This week we started the model making process drawing on the essence of our A2 concept drawing. I was drawing on the idea of layers from my A2 Concept Drawing, the transparency of dreams and the idea of something not making sense in its form/ structure.

Having to create something in 6 minutes, every 6 minutes, for an hour, forced random ideas to come up.

I found this exercise helpful as I often overthink the how’s and whys of what I’m creating rather than focusing on the materials and what forms they can take on. There was less thinking, making room for creativity to happen.

Placing my models on the scale of interior/ exterior, fluidity/ solidity and dark/ light was helpful to engage the thinking around the effects that the models form has on itself as well as its environment. This made me more conscientious and intentional with my final iteration.

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On updating my blog last week I focused in on this idea of ‘Alice in Wonderlands’ rabbit hole. I started thinking on how I could incorporate the madness of that rabbit hole.

As I thought about the effect I wanted my model to have I played with the idea of having an optical illusion using mirrors. I wanted to create something that at a certain viewpoint it would disappear. Similar to some of Kapoors work. This idea of disappearing was drawing on the temporary/ permanent relationship of sleep/ wake as one minute you would be able to see down the rabbit hole, the next minute its gone.

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I wanted my model to cause a double take reaction and take on a shape shifting quality.

I mapped out a few ideas on how I could play with the reflection of a mirror to create an optical illusion. I also made a test model out of paper over the top of a mirror to test the best way to configure the rabbit hole for the most striking result. I drew inspiration from Yayoi Kusamas infinity rooms for this idea also.

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When I began the construction of my final iteration of my model I found that my original plan of having a mirror at the base of the rabbit hole and a double-sided mirror on the top with a hole in it wasn’t going to be structurally sound as the mirror was too heavy

I didn’t want to create a sturdier frame for the model to hold up the mirror, as I like the effect that wire creates. It gives the structure a soft, floating and fleeting atmosphere.

I adapted my design to incorporate mirrors on the sides to help with support of the layers but also to reflect against each other and create doorways into new dimensions’ within this rabbit hole.

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Everyone lives in the fantasy of his or her own minds. The world looks different through each set of eyes, which is why I wanted to use reflective surfaces. The structure will look different to each person that looks at it, as they cast a different reflection.

In starting to explore this threshold between sleep/ wake and what it looks like for me I noticed through my rough drawings (some blind and some with our eyes open), that my state between sleep/ wake involves movement, lack of control and a sense of an impending reset.

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As I started to sketch a few ideas for my A2 concept drawing I came to realise that as I sleep I create layers of dream worlds and as I begin to wake my mind starts to get drawn up though all these layers of my subconscious inducing confusion and the feeling of weightlessness as all these worlds get blown apart until I wake in reality.

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I chose Cynical/ Non Cynical, Temporary/ Permanent and Dream/ Certainty as my three threshold relationships that relate to Sleep/ Wake as these thresholds are at play in my Sleep/ Wake threshold.

Two films come to mind when thinking about my threshold of sleep/ wake. The first one being ‘Inception’ and the second being ‘Alice in Wonderland’. Specifically the scene in Inception of them breaking out of the multiple dreams and everything is chaos and makes no sense and the scene of Alice falling down the Rabbit hole in Alice in wonderland.

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To get some inspiration for my A2 concept drawing I researched a few artists and designers and drew inspiration from Tom Dixons Curve Pendants from his 2016 collection, Anish Kapoors Cloud Gate 2006, Rachel Whiteread Untitled (Stairs) 2001 and Motoi Yamamotos salt installations creating labyrinths. I liked the projection Dixons Curve pendant created especially on the narrow corrugated surface. It creates distortion in the space as well as a temporary moment due to the effect of the projection only existing when the lights are turned on. I love the way Kapoor uses mirrored surfaces for some of his work. It provides a new perspective on the world and due to the Cloud Gates curved form, that perspective changes and warps depending on where you’re standing. Whitereads stairs conveys that relationship of cynical/ non-cynical quite well I as the two sets of are for each side and will lead you in different directions depending on which path you take but also challenges you to make sense of an illogical scenario. In thinking of the mind and our subconscious i think the idea of a labyrinth (referring to Yamamotos salt installations) is quite fitting. Our mind is a maze and we often get lost wandering through the multiple avenues of our subconscious making it difficult to find our way back to reality.

In my first iteration of my A2 concept drawing I drew on the labyrinth shape of twists and turns in the form of a brain. I drew from both Kapoor and Dixons work to create a metallic projection of the brain to show that the mind was adrift and creating a new layer to explore in sleep. I used butter paper to create a shear over lap on the brain to create another layer to explore and used bright coloured pastels and fluid lines to contrast the grey lines of the brain showing a cynical mind that lives in reality and a non-cynical subconscious creating chaos. By only attaching the metallic brain and the colour layer by a few points it suggests that both can be removed very easily showing that relationship of temporary dreams and ideas vs permanent reality. The overlapping of layers on the brain are also playing with the idea of what do our minds classify as dream/ certainty. We aren’t certain of which level is the active brain as even the brain on the paper can be erased as its only drawn in pencil (temporary/ permanent).