Monica Theresa SStudent No: 550346 Semester:1/2012 Group16

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Natural Process Idea: Puffer Fish and Banksia Flower Analysis

P u f f e r F i s h

B a n k s i aF l o w e r

In module one, I tried to brainstorm the kinds of natural processes that can guide me in desinging this lantern project. The idea of having this step is to help me in developing the concept for my design. Even though some of the analysis may not all be use, nevertheless, this stage help me to build the foundation of my exploration.

The first natural process that i found interesting is the Puffer Fish, which is also known as Fugu fish or Blowfish. I found this particular idea while browsing to the national geographic site. It was fascinating to know how this kind of fish really do exsist. The process where they can defend themselves by expanding and covering their body with spines, and their ability to poison their predator is very amusing. Image. 1 shows how puffer fish could inflate themselves into a form of a ball. The movemet, shapes and forms from the elasticiy of their body is very unique and interesting.

Meanwhile, the second natural process that I found is the flower from Banksia Tree (Image.2). While going to Frankston, I found lots of Banksia Tree with its unique flowers. The texture of the flower is very furry, it reminded me of caterpillars. The process of their growth is similar with every flowers, however the inflorescene of Banksia is incomparable. The position of the flower is straight, facing and reaching out to the sun. They always find their source of nutrient, which then reminded me of our lantern project, which is use as a sourche of light.

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Coral Reef:Sea Anemone and Pulsing Xenia

Natural Process Ideas: Coral Reef

The third analysis that I would like to use as my concept is Coral Reef. When thinking of the word 'natural', the first thing that came up to my mind is the water. Water is pure and natural, actually it can be use as the source of my concept too, however after extracting and recalling its function, I finally came up with the idea of developing 'coral reef; as my concept. Coral reef are actually known as the rainforest of the sea. However they are actually colonies that are made up of tiny living animals. They act as a home and shelter to many sea creature. To gain more understanding regarding my exploration, I decided to scale down my research into two types : Sea Anemone and Pulsing Xenia.

The process of regeneration of coral reef comes in three different stages : fragmentation, asexual and sexual reproduction. Image 3.a shows the regeneration of corals through fragmentation, 3b. Asexual reproduction and lastly 3c, sexual reproduction. From the process of those regeneration, i want to focus more on the movement from 'fragmentation', how can coral travel from one spot to another, as well as analysing the way the current affects the movement and characteristic of the corals itself.

From all three concept, I found corals to be inetersting, since I never heard the proces and growth of corals before. So it would be great if I got the chance to explore this concept more. .

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Exploration of Natural Process: Coral Reef

Image. 4 :Time lapse diagram of Pulsing Xenia Coral

Image. 5:Experimenting on Coral 's Movement

Pulsing Xenia Coral has a delicate movement. The motion of the coral follows the current from the sea. Just like its name, the tentacle of this particular coral behave like a pulse. They have a slow and steady movement when when opening and closing its tentacles The 'pulse' of xenia coral shows their health condition.The time lapse on Image.4 captured the gracefulness of its movement.

The time lapse above shows my exploration regarding the Pulsing Xenia Coral. I tried to understand their movement by behaving like one, imagining how my fingers can act like their tentacles. This experiment allows me to generate series of concepts for my lantern design. It helps me in thinking of the words that best describe the corals. From those words I will then try to modify and come up with another concept that emobodies the coral. So far, from this observation, I came up with the word “absorbing” . The movement of my hand is like trying to inhale and suck something in.

The process that took in order to explore this particular topic is by: Finding the key terms/ words that could describe the process.Afterwards through those 3 words I tried to generate other ideas to widen my lantern concept. Use abstraction to obtain the shapes and framework of my design.

Image. 6:Time lapse of Sea Anemome

Image. 7:Pulsing Xenia Coral

Image. 8: Another experiment on movement with paint

Another word that I got from this analysis is “Explosion”. I derived that particlar word after observing the time when they open and closes their tentacles.When watching the time lapse of the sea anemone, everytime it closes its tentacles, it seems like they're going to explode and blow up something out of their body. Thus, I came up with that particular word to explore more of my design.

Similary with the previous observation, this time I am trying to experiment with the process of how Sea Anemone behave. It opens up and closes its tentacles, just like trying to absorb and suck something in. The paint is another way to seek more inspiraion for my design It is improtant too . The movement of my hand, along with the pattern from the coral's behavior lead me into thinking the word “Rhythm”. The steady and ongoing process of its movement seems lto act like a rhtyhm for me. They always have the same pattern of movement.

Further Exploration of Natural Process Through Chosen Word (I) : “Explosion”

Image.8:Developing the concept of “Explotion”

The image above shows my visualization regarding the key word of 'explosion'. The sketch on the top corne, illustrates the movement of explosion from sea anemone. While the one below it shows my sketch regarding the pattern that the tentacles made from top view. Somehow it looks like the sparks from fireworks. As a result, my sketches shifted to the next concept of: volcanoes explotion. This stage embodies the movement of the corals along with developing another inpiration for my design concept.

“Milk Food Dye Colour & Fairy Liquid = Color Explosion” By Dave Itzy

A video about the experiment with mixing up food coloring along with milk and washing up liquid. The artist is very passionate in working with natural colors and also food dye. The colors from his experiment turns out to be so bright that it inspires his photography. On this particular video, i got the chance to witness another demonstration regarding movement. This time the type of movement came from fluid, however, like the picture on the bottom left, shows a corellation with the concept from the coral.

Further Abstraction, Inspiration and Exploration: “Explosion”

Image.9a:Abstraction From “Explosion”

Image. 9A hows my abstraction after analyzing the behavior of volcanic erruption, and also the color fluid. When there's a volcanic erruption, usually its lava sparks out and spread around. As you can see, the form in my sketches looks like the movemenf from the lava that just got errupted.Aside from it the twirl is depicted from the video about the color erruption. So i combined both concept into one diagram which represent the word 'explosion'. The different in color shows the complexity of the word itself. The twirling form can also be seen as a spark of explosion from top view. The form is spontaneous and loose. The complex movement of explosion is colored in red, while blue shows the steady movement after the explosion.

Image.9Volcanic Architecture, Nola. Designed by Renzo Piano

Eco-green building which provides new atmsphere and space for southern edge community. Providing space for outdoor activities. Using efficient resources available. The shape of the biuilding itself was depicted from the natural process of volcanoe.

Further Exploration of Natural Process Through Chosen Word (II) : “Absorption”

Image.10:Jet-stream and East

Australian Current

When thinking of the word “Absorption” the image that I think of is Jet-stream (fast flowing air current) and also East Australian Current (fast flowing current around Australia). Both example act in a way that can suck you in and absorb you directly.

During natural environment class I learned that Jet Stream can sometimes be used as a way to reach certain place or country faster, since they make use of the flow of the air. Similaryly with East Australian Current, which I obtain from 'Finding Nemo's cartoon, where the turtle make use of the water current to reach certain place faster.

Image.11:Abstraction from EAC concept.

Since it is underwater current, I tried to create another sketch of the EAC with additional bubbles in it. Afterwards, the abstraction is done by connecting every bubbles, from one side to another. As a result, there are lots of geometric form that I can use a source of inspiration for my lantern framework.

Image.13:Metal Sculpture by Korban and FlaubertThe artists is exploring their concept of energy and motion. According to them, they use lots of models to develop their ideas. Thinking of limitation of its manipulation. Both artists work together to develop the manipulation of their metal. The shape that of this particular sculpture is similar with the idea of jet-stream or EAC. The sculpture influence a lot in developing my design. As shown on image. 14, which shows the abstraction of shapws that i obtain fro mthe optical illusion art, and along with the texture and pattern from this sculpture. I tried to mix in the idea of Jet-stream and EAC into the word of “absorption”.

Image.12: Optical Illusion “Enigma” Painting by Isia LeviantThe Optical illusion painting serves best in describing the word “Absorption”. When looking at if for a while, it gives this feeling as if they are dragging you in. A feeling where they are absorbing you into a tunnel of stripes and lines. The purple circle also create a feeling of twirling, a feeling where we have entered a maze and can't find a way to get out of it. I think this is a perfect example to describe the concept of absorption, since everyone will feel the same way if they observe and take a look at it.

Image.15:Ginza Building, Tokyo by Jun MiThe Ginza building is known to be a modern style of architecture. It is employed by a jewelery company 'De'Beers'. The shape of the building create a sense of movement towards the viewers eyes. The smooth curve support the idea of “Absorption” of my design. When i look at this building, it makes me want to go and jump on like a slide. This building is located at a 'famous commercial districts'. The aim of this building is to show 'excitement' of the district. The flexible building was inspired by the curves of a woman. While the shimmering effect on the metal is said to be like a reflection from diamonds.

Image.14:Abstraction, Sketch derived from Optical Illusion, Jet-stream and EAC

Further Exploration of Natural Process Through Chosen Word (III) : “Rhythm”

Image.16:Heart (Expand and Contract)The process by which the coral grow and move is siimilar with the function from the heart. The steady rhythm when the tentacles open and close is similar with how the heart pumps and circulates our blood. From this concept, then I made another abstraction of its movement (how the heart expand and contract).

In addition, the word rhythm also remind me of the term crescendo and decrescend (Getting louder or softer). Especially when relating it with the beat of howour heart or even the pulsing coral open and closes its tentacles.

Image.17:Spiraling Skyscraper, design by Eric VergneAim to create dynamic social space while providing place for both consumers and producers to interact. Located in New York. A futuristic design. The overall building looks like the concept of heart on image.16. Both have the same mission of maintining life and system.

Process Design Analysis:

The diagram below shows the abstraction that i got after following the steps of choosing 3 major keywords. It is taken after analysing the word 'rhythm' and also 'Absorption'. The random geometric sketch allow me to think and use different shapes freely.

The Image on th left shows the design i made after using my analysis regarding the different shapes i got through the exploration of 'Absorption'. The initial design is actually to be wear around the hips like a belt. The picture of the plasticine shows the stage of absorption, how it started to be just a bit of a clay, and like a magnet, it grabs more and more attention and absorb more things to maintain its structure. The random shapes on the clay is actually inspired by the free drawing experiment of the 'absorption'.

Process Design Analysis: Final Design

The diagram above shows the final design of my lantern. The idea came from the “Explosion” stage and also the video regarding the fluid. I recall, the shape reminds me of the literal explosion of a volcanoe. And as mentioned before, the twirling represent the complexity of its process.

I design the lantern in a way that we could bring and use it like when carryig our own handbag/ shoulder bag. The shapes of the clay was inspired from the characteristic of the fluid and lava explosion. The shape is loose and spontaneous, to portray and strengthen that particular idea. This specific design combined both the “explosion” and “absorption” idea, as the shape looks like it invites more audience to take a look at it. Overall this design embodies the idea of the developed

process (absorption, explosion, rhythm) along with the original natural process of corals.

Reflection:

So far, Module one has been kind of challenging in terms of understanding the work that needs to be done. At first there were several steps that I did wrong, and it made me got left behind for 2 weeks. However, during the compilation of the project, I started to understand the purpose of each process. How developing idea using keywords that describe it can be a lot of help for this project. I can finally see how effective each process is, in helping me to obtain a great final result.

Aside from it, abstraction, which is the state of freedom in deaing with ideas, can brought me to a stage where it helped me in expanding my concept (This can be seen through the “explosion” and “Absorption” stage, where I draw random dots around the EAC in order to find ideas regarding the shapes and framework of my design). The 'Spiral design methodology' is effective in guiding us to increase the scope of our creativity. We wouldn't know what outcome we will get by obtaining those stages.

According to Manfredo Masseroni, scribbles is one of the critical phase in designing. It 'emphasize the constructive power of seeing. Scribbles and sketches can be use as a creative tool to drag upon ideas and inspirations.

While searching on ideas, I do agree with one of the analysis from the reading where it says: “ it is easy to recognize something that we have seen before, rather than reconstruct a memory”. When designing the final outcome of the design, I tried hard not to think about the shape of the corals. I focuses more on the foundation that i got from emphasizing on the key word of 'explosion, absorption, and rhythm', and it turns out well. However after stepping back and look at my design from a far, I got a glimpse of 'coral' shape in it. I think, since i saw lots of coral picture, somehow part of the memory came down into my final design. Nevertheless, my intention in my last design is to bring upon the idea of the explosion and absorption together. I think my design is quite a success since it embodies the original idea and natural process of a coral reef.

Lastly from the lecture and readings i learned that people are active when imagining something visual. I experienced it myself when trying to create a design using the clay, or even drawing my source of inspiration by extracting information from mmy normal seeing. Overall module one gave me many ups and downs. But I do enjoy learning different skills and steps in developing one idea to another. The “rhythm” stage may not be as strong as the other two stages, since I think the other two keywords are much stronger and easy to be visualize.