Finalisation of Details

From research, insights and findings the park bench details are..:

2 Benches: one 4m long and another one 1.8m long
Will be cast with Reconstituted stone with steel rod reinforcing through it due to the long overhang.
The smaller bench will be anchored to the ground through M12 bolts being cast with it.
Will incorporate Xie He's Guhua Pinlu - 6 Principles for critquing art and the magic of Wu Daozi's paintings that come to life during the night.
They form represents a calligraphic form based on 3 sections - similar to the basis of cnostructing Chinese Characters.
It will be "a brushstroke" in the park, in the city, beautifying the transitional space. >> As alot of art from the tang dynasty onwards was calligraphic and landscape based >> emulate that onto the product.
They will have brushstroke details. >> Will be cast with giant brush marks along the sides of it to further convey a brushstroke on the landscape feel.
Will have a slight curvature into the top surface to let water drain towards the plant/tree.
It will be an amalgamate of a Chinese Aesthetic with a Comtemporary European feel. With more of the latter.
It will be great to look at!

Interim Presentation

Yesterday i had my interim presentation to Roger..

I have alot of work to do indeed! But i shall get there! What is needed is a design research freeze! An insight that stood out to Roger and me was Xie He of the 6th Century first principle in his Guhua Pinlu - Spirit Resonance

Today at class we had a small class discussion starring Marco, Darin, Daniel, Opeta, Santi, Karen, Melody and Frances. It was regarding the project brief: how we were doing with it and what we were doing with it! - it was also to get suggestions and advice to help all of us create a better design. It went great. I especially appreciated the input from the class in regards to my project approach as at this stage it isnt as clear as most of my classmates!

A bit of information i picked up from the talk:

• The importance of Feng Shui varies between families and areas of China.
• The screen feature in Chinese homes should have no small plants infront of it (on the side facing the door)
• There are different Feng Shui rules/setups for the office.
• Multi-functioning products are popular. - This makes alot of sense as these products may take up as much as room as one product but can do the tasks of two! therefore saving on space.
• There are Chinese lucky patterns
• http://www.China-elements.com - good place to find patterns, furniture etc
• Bamboo is a commonly used material in the south as it is hotter and the material stays naturally cooler.
• Furniture made from Ratan vine
• The Green Collar Club - a sustainability club in China.

I'll post up soon what i had similarly discussed with Roger and the class plus feedback.

Insights

Insight derived from:

Guhua Pinlu (Old Record of the Classifications of Painters)

Xie He's six points to consider in juding a painting:

1. Spirit Resonance, which means vitality ('Spirit' here seems to denote nervous energy which is to be transmitted from the artist through the brush into his work)
2. Bone Method, which means using the brush (this seems to be an allusion to an ancient tem dealing with anthroposcopy, the reading of character from the bone structure in the head and body)
3. Correspondence to the object, which means depicting the forms.
4. Suitability to type, which has to do with laying on of colour.
5. Division and planning, that is, placing and arranging.
6. Transmission by copying, that is, the copying of models.

As these principles could be applied to both painting and calligraphy, two of the oldest and most prestigious practiced skills throughout the ages it had me thinking:

These are the core values for a great traditional Chinese work of art. Developing that idea through>> Could these core values be modelled onto Product Design to create a great product for China?

Guhua Pinlu (Old Record of the Classifications of Painters)

-From the book

Chinese Art by Mary Tregear

A survey of ancient painting, Guhua Pinlu (Old Record of the Classifications of Painters) by Xie He, of the Sixth Century. In his introductory comments Xie He lists six points to consider in juding a painting:

1. Spirit Resonance, which means vitality ('Spirit' here seems to denote nervous energy which is to be transmitted from the artist through the brush into his work)

2. Bone Method, which means using the brush (this seems to be an allusion to an ancient tem dealing with anthroposcopy, the reading of character from the bone structure in the head and body)

3. Correspondence to the object, which means depicting the forms.

4. Suitability to type, which has to do with laying on of colour.

5. Division and planning, that is, placing and arranging.

6. Transmission by copying, that is, the copying of models.

Xie He says that the most important of these critical principles is the first, and that if this element is absent one need look no further. The very simplicity of this categorization has given rise to several interpretations among scholars. But it is generally aagreed that Xie He thought tha, having first confirmed the 'life' of the painting, one could then proceed to assess the quality of brushwork, composition, structure and likeness. The mention in Xie He's sixth principle of the importance of antiquity and ofthe need to imitate the ancients has led some students to consider these points as exhortations to painters, rather than as critical principles. However, the first five points seem designed as principles of art criticism or of connoisseurship for the collector.

Wu Daozi regarded as a magical painter, able to transmit actual life into his pictures, Wu produced wall paintings for temples and palaces, as well as hanging scrolls and handsrolls. He was believed to have executed paintings of horses which galloped away and of dragons which flew out ofthe picture over night, such was the feeling of life in his work. In this respect, he must have been the embodiment of a certain aspect of Xie He's first principle. His line was apparently calligraphic, thick and thin, nervous and energetic, expressing life within the line as does the hand of many a great draughtsman (and product designer hehe. )