A summary on Art & Carft movement and Art Nouveau

Arts and Crafts 

Arts and Crafts was an international design movement that flourished between 1860 and 1910, continuing its influence until the 1930s. The name "Arts and Crafts" came from the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society, which was set up in 1887, to show various designers' work in a range of materials. The founding members were Walter Crane, William Morris, and Charles Robert Ashbee.
The main developer of the Arts and Crafts style was William Morris, a writer. He was influenced by the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, an earlier English art group formed in 1848 to restore art to the ‘‘purity’’of Italian art before Raphael.

Morris was an English poet, artist and socialist reformer, who rejected to opulence on the Victorian era and urged a return to medieval traditions of design, craftsmanship, and community. He was inspired by the writings of John Ruskin and Augustus Pugin who championed the return of Gothic architecture, which was the last true architectural movement in their opinion. 

Morris's art work

A very decorative art piece, with almost no blank space left undecorated. The Strawberry Thieves. 

the Red House

The Red House, situated in the heart of Bexley, designed for William Morris by his architect friend Philip Webb in 1859.

the interior

The interior of the house was decorated with murals painted by Burne Jones and Rossetti. Much of the furniture and some of the glass and metalwork were designed by Philip Webb. Morris also contributed, and installed the big white settle which he designed for Red Lion Square. Morris and his wife Janey worked together on wall hangings and embroidery in medieval themes and friends were frequently called upon to assist the decoration of walls and ceilings.

The dramatic spatial effect of the oak staircase, looking up to the painted pattern of the staircase turret ceiling .

The living room, showing Webb's dresser and the exposed brick fireplace set between windows overlooking the orchard.

ART NOUVEAU

Art Nouveau an international movement and style of art, architecture and applied art that peaked in popularity at the turn of the 20th century (1890–1905) .  'Art Nouveau' is a French term, which means 'new art'. It is characterized by organic, especially floral and other plant-inspired motifs, as well as highly-stylized, flowing curvilinear forms.

Art Nouveau is an approach to design according to which artists should work on everything from, for example architecture; interior design; jewelry, furniture, textiles, to household silver and other utensils, making art part of everyday life.

Antoni Gaudi 1852 - 1926

Architect and designer, Antoni Gaudi is the most internationally prestigious figure in spanish architecture and also in the Art Nouveau movement.

Casa dels ossos

Gaudi's concept; no straight lines! The flow of the exterior of a building cannot preperly be explained with the use of straight lines, but rather organic and nonlinear patterns. These concept were applied in this masterpiece, Casa dels ossos. There are no edges or corners in this building. Even the walls are rounded by giving essence of smooth skin of a sea serpent. There are a numbers of small, curved balconies on the facade. As if they are sticking on to the walls like bird nests on a cliff.

Sagrada Familia

Gaudi's most famous art piece, the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, Spain. It was a church designed by Gaudi in 1882. He is usually considered the great master of Catalan Modernism, but his works go beyond any one style or classification. Gaudi did his imaginative works that he found his inspirations from the nature and applied it into the Sagrada Familia. 

interior of the Sagrada Familia

Gaudí studied organic and anarchic geometric forms of nature thoroughly, searching for a way to give expression to these forms in architecture. Instead of using plain columns in supporting the ceiling of the church, he used columns that look like tree trunk with the branches stretching out from the main trunk to support the roof.

Gaudi found that the traditional way to build were too complicated and difficult therefore he always ought to try some new techniques, modern ways in building his art work. And so, among other resources, he had railway tracks laid with small wagons to transport the materials, brought in cranes to lift the weights and had the workshops located on the site to make the work easier. A century after his death, people are still trying to complete this building, using Gaudi's original idea and the same way Gaudi did, keep trying out new technologies and materials. Old wagons were replaced by powerful cranes, machines and materials are improved to ensure this piece of art work last in good quality.

Although it is still incomplete, the church is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and in November 2010 was consecrated and proclaimed a minor basilica by Pope Benedict XVI.

Source of information:

1. Notes from Foundation lecturer.

2. Astro channel's encyclopedia tv show.

3. http://www.sagradafamilia.cat

4. Wikipedia

How does the concept 'Joy of Work' relate to my work?

Have joy in our work! A very important thing, to enjoy while working. If one keeps blaming, he/she is not enjoying. With low enjoyment on work, it cannot be productive.

Poster painting

Water colour painting

  Both drawing above were painted during my high school time. I started painting since I was a kid. Started from pencils, crayon paintings, to poster colour, water colour, soft pastels... and other medias.

The Hamster and the Bunny (soft pastel)

Some fruit (soft pastel)

I found soft pastel 's a very interesting painting media during high school time. Versatile! I enjoy painting with soft pastel the most! Both the above are not the best pastel painting of mine btw, can't find the rest. Lesson learnt, archive every pieces of art work in the future is a MUST!
At first, I didn't know why am I always attending art classes, because my mom forced me to??? But soon, I realise that drawing and painting helps me to relieve. When I am painting, my brain's just on paint, and how to paint it better.

Fishing Village (Acrylic painting)

The Road Outside of College (acrylic painting)

The Bird Cage Maker (water colour painting)

Recent paintings I did during my foundation course. Painting is great!

Summary on the Dark Age, French Revolution and Industrial Revolution

The Dark Age, also known as The Medieval Period, was ranged from the collapse of the Roman Empire until the beginning of Renaissance, which was around the 5th century to the 15th century. It was said to be the worst time of the European history.

During the Dark Ages, Europe faced intellectual paucity, depopulation, deurbanization as well as the barbarian invasions. A few different empire was built and they ruled their respective territory. Without the government from a capitol city, the possession of the baron, also known as the nobility in other term, rises. Farmers were forced to pay high taxes and to work as the baron's slaves if they were unable to afford paying it. The Nobility got their protection under the King which the King gives title and land to them and they pay back in terms of servicing or taxing. This interpreted Feudalism, which was a legal system practiced during the Medieval Period in the structuring of the Medieval society.

Salvation in the afterlife was a great concern during that time. This made the ascendancy of the church to expand. People believed everything from the priest or the church therefore huge, tall, highly ornamented churches were built during the period. People directed their spiritual efforts towards The Crusades, which was holy wars waged in the name of recovering the 'Holy Land' from the Muslims; and the great pilgrimages, a lengthly journeys undertaken to worship at sacred shrines or the tombs of saints. 

The Chartres Cathedral, France

the interior of a Gothic-style cathedral

After the Medieval Period, it was the rise of the Renaissance, which marks the beginning of the modern European history. As for the French Revolution, it happens during 1789 and ended up quickly in the late 1790s. It was a radical period where the people of France undergo a political upheaval to overthrow the king and uprooting the old institutions such as the absolute monarchy as well as the feudal system. 

the storming of the Bastille, 14th July 1789

The cause for this revolution was mainly due to the corrupted government of King Louis XVI of France during that time. Economic crisis such as hunger and malnutrition, were not concerned by the government; debts over 2000millions amounted after France participated in the American Revolutionary War. Similar to the American Revolutionary war, the French Revolution was influenced by Enlightenment ideals, particularly the concepts of popular sovereignty and inalienable rights. The first year of the Revolution saw members of the Third Estate proclaiming the Tennis Court Oath in June, the assault on the Bastille in July, the passage of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen in August, and an epic march on Versailles that forced the royal court back to Paris in October. The next few years were dominated by tensions between various liberal assemblies and a right-wing monarchy intent on thwarting major reforms.

the march on Versailles

Although the French Revolution failed to achieve all of its goals while perhaps turned into a bloodshed event, it does played a critical role in shaping the modern nations which dominated by people's power. 

'The Industrial Revolution' refers to a period of massive economic, technological, social and cultural change which began on the 1760 in the Britain and spread quickly to the rest of the world until 1850s. During that time, a mainly agrarian world (farming country) economy based on manual labour was transformed into one of industry and manufacturing by machines. 

The invention of steam power, which was used to power factories and transport and allowed for deeper mining.

In the early stages before the revolution, the transportation of goods in Britain rely much on horse carriages. During the revolution, railways and roads were built to enable faster and more convenient way for transportation of goods. Ships powered by steam machine were also invented. 

The social effects brought by the Industrial Revolution, the cities were overcrowded by peoples from all places of the country because human labour was in high needs during the Industrial Revolution to run machines in the factories, to carry loads, to mine and the list goes on. 

At that time, even the children were assigned to work in the factories in long working hours because of huge demand of labour. 

Cities were polluted due to the outnumbered factories that runs almost 24/7 during that time.

In summary, all of these revolution brings huge changes to the modern world, without the sacrifices of the past, we wouldn't have a nice world for today.

References:

1. Form4 History Text Book.

2. Notes from Foundation's Critial Studies Class.

3. History Channel.

4. Wikipedia

5. kwintessential.co.uk

I think therefore I am - Rene Descartes

Rene Descartes was a French philosopher, mathematician, and writer who spent most of his adult life in the Dutch Republic. He once stated a statement, "cogito, ergo sum", technically means 'I think therefore I am'. What is important about this statement is that in order for a thought to exist, there must be some object or mechanism that produces the thought. 

'I think therefore I am' for me, it's a very difficult philosophy that could be understood by normal people. In terms of design, I think it just means that if u have an idea, and u wanted to prove that it really exist as an idea, u should sketch it out and make it possible to exist. Do an mock up, do experiments, try it out. And at last, if it's successful, your thought exist! 

I normally don't do deep thinking on statements or words, that is a job for the philosopher and it makes thoughts, mind, life miserable. One could just spend years defining a word "LOVE" and still couldn't have an accurate definition on it. Because, LOVE exist in many forms, many perspective, many places... just like the word 'ART'.    

Baroque architecture

The Baroque era ranged from 1600 to 1750AD and it was a time when the Western World produces the greatest artist, sculptors and architects.
The building I chose is The Church of Saint Charles at the Four Fountains in Rome, Italy. Also known as 'san carlo alle quattro fontane' which was build by the Baroque architect, Francesco Borromini.

the facade

The Baroque-style artists get their inspiration mainly from nature, high renaissance as well as the classics which then developed into a dynamic style. Space, time and light were the most important elements considered in the Baroque architecture, making it more dynamic compared to the static style of the Renaissance.
As seen at the facade of the 'san carlo alle quattro fontane', Borromini sets his whole facade in serpentine motion forward and back, reflecting the pulsating membrane inserted between the interior and the exterior space. Tall corinthian columns stand on plinths and bear the main entablatures which define the main framework of two storeys and the tripartite bay division. This is designed to provide a fluid transition between the interior and the exterior as the Baroque style reflected spacious and dynamic architecture. 

 The relation of the building and the environment is shown by the second facade, a narrow bay crowned with its own small towers that turns away from the main facade and follows the curve of the street to face an intersection.

The church is centrally planned which centres around the oval shaped dome. The Baroque style church was designed in a way to be more spacious with long altars and oval shaped big dome.

The reason I chose this building is because this building is an iconic masterpiece of Baroque style architecture by a great designer, Borromini, who practices full Baroque architectural styles.

Source if information: Notes given by KBU's foundation lecturers and also from the net.
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/1352473/Baroque-architecture  

How Design Inspire My Daily Life?

Being a designer was not my ambition when I was still a kid. I used to have super big dreams for my future, like to become the second Einstein, Issac Newton...... which sounds ridiculous to me now, because, everyone grows and matured.
When is the time when I started feeling to designing? Well, I attended drawing classes since I was 4 continuously until 17, which is my Spm year. Yet, taking an Art subject as an addtional subject for my Spm was like a sure-A-deed because I just loves to paint. I love colours! So, when it's the time for me to choose for a tertiary course to study on, there's no other choice but design. It's the only course which I still get to paint and draw. Yes, designing is totally a different thing from painting and drawing, which include many process until you can finally designed something out from your drawings. A lot of thinking of course. I took the challenge! Although I don't really like to think, p/s: but if I'm really thinking, definitely something good is coming out haha~
Good designs inspire people's life but how does it inspires my life?
Well, I love reading magazines. Not local 'low-ya' ones but imported ones like the Japanese's.

There's big difference between the imported ones to the local ones. I cannot describe but you can prove it yourself by buying a local one and an imported one to compare. Yet, the price has a huge gap too.
I started reading it as well as collecting it during high school time. The layouts, the photography, the fashions... inspire me a lot! I started to love make-up-ing myself, started to edit my pictures, started to collecting funny stuffs... p/s: I collect paper bags, plastic bags, shopping bags,packages... which I think that it's pretty, until I have no more space to keep and was 'forced to' throw them away T^T

Yea, and that's it for the first post~ I'm sleepy already ~.~ zzzz