The Black Box

My attention was drawn most strongly to the analogy of Plato’s cave after viewing the whole of Lecture Seven. Reflecting back, the previous chosen artwork of Experiment One - Fiona Hall’s ‘Castle in the Air of the Cave-Dwellers’ ideas were based on Plato’s cave allegory.

There are two different realms in this image, first one as the outside world (where three men are standing), and the second one as inside the cave. Then, we also see to different groups of people inside the cave – one group of prisoners confined by their ability to see only shadows casted by real objects, the other group who sees and recognizes the sources (burning fire and puppets) that forms the shadows on the wall. There is a strong suggestion that men gain a heightened understanding of what they perceive when they step out from the confines of the wall and gaze upon the source of their former beliefs which were set on tentative grounds.

There is an exit leading to the outside world where humans get to see the reality of the world and not just things that resemble the outside world. For example, when humans blinded by darkness for a long time steps out and sees the Sun, they will be blinded initially, however, they will gain a true apprehension of the true form of Being and existence. The inner cave signifies a realm of Becoming. People who have been enlightened outside, when wanting to share their experiences at the outside world to the prisoners, may be struck blind by the totality of darkness, and may be regarded as unsound by the prisoners.

This image relates to my project development in a way that I endeavor to show that there are no barriers when entering from the lighter to darker spaces and vice versa. There will be different experiences when entering into different realms of brightness contrast, but they will be able to engage in both realms and enjoy the aura of the spaces.


Image Source: Erika Kruger, The Black Box: The Concealed Room, Slide 12, ftp://emustore.fbe.unsw.edu.au/Resources/samples/Arch/ARCH1101%20-%20Lowe/Lecture_Seven_The_Black_Box/


Jabez Ho

Electroliquid Aggregation

Quote 1:
"If I have a thousand ideas, and only one turns out to be good, I am satisfied."
Alfred Nobel

Quote 2:
"It takes generosity to discover the whole through others. If you realize you are only a violin, you can open yourself up to the world by playing your role in the concert."
Jacques Cousteau

Electroliquid Aggregation:

It takes generosity to have ideas satisfied through others. If you realize you are the only one violin that turns out to be good, you can open yourself up to the thousand other violins in the world by playing your role in the concert.

18 Axonometric Drawings

My first selected client is Alfred Nobel, and his chosen quote is shown in the image above. The image situated bottom left illustrates the one idea which shoots out and slowly build ups from a big 'pile' of non-workable ideas. The top right image symbolises a flow of ideas which acts in a way similar to the pattern of our brainwaves. The bottom right image depicts a 'light-bulb' which people identify as the indication of somebody finally coming out with a good idea (often used in cartoons, comics etc.)




Moving on, the top left image's significance lies in the square opening on top which looks like an open mouth which has a laugh-like action. The image on the right shows a comfortable and 'unlikely to change' postion, noting the word 'satisfied' from the client's quote. The image on the bottom left gives the idea of balance and goodness. The image next to it gives an idea that a whole stack of ideas are generated, but only one idea flows out and is channeled out for further development.




Further on, the top left image symbolises a human-like figure with both arms at rest, showing that he/she is satisfied. The bottom left image indicates that there are connections between ideas formed, and people have to determine the 'good' of those ideas by evaluating the effectiveness of each of them. Then, we have Jacques Cousteau who is selected as the second client with his selected quote as well. The image directly below the quote ca be illutrated in this manner: Person A goes to visit Person B and Person B gives him something out of 'generosity'.




The image at top left signifies a person with open arms - 'open yourself up'. The image directly below it describes a relationship between four cuboids which symbolizes the four winds of the earth based on the keyword 'world'. A 'violin' hold position is clearly defined in the image at top right is based on the keyword 'discover' which is depicted by the merging of two different objects.




A ladder of 'discovery' forms the top left image. It also signifies the manner that concert seats are being arranged. The bottom left image is like that of Cousteau bearing the burden/role of creating awareness amongst people of their responsibilities towards the organisms of the underworld. The image on the top left is like that of a human extending his care and love to the underworld species living in another environment. Humans and underworld species are placed on the same level as humans should not think of themselves as master over the underworld, but as protectors and lovers of the underworld. The final image situated bottom right shows one who 'opens up'.


Jabez Ho

Quotes

1. Alfred Nobel
"If I have a thousand ideas and only one turns out to be good, I am satisfied
http://www.quoteland.com/author.asp?AUTHOR_ID=1255
Retrieved on 6 April 2009

2. Jacques Costeau
“The best way to observe a fish is to become a fish”
“Every morning I wake up saying, I'm still alive; a miracle. And so I keep on
pushing.”
http://thinkexist.com/quotes/jacques_cousteau
Retrieved on 6 April 2009

"It takes generosity to discover the whole through others. If you realize you are
only a violin, you can open yourself up to the world by playing your role in the
concert."
http://www.icelebz.com/quotes/jacques_yves_cousteau/
Retrieved on 6 April 2009


3. Keith Campbell
“Cloning may be good and it may be bad. Probably it's a bit of both. The question
must not be greeted with reflex hysteria but decided quietly, soberly, and on
its own merits. We need less emotion and more thought”
http://www.quotesea.com/Quotes.aspx?with=cloning
Retrieved on 6 April 2009

Sketchup upload

Uploading my model in sketchup to 3D warehouse was not possible as my file size was larger than the maximum 10Mb. As sugggested by Russell, i went to filefront, just to see that it under maintenance. Hopefully I can upload it as soon as possible. Thanks for understanding.

Coming soon...

below is the link to my uploaded file at www.frontfile.com.
http://files.filefront.com/Jabez+Ho+sketchupskp/;13530843;/fileinfo.html

Animations

This video deals with the ground floor, capturing the texture of the floor as well as relationship of people to the place. There was some sort of unexpected error while working with section plane, so I could not come up with something more catchy.



This second video deals with a walk from ground floor to first floor. The texture for the floor material - sharp is clearly seen here.





The third video repeats the pattern of the first and second video. It shows a walk down from ground floor to underground level and seeing Gaiscoigne's workplace.




p/s: if videos do not show on blog, this may be due to the video proceessing that is proceeding. Thank you for understanding.

Youtube video

This is a nice double helix stairs produced. I always wanted to design something like that in sketchup as every stepping up layer is ordered in the most perfect proportion, pleasing to the eyes.

Incorporating textures and artist works into building

This is the overall display of my chosen model used to incorporate material textures as well as inserting selected artists' work. The texture used for ground floor is opaque, first floor with the texture slickness and below ground floor with the texture fibrous.

ground floor - opaque

first floor - sharp

below ground floor - fibrous



Before I get started, I would just like to redefine my model. As can be seen, parts of the building sections have been removed compared to earlier attempts of building a more detailed and 'a little bit too crazy' as said by my tutor. Besides, I received a comment saying that some parts of the buildings have disrupted view of staircases. I have carefully removed some parts of the buildings as well as adding in the existence of materials to enhance the staircases. For instance, the glass barrier for ground floor to first floor stairs as depicted in the image.





The ground floor of this model serves as an exhibition space to display Fiona Hall and Rosalie Gascoigne's work. Please refer to the earlier posts to know more details about the name and the characteristics of the two artworks. Hall's work is seen encased in a semi-transparent plastic cover with two clear-view intervals in between. The artwork is hanged onto a thin slab of wood on top of it, and illuminated by lights from below.

Gascoigne's artwork is placed on a picture stand, and is at a tilted position to let visitors have a possibly better view of the artwork.

The use of opaque tiles for ground floor covering is of two reasons. Firstly, as the building itself consists of glass doors, panels and windows, the use of non-reflective material can balance the effects of transmitted and reflected light. Secondly, the use of dark and high opacity material helps to make the artworks stand out more strikingly.

Hall's working space is located at first floor. A drawing table as well as a resource table is provided for her. There is ample space at the middle part and the other end where she can properly set into arrangement of furniture, machines and artworks. The working space has the theme 'sharp', as I believe that Fiona Hall has to be sharp and precise in her work as a photographer and a sculptor. Moreover, she is constantly engaged with the happenings around the world, taking into account of central issues and applying them into her artworks. I presume that Hall is a sharp and observant artist.

Gascoigne is given the underground space as her working area. Her work basically involves collecting masses of used material and which may need to be refined or processed before usage. The slightly higher space underground plus the incorporated device to attenuate intensity of machine sounds is a perfect spot for her work. She is provided with an easel to help her plan her layout, a table for generaal use, and a work bench where she can do other works like drilling and pasting (shown in image below).

The work space has the theme ' fibrous'. This word also means tough, signifying Gascoigne's determination in doing her work even when she only started at a quite advanced age of 57 years old. The patterns of fibrous wood walls, if you would look closely enough, has a somewhat close link to human's finger print. Gascoigne has a strong resemblance to this as she carefully and intricately selects materials that will be used for her work. So, it can be said that Gascoigne has her finger prints on her materials.

Jabez Ho