Design Work 2022

Chaos is unorganized, violent randomness. Order is smooth, geometric, linear, and balanced. These two elements are perceived as opposites, but to me, the most dynamic work is created when they are combined. I synthesize art, STEM, and nature, approaching all with a mentality of a blend between assumed opposites. I illustrated this juxtaposition –chaos and order– by blurring the lines between the organic, natural world, and the chaotic, mathematical, artificial world. The natural cold form descends into geometrical chaotic warm wood, refusing to have just one energy, tone, material, or style. The curvilinear paper represents the ethereal beauty of the natural world, organic but rational. The chaotic wood represents the man-made world, added onto and exploding from the natural world, depicting conflict through geometric shapes and angles. This piece shows a harmony between chaos and order. They integrate and work together in a balanced fashion like humans should with their environment.

This slide illustrates the process behind curvilinear juxtaposition. I started my design process on the margins of my math notebook and in sketches in my sketchbook. I came up with a premise, building harmony between chaos and order, symbolizing the relationship between the natural world and artificial world. I utilized paper and wood because they could be used organically and geometrically. I thought of a curvilinear shape, linear but smooth and natural, when combining these two concepts. I scored two half sheets on a Bristol board and put pressure on each end to make the paper open up. Using wood with a medium thickness, I discreetly built a structure with small wood reinforcements to maintain the tension of the paper. I showed harmony by using wood with the same thickness as the paper strips for the exterior wood structure. I elevated the piece with invisible wire on a dowel rod. I carefully placed the sticks creating angles that felt balanced and not cluttered.

For this project I wanted to experiment with the use of light, utilizing all its properties, specifically illumination, reflection, and it’s absence. I explored creating a design for a spiraling geometric, chaotic but controlled beacon of light casting bizarre shadows around it. To give the model a lightweight, delicate, but intricate feeling, I used extremely light and nimble translucent vellum paper and balsa wood as the structure. Placing my phone beneath the model with the flash on, the spiraling transcending beacon began to glow. I placed the model with my Iphone as the base on a mirror. For me, this project conveys the message of embracing your inner self and letting it radiate/glow out of you, casting effects on the world around you, while also reflecting on it. This was done completely independently