Project Proposal

Working Title:
Simplicity and complexity

Aims:
My primary aim is to explore relationship between simplicity and complexity and balance them visually.
I will focus on people’s daily life especially when someone is going to keep his mind on something. Because that people may be distracted when a balance of simplicity and complexity lose. Let audience find a balance through an interactive work.

Objectives:
1. Let audience think about the influence of simple complexity or complicated simplicity or the relationship that I present in my work.
2. Present and let audience find a deep meaning behind my simple work.
3. Communicate my ideas about “simplicity” and “complexity” to viewers clearly.
4. Show distraction because of losing balance of simplicity and complexity in daily life.
5. Learn and use interactive technology to present my aims.

Context [Including Historical, Contemporary and Theoretical Context]

1. Initial idea

Firstly, I was inspired by Hiroshi Sugimoto’s photograph series “Theater” and “seascapes”. Maybe it’s because I was influenced by the Eastern culture as a child, it’s easy to be attracted by the kind of simple but significant work. Philosophical thinking of time and timeless is always brought from his works such as “Theater” series. In the “Theater” series, the only thing we can see from the center of screen is white light and nothing else. That’s because he captured a whole movie in one frame. Behind the simple white screen, it may be a very touching movie. His work makes me think about the meaning behind it, that’s what I hope my work might have.

Then I saw a John Maeda’s speech about simplicity and read his book The Laws of Simplicity (2006). I really like one of his ideas: “Simplicity is about subtracting the obvious, and adding the meaningful.” John Maeda is a contemporary digital artist who did a lot of beautiful and complex visual work. And now he is currently working on SIMPLICITY, a research project to find ways for people to simplify their life in the face of growing complexity. In his book, he offers ten laws for balancing simplicity and complexity in business, technology, and design—guidelines for needing less and actually getting more. For my project, what I want to achieve is the balance described in Law 10: “Simplicity is about subtracting the obvious, and adding the meaningful.”

2. Visually Simplify a Complex Nature

About the nature part, I looked at abstract paintings which present a complex nature world. (E.g. Piet Mondrian’s Composition 1916, Tree series, The Sea and so on) Piet Mondrian (1872-1944) was one of the greatest abstract artists of the 20th century. The evolution in Piet Mondrian’s work from landscapes to abstraction is one of the most remarkable developments in the history of modern art. (Riley, Bridget, 1997, Mondrian: Nature to Abstraction) He painted from way of carefully observed landscapes to a purest abstraction, which is a long development of simplify a complex nature. Their dynamic spirit of Abstract Expressionism inspired me to use new media technology so that I can paint animated and interactive images on the computer. I will catch a simple inner character from an outward appearance of complex nature.

Oskar Fischinger (1900-1967) was a German maker of abstract films. He completed Motion Painting No.1 (1947), which is a stop-motion film, painted in oil on glass. He did many stop-motion abstract animations as a documentation of the act of painting, taking single frame each time he made a brush stroke. http://www.oskarfischinger.org/ Some of Oskar’s films could be easily done by software nowadays, but a perfect combination of music and movement is worth exploring more.

The Nature series made by John Maeda consists of a series of seven “motion paintings”, representing abstract evocative of those found in nature. Inspired by Abstract Expressionism as well, he offers us a glimpse of digital space in the spirit of landscape painting. http://www.vimeo.com/1866799

I am going to create an interactive motion painting to express my vision about the essence of nature and structure them into a complete work by viewers.

3. Simplicity and Complexity in daily life

About this part, an example will help to clarify what I mean. When a man is reading a book, he really immerses himself in reading it because of only the book in his mind. We can call the condition simplicity. What if there is a cup of tea beside him, beautiful music, or a blast of wind, situation becomes more complicated but still mild and balance. What if music is noisy, wind blows off paper on desk, and then it loses balance. However, in my research, I found that what kind of condition is simple or complex is hard to be defined especially when condition is in intermediate region of simplicity and complexity. Someone may think classic music is noise when others really enjoy it. So, I will be making an interactive video or animation to let audience make own choice of best simple condition.

Jack Cohen and Ian Stewart write a book The Collapse of Chaos (1994), which shows how simplicity in nature is generated from chaos and complexity, and how to discover simplicity in a complex world. Their articles can guide the project I will do and become critical theory. John Maeda’s theories on simplicity and complexity will define my experimental work as well.

Methodology

About motion painting, I need to draw, take photos and see more artists how they painted simplifications of representational reality. Ink and Wash painting could be added into the western abstract painting as artistic representation. I’ll look for experience that we might run into in daily life through survey, observation and experience by myself. Because complicating simple things happen everyday and everywhere. I should collect them and pick up something interesting. I should read these books introducing how to have a simple life or about simplicity as well, look at how minimalisms make their works and their thinking. Then for my work, I will think about methods simplifying complex things through interacting. In progress, I will take photograph, shoot and draw to record.

Outcomes:

I want to make an interactive video displayed on a computer. Show the simplified complexity in our daily life, and how they influence us. I will try to make something can be read by audience behind the surface of my work, like Hiroshi Sugimoto did.

I’m learning processing, hope it would help my idea to succeed.

Work Plan: