Energineering

Curatorial statement:

This picture is aim to show the energy of electrical and computer engineering (ECE). With a strong circular energy pattern in the middle of the picture, this piece presents the light and power as energy which are gathered and centered from the background, and come out from a white net. The electrical beams in the center are emitting like a blossoming tree. It shows the vitality and strength of ECE. The background is made of circuits board and binary numbers which are the essential elements of ECE. All the binary numbers and circuits in the background point to the center of the piece, which is also the vanishing point.  In addition, the colors of this piece is intended to give the viewer a feeling of science fiction, and it resembles the typical colors of unix shell(see picture 1), which is the place where we do the coding. My piece is inspired by an Bangkok artist called Setsiri Silapasuwanchai(see pictures 2&3), he did a lot of amazing computer graphics of circuits. Finally, for this work, I chose some images from the internet and used photoshop to combine, modify and edit them, making them into this piece.

pictures 2&3

Process:

At first,  I searched on the internet about images of electrical and computer engineering. I found several concrete objects that could represent ECE like interactive screen, code, circuits board, etc. Then I did some specific searching on each individual objects. When I was looking up images for interactive screen, I was attracted by the following photograph of interactive screen and decided to do a piece which had similar perspective as this one. This picture has a dark background which draws viewers attention immediately to the center of the piece. I like how all lines points towards the white object in the middle, that is, the vanishing point is in the middle.

From the module of pop art, we learned how commercial, mass production and ready-made object can be art. The main resources of the art piece do not need to be completely original. For example, the photographs Andy Warhol used were not shot by him. He just used them and recreated them into original and different artworks. So, I asked myself, why don't I just use simple images from the internet and edit them, like what Andy Warhol did. Creativity is shown by the idea and technique we used to reproduce the work, but not the source. Then I narrowed down four objects in my piece, circuits, code, electrical beam and net. I found pictures of them which I like the best. And I used photoshop to edit them into one piece that can show my ideas. 

The idea I finally decided to  go with is an abstract representation of energy of ECE. After lots of editing and color coordination I twisted the image to make all things almost circling around the middle to show the flow of energy and to make this piece more dynamic. After the abstract art module, I gained a new idea of how to compose abstract art, that is to follow the impression. For example, what is my instinct and impression when thinking about energy. For me, energy is flowing, strong and shiny. So I twisted the image to make all things almost circling around the middle and I also created a shiny white halo to emphasize the center of this piece.

I studied some works from Setsiri Silapasuwanchai, I really like the bright and bold colors he puts in his pieces, so I tried to emulate his style of using colors here. I also like how he uses the circuits to construct  growing patterns. But I felt his piece still lack the movement I wanted, since most of them look very static to me.

Final Composition:

source images

Reflection:

1. Respond

I really like the movement I put in this picture, it makes the picture a lot more dynamic than I expected. I think I represent the impression of energy pretty well in this piece, and I can strongly feel how this piece is connected to what I am currently experiencing in ECE. From my perspective, ECE is a blooming area in modern world, so its energy should include its vitality and the growing trend. Energy of ECE is disseminated by network and people's hand, that is why the energy grows out of  the net. Also,all the cool stuffs in science fiction which are related to ECE are actually created by seemingly boring things like code and circuit. That is why I put them as background. They are in the dark and not shiny but they are everywhere, which indicate how important they are. I enjoyed a lot by using concrete things to create abstract art.

2. Respond before

Before this semester, I had no idea how to appreciate abstract art, not to mention how to create them. When I looked at abstract art before, the only thing that I enjoyed the best was probably just the smart and beautiful colors abstract artists used. But now, I learned more about abstract art and felt more prepared and confident in making them. For me, abstract art is spontaneous and what I should do when creating it is to follow my impression, instinct, and emotion. I should not think too much about using a concrete thing to represent my idea. Just a kind of movement is enough(circular flowing movement in this piece). Furthermore, I can now get more information about the artist and most importantly, about myself from abstract art. What I get from an abstract art actually reflects what kind of person I am. Looking into an abstract art is like looking into my own mind.