.”

In the recent US elections we kept hearing of the Lilly Ledbetter Law. And if we go beyond the nicely alliterative name of that law, it was really about a man and a woman doing the same job, being equally qualified and the man being paid more because he is a man. So, in a literal way, men rule the world.”

Beyonce will be entering this scene on a hovering aircraft that informs her personal and public life and her values as a female artist.  She will be standing at the one golden door of access which will be open (in reference to her philosophy on producing music with only one access point and her aversion to leaks/music theft) as the aircraft gracefully hovers en route to land. The vehicle will be placed directly at the head of the conference table so that Beyonce can descend from her private interior (life) and take her throne at the head of the conference meeting. She is often called Queen Bey (Beyonce) and refers to her following of fans/supporters as her beehive. These people who appreciate and recognize her vision and messages will be incorporated to the exterior façade which will take the form of a gold, hive-like hexagonal pattern. The wings will slightly mimic those of an insect (bee) with the intention that her life is always in motion and her work is about movement and being able to influence future generations and spread her message globally. This vehicle will be styled futuristically to reflect her goals of impacting new generations of women as well as her avant-garde approach towards feminism. The exterior color scheme and material are informed by her royal title as Queen Bey with bold, royal colors that are sharp and sleek yet feminine like jewelry or her wardrobe. The interior will be a more intimate, simple scene with a monochromatic color palette to keep her private life vague and ambiguous to the viewer. (If possible) I would also like to incorporate a rendering of Beyonce in a powerful stance as she takes charge of her sexuality, body, and capacity to be successful without fear of judgment. The relationship with space is very important in this piece for it will reflect her career and private life juxtaposed in a societal critique on a woman’s place at a table, figuratively and literally.

 

2

3

4

 

 

Images for vehicle inspiration:

aircraft_mkve-fx-blog

 

image4

9.9.4

 

l_9259b5c0-ffd1-11e1-8ce9-b32217100005

 

And harsh environment idea:

Gazprom-Pipes-for-South-Stream-Power-of-Siberia-Need-to-Be-More-Reliable-Russia

 

 

 

psd frontal view

StorefrontpsdMusicn'more.9Musicn'more.10Musicn'more.13

 

Radio 1 radio 2 radio 3 radio 4

 

duck 1 duck 2