The Ω Curve?

Lampo Leong, a professor of art in painting and drawing at the University of Missouri, Columbia, visited UC Davis last Thursday to give a lecture on his theory on the visual forces of the Ω (Omega) Curve. For those who may not know, Lampo Leong is an internationally acclaimed painter, calligrapher, and multimedia artist. He received his BFA in brush painting from the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts in China, his MFA in painting from the California College of the Arts in San Francisco, and his Ph.D. in Art Theory and Practice at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing.

Lampo Leong’s theory focuses on the shape of the omega curve and how it exists in architecture and the composition of many artworks tracing back to early history from both eastern and western art. He points out similarities such as the omega shape appearing in ancient Chinese calligraphy, also reappearing in early European paintings. The specific shape of the omega curve create tension and energy versus a straight line. This is why many artists have intentional compositions with hidden omega curves. Relating the idea to Chinese calligraphy, he explains how omega curves create flow and movement where our eyes can travel and follow and that is what makes calligraphy so appealing to people.

After the lecture, Lampo Leong gave a quick calligraphy demonstration. Calligraphy is a combination of visual and performance art, where the shape and curves reflect movement and feeling. It is the coordination of the mind, heart and hand to create a line that carries strength, energy, and the spirit of the artist.

Credits:

http://web.missouri.edu/~leongl/Biography%20file/bio%20text/EnglishBiography/BiographicalSum.html
http://www.flickr.com/groups/worldtrekker/discuss/72157603516527143/

http://www.corbisimages.com/Enlargement/AX050876.html

Creativity from Without

Where’s the creativity? Where’s the inspiration?

Believe it or not, artists don’t get inspiration by staring at a blank wall all day. They go out and see the world. Experience things. Artists can get inspired everywhere and by anything. Contemporary artist, Lisa Hoke is inspired by the colors of everyday objects. Sculptor and photographer, Andy Goldsworthy is inspired by the environment. These are only a few examples, but all artists get their own inspiration from somewhere or something. Where do I get my inspiration?

I get my inspiration from various things. Sometimes it can be from my favorite hobbies or interests, or even everyday experiences. Even little observations from everyday happenings can spark a whole new fascination. For example, one day after playing guitar, I set my guitar pick down onto the desk and couldn’t help but notice how the shape resembled a tooth. I imagined it as a monster’s tooth. So I took all of my picks and laid them out on to the desk and moved all the pieces around, and then it turned into a guitar PICK MONSTER!

Sometimes when looking for inspiration, I like to listen to music. Though I may not always understand the lyrics or what the song is about, I listen for the feeling and tone of the song. I usually create stories and scenes imagining what it could be about. Every time I listen to the song there is a different story playing in my mind, so if get inspired by an idea, I sketch it out on paper. This is the most effective way for me to find creativity.

Usually whenever I find something that interests me, I think to myself “What if it was like this?” or “Wouldn’t it be cool if…?” My mind wanders and daydreams of all the possibilities. I love being inspired because you may never know where the creativity will lead you.

Stone Soup

A soup made of stones? Not exactly.

 Stone Soup is a book illustrated by Marcia Brown. The idea of stone soup is that everyone is contributing a little bit of something that they have into something much greater. So we recreated this idea of stone soup within our design groups. Everyone brought in various items and our objective was to all collaborate to create and build something using what we had.

The first question that came to mind was, “What are we going to make?” Though we may have not realized it, but we went through something called the creative process, which involves activities such as thinking, looking and doing. “These three procedures can stimulate the artistic problem solving process.” as stated in Design Basics by Lauer and Pentak.

First we looked at the items that every group member had brought. Then we started to think, “What could we make with these?” We looked through the items again and brainstormed a bit, sketching out a plan and discussing amongst ourselves. The most difficult part was trying to decide on what to create as a group because many of us had different ideas and opinions, but once we decided on an idea, we started the building (or doing) process.

As we continued, we would run into problems, “What can we do next?” Then we would turn to this creative process again by looking and assessing, then thinking and solving, then doing. Not necessarily following in the exact sequence of looking, thinking, and doing, but jumping around and sometimes almost doing them simultaneously. The creative process is continuous process, whenever there is a problem the creative process is a way to solve it. 

In the end, this is what we created. The idea was based off of replicating a deck of cards, specifically the king card.

After finishing our project, I had a walk around to see what other people had created. It was pretty amazing to see what other groups had created. Here are some of the other design groups work.

Trailers

What makes a film trailer capture its audience? A few days ago when browsing through youtube, I came across a trailer for a film called Buried, directed by Rodrigo Cortés. Viewing the trailer for the first time, I remembered the importance of first impressions as discussed in lecture as we viewed a short introduction to the film Amélie, directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet. I had never watched Amélie before, so there were many thoughts running through my mind about this character; like who this character was, what were their interests, and what kind of person they were. Similar questions arose when viewing the trailer of Buried for the first time.


Does this film seem interesting to me? Am I willing to go a theater and pay to watch a film like this? The design of the trailer is very important because it gives a first impression of the film to the viewer. It can determine whether or not people will show up for the film on opening day. The most successful trailers will engage the audience, showing them little snippets of the film to make them wonder and want more.

The reason in choosing this specific trailer was because it seemed very different from the typical trailers that I would normally see. I found the design very fascinating because it used no footage from the actual film itself, it only displayed still images captured from the film. If you have not seen the trailer already, you may think that it will be very slow paced due to the still images, but it is not. The way that the trailer is designed, the images are moving, turning, flipping, appearing and disappearing. The progression is controlled by a set of lines that travel throughout the screen. The lines move in all different directions, changing to colors, increasing with speed, and are cued with sound effects. These are the aspects of creating an environment of intensity and suspense. Also, as the trailer progresses, little bits of information and clues are being revealed through the dialogue, creating mystery and suspense within the narrative.

These are the characteristics of trailer that really made curious and interested into finding out more about this film. I would say that the designers were successful in capturing and engaging the viewer. This was a definitely a good first impression for me. I think I will be seeing this film sometime in the future.



Credits: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWVoUBgVcf8&feature=player_embedded

First Encounter

When I think back to first encounter with design, the first object that came to mind were my old pair of roller skates. The first time I saw a pair of roller skates I was a bit confused because I had never seen anything like it before. I thought it was very strange as to why there were wheels connected to boots. I tilted my head in question and was a bit skeptical, but at the same time I was curious as to how it worked.

Looking at the pair of roller skates for the first time, I noticed the bright red shiny material on the exterior of the boot and felt how smooth it was. I spun the large wheels and I felt its rubbery rough texture. I rolled the skates back and forth and felt how fast and smooth it rolled. I noticed how little pieces of dirt collected on the wheels as I rolled them over little bits of sand and rock on the ground. These were some of the characteristics that really fascinated me and later motivated me to try the roller skates.

The roller skates provided a new experience that was an alternative to walking. Putting on skates for the first time made me feel uneasy and a bit scared too because it was something I was totally not used to. But with skates on my feet, I soon learned that could move smoothly with sharp turns and swerves on concrete, which proved to be more efficient than walking. Like wings to help you fly into the air, skates help you glide freely along the pavement without a care. The more I skated the more I grew to love it. And even now, I would rather trade my pair of shoes for a pair of roller skates anytime.

First Impressions

Though some may say, “It doesn’t matter what you look on the outside, it’s what’s on the inside that counts.” Though it is true, what is on the inside matters, but what appears on the outside also matters.

During class, we viewed a trailer of a film called objectified. As quoted from the film, “When you see an object, you make so many assumptions about that object in seconds. What it does, How well it’s going to do it, How much you think it’s going to cost.”

I agree with the statement from this film because I think it is very true. I also think that these assumptions do not only apply to objects, but they can apply to people too. No matter how hard we try to resist from judging other people based on their appearance, it will always be in the back of our minds to judge them somehow. I think it is in human nature because our minds are wandering to figure out, who is this person, when we don’t know them yet, so we make automatic assumptions.

That is why first impressions are so important. It can determine our futures, whether or not we get that job, or make that new friend, or meet our true soul mate. The same can be applied to the design. The design of an object can determine whether or not the consumer will buy the product. The consumer will automatically make assumptions about that product before they buy it. Is it attractive? Useful? Interesting? These are things to consider. Not only are first impressions are important for people, they are also important for design.



Credits:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9E2D2PaIcI&feature=player_embedded