Jane Philipps

After midterms I was so ready for spring break that I forgot to post! I thought my crit went well - I ended up making 4 small rice paper books using my previous images. I liked the effects that the paper added; the tactile quality was nice (and gave it a handmade/natural feel) and the way you could see through to the next page was an effect I liked. I also made a movie to supplement the books and it was interesting hearing the reactions that people had to the books vs. the movie. I didn't get very much feedback about how to move forward with my project, but in the last week I've come up with a few new ideas.

Julia told us to think about the "nuts", or key aspects, of our project and I've come up with three: systems (or the Fibonacci sequence), infinity, and organic vs. inorganic. Though these are rather broad, I've started brainstorming about how I can illustrate each of these concepts. Since before break my thinking has changed and I am now more interested in working three-dimensionally. I like the idea of finding spaces that suit my concepts and working with them and, conversely, coming up with ideas and fitting them into spaces. I first thought about using the staircase inside the school because it is a pseudo-spiral staircase and people move through it going either up or down, which fits with my idea of how the spiral moves in and out depending on its direction. I wanted to mess with the system of banister poles that is already in place, but subtly, so that it's not necessarily noticeable at first. After some thinking and measuring, I've decided that the staircase is not going to work, but have found a new place for my idea. I still plan on using the Fibonacci sequence as a base system to work from, which will be the element that connects the different pieces I end up making. For my other two "nuts" I am thinking about playing with fabric and/or synthetic materials in some way, but I need to develop these ideas more. Pictures of mid-term work is up and next week I will have in progress pictures as well as more detail about the ideas I am developing for my next project.