Really impressed in regards to you getting this together within an incredibly compressed time frame and impressed to by your emphasis on personalising this presentation and doing so with charm and professionalism. All very encouraging! One of your classmates, Tom, has likewise chosen Sophronia, and I'm just sharing with you here the feedback I left on his OGR, not in regard to his clock-work idea, but more so in terms of some of my general feedback re. opening up the design opportunities for this city above and beyond just the depiction of fairground rides as installations within an otherwise ordinary city:
Obviously, Sophronia's fairground half is temporary, but when I think about a 'city-sized' fairground, it asks lots of questions about what that would mean - cities are characterised by huge differences in scale between buildings - and differences in status and importance. There is an absurdity to this city, so I wouldn't be timid about dialling up the fantastical nature of it - in the same way that Wreck It Ralph's 'Sugar Rush' world is an entire world comprised of sweets, I don't see why the fairground side of Sophronia shouldn't be a world that is similarly 'built' from the stuff of fairgrounds, carnivals, circuses, amusement arcades and all related elements. Really, I'm just saying that a city with a big wheel in it somewhere may not be the be all and end all of what it means to imagine this curious city.
Just in terms of thinking about that interior shot: maybe you need to think about the practicalities of life in this city; would the fairground people of Sophronia be a very different tribe? I'm thinking they'd be show-folk - even 'freaks' - that suddenly parts of this city would be 'over run' by people of difference, by clowns and magicians and jugglers and fire-eaters etc - where would they stay? Where would they make their homes? Would there be entire show folk ghettos, in the same way as 'China Town', for example? For me, there is an opportunity as your paintings dial down into more human-scale compositions that you can begin to make work that tells us about the two worlds of this city and perhaps the conflicts or tensions that might be created accordingly. I mean, let's face it, what might it be like to be living in the 'sensible' part of Sophronia when a bunch of show folk move in next door for the duration of the great fair? Calvino doesn't describe these places for us, but just thinking about the likely 'consequences' implied by his city of two halves suddenly opens things up in some fascinating ways.
Short version - I think Sophronia is an opportunity to move beyond the idea of simply installing fairground rides into a city context - I think the idea that this 'architecture' sort of hybridises and co-opts the city is more interesting in design terms, and also just in terms of dealing with idea of 'Fairground-as-city', this goes beyond a few rides here and there. In terms of the 'closer' shots, you're absolutely right to focus on those moments that can speak to the 'contrast/conflict' between the two cities, and in terms of that interior, you want to identify a space that expresses these differences on a human scale.
Thanks for the great feedback it's given me a big confidence boost as well as a lot to think about in terms of Sophronia. One thing though, In the text I could have sworn it said that the stone, marble, cement side of the city gets taken down and loaded onto carriages, and that is why I wanted to focus on the funfair side as it does not get taken down. Maybe I just misread this however.
I see what you say about the city not just being categorized in terms of a few rides, and it made me think of the film paprika (an amazing animated sci fi film from japan). In it is a scene of dreams getting mixed with reality, and as a result a lot of childlike dreams get mixed in. Things like giant parades, walking talking animals and of course funfairs. I'm going to take a look at this film and pick out a few screenshots to look at soon for a new inspiration map. I'll also look into how the culture of the half cities would be as well (something i should have looked into before oops).
Once again thanks for the feedback, its definitely given me a lot to look into!
That's hilarious, Annie - I've just read the excerpt and you're right - it's the stone city that gets dismantled, not the fairground (I've read that the other way for about 3 years!) - which I guess makes even more of an argument that you can invest even more so in the 'built environment' of the carnival, as opposed to just drawing fairground rides. Also - a painting depicting what must be ENORMOUS carriages/transportation for all that concrete would be an extraordinarily epic image! I think you'll enjoy this mock-doc too - it will certainly encourage you to think big!
That video has given me a lot of inspiration, and a huge want for those rides to be real. It also made me think of the crosstown express from the movie robots. Designing and painting a huge transport system for the half cities is going to be very fun. :)
OGR 07/10/2017
ReplyDeleteHey Annie,
Really impressed in regards to you getting this together within an incredibly compressed time frame and impressed to by your emphasis on personalising this presentation and doing so with charm and professionalism. All very encouraging! One of your classmates, Tom, has likewise chosen Sophronia, and I'm just sharing with you here the feedback I left on his OGR, not in regard to his clock-work idea, but more so in terms of some of my general feedback re. opening up the design opportunities for this city above and beyond just the depiction of fairground rides as installations within an otherwise ordinary city:
http://thomassherwood.blogspot.co.uk/2017/10/invisible-cities-online-greenlight.html
Obviously, Sophronia's fairground half is temporary, but when I think about a 'city-sized' fairground, it asks lots of questions about what that would mean - cities are characterised by huge differences in scale between buildings - and differences in status and importance. There is an absurdity to this city, so I wouldn't be timid about dialling up the fantastical nature of it - in the same way that Wreck It Ralph's 'Sugar Rush' world is an entire world comprised of sweets, I don't see why the fairground side of Sophronia shouldn't be a world that is similarly 'built' from the stuff of fairgrounds, carnivals, circuses, amusement arcades and all related elements. Really, I'm just saying that a city with a big wheel in it somewhere may not be the be all and end all of what it means to imagine this curious city.
Just in terms of thinking about that interior shot: maybe you need to think about the practicalities of life in this city; would the fairground people of Sophronia be a very different tribe? I'm thinking they'd be show-folk - even 'freaks' - that suddenly parts of this city would be 'over run' by people of difference, by clowns and magicians and jugglers and fire-eaters etc - where would they stay? Where would they make their homes? Would there be entire show folk ghettos, in the same way as 'China Town', for example? For me, there is an opportunity as your paintings dial down into more human-scale compositions that you can begin to make work that tells us about the two worlds of this city and perhaps the conflicts or tensions that might be created accordingly. I mean, let's face it, what might it be like to be living in the 'sensible' part of Sophronia when a bunch of show folk move in next door for the duration of the great fair? Calvino doesn't describe these places for us, but just thinking about the likely 'consequences' implied by his city of two halves suddenly opens things up in some fascinating ways.
Short version - I think Sophronia is an opportunity to move beyond the idea of simply installing fairground rides into a city context - I think the idea that this 'architecture' sort of hybridises and co-opts the city is more interesting in design terms, and also just in terms of dealing with idea of 'Fairground-as-city', this goes beyond a few rides here and there. In terms of the 'closer' shots, you're absolutely right to focus on those moments that can speak to the 'contrast/conflict' between the two cities, and in terms of that interior, you want to identify a space that expresses these differences on a human scale.
Hi Phil!
DeleteThanks for the great feedback it's given me a big confidence boost as well as a lot to think about in terms of Sophronia. One thing though, In the text I could have sworn it said that the stone, marble, cement side of the city gets taken down and loaded onto carriages, and that is why I wanted to focus on the funfair side as it does not get taken down. Maybe I just misread this however.
I see what you say about the city not just being categorized in terms of a few rides, and it made me think of the film paprika (an amazing animated sci fi film from japan). In it is a scene of dreams getting mixed with reality, and as a result a lot of childlike dreams get mixed in. Things like giant parades, walking talking animals and of course funfairs. I'm going to take a look at this film and pick out a few screenshots to look at soon for a new inspiration map. I'll also look into how the culture of the half cities would be as well (something i should have looked into before oops).
Once again thanks for the feedback, its definitely given me a lot to look into!
That's hilarious, Annie - I've just read the excerpt and you're right - it's the stone city that gets dismantled, not the fairground (I've read that the other way for about 3 years!) - which I guess makes even more of an argument that you can invest even more so in the 'built environment' of the carnival, as opposed to just drawing fairground rides. Also - a painting depicting what must be ENORMOUS carriages/transportation for all that concrete would be an extraordinarily epic image! I think you'll enjoy this mock-doc too - it will certainly encourage you to think big!
Deletehttps://youtu.be/RVeHxUVkW4w
That video has given me a lot of inspiration, and a huge want for those rides to be real. It also made me think of the crosstown express from the movie robots. Designing and painting a huge transport system for the half cities is going to be very fun. :)
DeleteYep, that sounds like a concept artist talking to me!
Delete