Project 2 - Animation

Reading Assignment: Travels in HYPERreality

In "The Fortresses of Solitude", Umberto Eco discusses his observations of wax museums throughout America and their reliance on visual authenticity over historical authenticity. Eco argues against the authenticity of the wax museums attempt at recreating reality. He describes in great detail the extreme articulation of the sets which engulf the viewers senses in an attempt to replace the original with the idealistic. In these museums there is always a plaque on the wall of the original image to compare to the scene created in the wax museum which shows how well it has been recreated. However, the picture is not the original or even a reproduction of the original. It is a poorly rendered copy which acts to further disconnect the viewer from the need for the original and replaces it with the ideal. A great observation on Eco's part is the ability of this hyperreality to exist even if the original never did. The Museum of Magic and Witchcraft depicts scenes of laboratories and rooms filled with potions, cobwebs, and all sorts of other visually enticing objects that overload the viewer with sensory information and create an impression of reality which never actually existed. All of this is done because the authenticity of the piece is no longer what matters, only the amount of information it conveys to the viewer. Through this sensory overload, America's addiction to more is satisfied through the extreme articulation of the fake.

Retrospect

Looking back on this project I can say that I have learned a lot about many computer programs that I had never used before. Through experimentation with these programs I have been able to more fully understand the readings we have been given and specifically, how new modeling technologies have influenced architectural design, vocabulary, and structure. While there were many frustrating moments throughout the modeling process I found the end product to be very rewarding. The dialogue that we got back from our critics was very insightful and will help me move into the next project. I am hoping that while this project was very open ended our next project will have a stronger foundation in architectural design.

Updated Model

Warped Space: Death Cube K

I found the section of the reading, "Morphing the Type", to be particularly interesting because it is where Anthony Vidler first begins to explain how other "new" forms have created new definitions for typolgy through the process of metamorphosis. In particular, he goes on to explain how new forms as a creation of different relationships define modern typologies. The relationships range from issues of scale (macro and microstructures) to abstract relationships between reality and dreams. Through morphosis typologies are created by coexistant relationships that interpenetrate creating new forms. An example of this was the Spreebogen project for the Berlin Parliment competition. Vidler explains that it, "establishes a symbolic center by setting up a symbolic periphery." In this design a platonic circle is broken and disjointed to serve different functions acting off the circle. Therefore, the continutity of the circle broken by interjecting forms creates a symbotic relationship between the whole and its parts and the whole structure becomes a metaphor of the demolished Berlin Wall. In my project I have tried to digitally represent these ideas. Jasons legs are modeled seperately in blue and red but act together to create new forms. From their relationships to each other, new forms in the voids between them are created and together they form a sculptural form resting in the landscape.

Project 1b: Video Animation