Summer Project! :D

OKAY.

So I was given a summer project to work on, to create an image of a building or a dwelling that best represents where I am from.

Now, originally I thought, Pssshhhhh! easy peasy, no problem! I would go for a straight forward approach, having lived in Birmingham my whole life, I thought it was an easy task. Then thinking about it more in depth; did I really want to be straightforward? How naive of me to think so boring and mundane.. No, I re-read the brief, and I challenged both myself and the brief. I wanted to create something personal that embodies where I come from, not just the city that I live in.

After multiple rough sketches, using imagery to represent aspects of my home, I started it. 

So it turned out pretty well. I really liked it.

I felt it was successful and that it was relative to the brief.

I went for something a little on the unconventional side, abstracting the structure a little but retaining form.

BREAK IT DOWN

Face

The face represents me, its my perception, my point of view. I am in the centre of it all, surrounded by a circumference of elements that makes up me and where I come from.

Clock

The clock is representative of the clock displayed on the tower of the Birmingham and Art Gallery -Throughout my years of education and outside of it, I would spend alot of time there, suspended in the silence and hallowed halls of echoed mutterings, from the young and old, It would always hold interest to me. Id eaves drop on conversations, eager to hear the opinions and perceptions of others. Looking at everything and trying to figure out the stories of these paintings, the symbols, what they mean and the differences of styles regarding era, artist etc... Time would fly and I would still be stuck in the past, present and future. I love that feeling.

Looping Rings (Bordering the Clock)

The Looping rings symbolize the circular patterns as seen on the Library. A huge hit in the city and a favourite place of mine in B'ham. On the grand opening day of the new library, I got curious and had to have a look, it was beautiful. Modern but filled with character. The colours complimenting the shapes of the tables, chairs and bookshelves, every book taken care of and in the company of another, stacked like soldiers; spines straight and calling for attention. I spent the day in awe of the contemporary surroundings, taking in the circular themed interior, and futuristic design, comparing it to the older library and going on to spend the majority of my winter college nights studying, joking, drawing, reading and falling in love with someone who makes me feel.. like I'm real.

Weird, but so what.

The Swastika/Square Window

The swastika is symbolic to the wars I've had/seen my family struggle through throughout the time I/we have lived in Birmingham, from fighting through racism to getting through the recession to fighting through grief and the our own personal conflicts we've all had and shared on the journey to find our identities.

But why I chose to put the swastika within the square window, is because, the squares in the window are slightly warped, I deliberately drew them like that in order to create an illusive aesthetic for the swastika to sit in. Thus signifying that the swastika is an illusion, portraying the irony and contradicting factors the swastika contains.

You see, I live in a primarily South Asian area, Small Heath. So, although the swastika is commonly linked to the war and Nazis etc, If you actually look in depth at the history of the symbol, it originates from Sanskrit, Sanskrit being the oldest literary language of Southern Asia, therefore, upon translation, the swastika, according to Sanskrit means 'being happy'. To which embodies my families feelings and lifestyle and mantra.

To be happy.

The Lock/Vertical Lines

The lock on the vertical lines, denotes privacy. Growing up in an area where everyone knew everyone elses' business, privacy was cherished. The lock is an entrance to my own little world, I placed it on my face therefore showing it unlocks to me. Within it homes everything I have ever known for the past 21 years, I will only let few in, hence the vertical lines underneath the lock. The lines are the number of people I have let in.

'Welcome!'/The Red Smear
Birmingham and Small Heath are friendly and inviting areas, where although moderately big, everybody knows everybody! The 'Welcome!' I decided to do in a joined up font, that's quite level in size, This was done because I wanted to elaborate the equality that everyone is entitled to and communal aspect that my home/town has to offer to everyone!
Albeit the equality and hospitality where I come from has to offer... You will always get the undertones of ugly lurking about; the edgy red smear indicates that.
In a film noir-esque style, I used red oil pastel to do it. I noticed that my energy changed when I was scratching on the red. I did it fairly fast paced, using the hostility and vulgarity that was once directed toward me in the form of unwanted attention, comments and actions and channeled that into a sort of anger and applied through the jagged and scrawled smear of the red. I crossed it over in one section in order to show that one way or another, it will (unfortunately) be there.  

The Arrow
The Arrow is my exit. It leads out of the triangle, symbolizing my adventures and opportunities i have/can take that will take me out from where come from, its presence is dominant and suffixes to it the connotations that i can leave whenever I like. Although an exit its also a bridge, linked to the face, within the triangle connotates strong bonds i have with where I come from and no matter how far I go, So long as my bridges remain strong and my exits remain open, Home will never be too far away.

The Number 9

The number 9 is my house number. It literally is where I am from. I looped it around the eye and used its curved line to complete the shape of my face, I chose to do this because as well as it coming from my house door, I wanted to place it somewhere where it would mean something, so placing it around my eye and creating the curve of my face was perfect. Why? Because according to numerology the number 9 means universal love, faith, responsibility etc.

Incomplete Triangle

The Incomplete triangle is reflective of the roof and walls of where I live, It warps inward to show you that everything inside is my foundation, its where I come from, it's my home and comforts and overall safe place. I decided to leave it incomplete, because  the structure of the triangle is strong and bold, holding form and keeping everything intact, It shows that It doesn't need all of the lines to make it a triangle, you fill in the blanks yourself. So bearing that in mind, applying that to 'where I come from' it tells you that you don't need to know every detail of my home to conjure up a story or judgement. What I have decided to use regarding imagery is strong enough to formulate the story.

REFLECTION.
So that was my summer/induction project sorted!
I felt it was successful, I really enjoyed doing it. I could have taken the easy approach and be straightforward, ending up with a literal structure that shows literal elements of where I come from, however I am really glad that I chose to oppose that decision and challenge myself, because I didn't know I could come up with something like this.
Putting in the time and effort to work on layout, what materials I wanted to use, what imagery I should use and how it would flow, was just task after task and I LOVED it. Researching symbolism and allowing them to collaborate and come to life was such a challenge, but after seeing it finished and polished up, the feeling I got after.. was just something else; The pride and overall sense of accomplishment was such a rush and ahhhhhhhhhhhh, it was ace!
In terms of what I would do different next time I think it would be DEFINITELY not be to take the easy option and think of it as a straight forward thing. I have to think outside of the box, and see it from a designers point of view -You are only as great as your last piece of work- So, might as well go all out with my efforts, best my abilities, exceeding my skills way past their limits and just going that extra mile to strive for a better result. At least then I can't regret not putting my all into my work.
The best lesson I will have taken from this project... is that my work is a reflection of me... So , I NEED to be on top of my game.