WARNING - Some mildly disturbing images with bugs and morphed humans, so if that's not your thing please don't continue.
Remix culture allows an individual or group of people to take existing pieces of art and create something new with selected combined ideas. By encouraging this exchange of taking and adding on, I feel as though this consumer producer relationship is able to become more inclusive to unassuming ideas, be exposed to new work processes and perspectives, and generally encourage artists to take more risks with their creations. By embracing remix culture, it seems society itself is advancing far more quicker in technological areas- which will hopefully further advance human development for the better.
For this specific project, I wanted to exaggerate the functional uses of items. I wanted to be able to give these designs a purpose (metaphorically or actual everyday use) while also using surreal elements to grab peoples (In this sense the consumers) attention.
1. Distorted 3-Sided Dice
My brother had recently got these cute chicken dice, and it got me wondering why not amplify the design? Sure it was a little chicken, but it was constrained inside an original clear die. So, I took a bit more of a surreal approach and looked for strange faces that could be morphed inside a die. I didn't want to focus so much on neatness, and just decided to go all out without the constrains of perfection. I also wanted the numbers on the die to be more of an interpretation for the one who uses it - this way that person is more involved with the dice itself rather than having the numbers tell you everything.
2. Lifted Table
For this piece, I wanted to incorporate more of a modern twist to a piece of furniture. The twist being a stack of hands holding something relatively clean (the glass). And the modern being the minimal colour and design that takes advantage of negative space and illusion. I really wanted to make it look as though you could see this design in someones home- for the hands aren't necessarily noticeable from a distance. But then on closer inspection you start to question the sanity of the owner of the object.
If you're a teapot collector, then this teapot is for you. It is a very cute design inspired by the stability a water bear has to offer with its countless little legs. Because of the shape of the water bears mouth, I thought it was perfect for pouring your hot tea into a mug or teacup.
4. Chair Mouth
This idea started with the flower on a spiral tree branch. I was struggling of what I could add it to until I looked in front of me, and there was this beautifully plain computer chair. It started out with a more nature related chair, but I wasn't satisfied. I then found human teeth, and instantly knew what must be done. So rather than having an actual everyday function, I see this piece as a metaphor to how I, and many other artists have been inspired by nature to create works of art.
5. Mirror of Riches
With this mesh design, I wanted to explore the use of colours most people in Canada view as 'rich', and the idea that more detailed things often have higher value. This was heavily inspired by renaissance objects, and the historic construction of what makes artistry 'desired'. I also thought that creating this object to be a mirror, highlights ones reflected understanding of what is considered to be valuable. And now that technology and remix culture generates ideas faster, how can we now judge a detailed piece of art such as this mirror without knowing the process?
6. Tower of Hats
This idea was quite a simple one. I just wanted to create a coat hanger like stand specifically for hats. I then thought it was rather boring to look at, and decided to make it into a tower. This design is definitely more experimental, especially with the textured grey colour I used for the tower.
7. Bowling Glass Display
Similar to my Dice design, I saw a bowling ball (which is kind of a boring design but functions well) and want to create something more appealing to look at. I thought that having the bowling holes be used as an eyeglass to a new landscape (almost like a snow globe) could be really interesting. For this inside glass area, I had just listened to this podcast, and they had mentioned this guy who was trying to look for moose in Ireland (there are no moose in Ireland), and so I really wanted to add a moose.
8. Humanities Resilience
This design was created when my brain felt like it was mentally rotting after looking at a screen for hours. So, to depict that, I wanted to create a zombie looking head getting swarmed with cockroaches. I personally like to compare humans to cockroaches (not in a bad way) based on how they are both resilient and how they both just survive the craziest things. Both are also everywhere all at once and like to be with groups.
9. Light and Death
Life and death has always been a topic that fascinated me- especially in the way it can be contrasted but at the same time function together in an endless cycle. This is taking a bit of a fun spin on contrasting light (Which is often associated with life) and death (which is often associated with darkness), to create a lamp.
10. Shark Alarm
Of course, I am saving the best for last. This is by far my favourite design I had created solely because it has a shark- and not just any shark- a cute shark. My idea behind this design is combining the struggles of getting up in the morning with the movie Jaws. This alarm Is supposed to hang on the wall, so when you're asleep in bed and hear it, you are compelled to actually get up to turn the alarm off, which will hopefully allow you to start getting ready for your day.
While this project was time consuming, it was quite rewarding to look at the endless possibilities remix culture has to offer. I found that creating these designs were by no means strictly visual based- but rather I could introduce my own experiences, emotions, and enjoyments into these little creations. So over all a thumbs up from me.
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