ADP - Wk1- Play and Self

Theme:

Play & Self

Context:

To be honest, I hate to observe and reflect on myself even though I am my own muse sometimes.

The theme reminds me of the time when I was in grade 11th and in a class called Planning. It was a class to prepare students to face the real world. They taught us how to do taxes, calculate mortgage and other different useful things which adults might actually find challenging. One day, the teacher who I could not recall his name asked the whole class to write our own eulogy. He told us to go talk to people we knew, interview them and write on their behalf the eulogy because one seemingly could not write their own. He said it was against the law of nature or something. So, I have gone through my submission storing in my old drive. In a moment, I suddenly realize that I have forgotten a part of me, my dreams and how I used to be.

“Rex nullius” – It means “Nobody’s” in Latin.

“Morior Invictus”- It means “Death before defeat.”

“Para bellum” – It means “Prepare for war.”

 These are some of the Latin quotes I live by. My ideas usually sprout from these quotes. There is something fascinating about this language. I feel empowered by just speaking it alone.

During the current chaotic moment of epidemic, it is a challenge to bulk up supplies so I decide to use paper as my main material. Origami is now my practice even though I do not have any confident for it.

“I have the form. Let’s decorate!”

As in my morbid nature, I adore anything Gothic related. I have developed a particular interest about skulls which are the common memento mori. Simon Renard de Saint-Andre is my inspiration for this exercise. He is a French painter and copperplate engraver. His reputation grows through his vanitas painting and his incredible skill in portraits. Vanitas is a type of visual genre that represents transience of life, the futility of pleasure, and the certainty of death, often contrasting symbols of wealth and symbols of ephemerality and death. Almost all vanitas have images of skulls and Simon Renard de Saint-Andre’s skulls are usually quite realistic.

Skulls may represent a complete depiction of memento mori but they are not the only symbol for it. Other subjects may convey the message but they also express distinct aesthetic values. For example, the roses. On the other hand, fonts have the same ability to symbolize something. In this case, vintage script fonts are the best option because not only they have the antique look but also a mystical allure thus rendering a better overall sentiment avoiding overusing visual assets.

“Valor” “Wisdom” “Virtue” are the mandatory values that I must keep no matter what. They may not be my actual values but they hold stories from each of my steps becoming who I am today. This is why I have chosen them to decorate.

Even though I am more in contact with the West than Oriental traditions, I still have a proud Vietnamese root. I re-design the Vietnamese bronze drum’s tribal patterns and using its elements to decorate my origami. I replace the centre of the drum with my design of tribal lotus and moon and only keep the birds and patterns on the outer rims.

Methods:

Due to the lack of resources, I print my design out on normal office A4 paper and fold it.

Response:

I have folded this origami rotating hexagon. It is an analogue/manual animated object. Yay craft!

Reflection:

It is harder than it seems. I have thrown out a lot of paper due to fail experiment.

I am still searching for a method to stop the paper from ripping when turning the origami.