in progress portfolio
TRANSCRIPT
In ProgressA Journey to Better Living
Jordan T. RobinsonProfessor Roymeico CarterSenior ProjectsArt 526
This Concentration of research
relates to the ongoing
conversation regarding environmental
conservation, cultural restoration, and
the redefinition of “our” relationship
between humanity and nature through
architecture. My project is a design
proposal for a living sculpture under
request of a professor at NC A&T SU.
Under the professor’s request, the living
sculpture is related to the topics of
sustainable design. His work also adds
onto the topic to a bigger conversation.
The work he, and other students , have
done relates to an area I am exploring
with my personal work. The relationships
between each person and nature are as
intrinsic as our connections we find in
our environmental studies. It is important
we look into these relationships and
work to improve them as a species.
The project proposed three
conceptual designs. Each concept
carries weight for conversations that
circulate around the same topics of
sustainable designs. The conversations
these designs relate to challenge the
purpose of sustainable design, and
strengthens it through questioning and
debate. These three sculptures are
designed to pave the beginning content
for that conversation.
The first question to address, that
also challenges the debate between
the advancement of technology and
gnosticism, will also define one of
many purposes for continuing the
“progression” while respecting the
gnostic views. This question will be
further examined in the next page.
Only a brief overview, a mild
description of each design, my design
process, the results of my project and
my pechakucha will be discussed in
this portfolio. More information can be
found on the website I have designed to
house and organize the content I have
found for the duration of this research
project. To contact me, please use the
information on this page.
I ultimately want to build on this
and reform humanity’s perspective on
nature as a “landlord willing to let us
live in its spaces” than a resource for us
to harvest for our own purposes. Using
my skills in 3D Sculpture; Animation;
Illustration; and Photography/
Cinema, I work diligently on producing
intellectually strong content as a
contribution to better design.
NC A&T SU Visual Arts
Jordan T. Robinson
Illustrator, Animator, Designer
(704) 942 7177
inprogressphysandspir.wordpress.com
I would first would like to acknowledge those who have
help me along the way. The first acknowledgement is towards the God I believe in, for giving me the opportunity to understand the world through a set of lends I may not have been able to see otherwise, and walking with me in my walk of life. Next are my parents, Kevin and Patrice Robinson for their devotion to ensuring my brothers and I developed into the men we are now. To Roy, Todd, Janet, Canady, Adam, Harriet, Brooks, Santmyre, Hooker, Barnhill, and McClinton, my mentors, I thank them for their time and care to helping many artists and I progress to the stages we are in now. Lastly, I extend my thanks to you, the viewer, for your time to read this document.
Now to address the first question. What is a living sculpture and
why build one at all? In truth, we do not need one, but this statement is in the same context as the statement, “You do not need a house, nor clothes, nor a car, etc.” Humanity has survived for multitudes of years living without most things we have in contemporary times. In fact, many cultures, such as the Mongolian Nomads, have lived for thousands of years; living with the herds of livestock they help raise.
There has been an ongoing conversation among scholars, philosophers, and the public known as the Gnostic debate. There are many variants of it, but the overall debate is wether we, humanity, need to progress in technology or return to “biblical” times or times of the ancient civilizations. Although I agree with the solution to return to our natural state, I believe we are too far detached from that lifestyle and will need to take steps. My work carries on some of the conversation, “if we are to continue to ‘progress’ we must do so more appropriately” And provides three ideas for consideration as more research on sustainable design continues.
A living sculpture is a structure capable of supporting vegetation, and/or emulating a form of biomimicry. Bio mimicry is the emulation, or copying, of a natural process that supports life. For an example, the glass jar experiment every 7th grade student conducts in grade school performs a form of biomimicry, because the student copies the water cycle, a natural process that supports life. Combined with this, I focused researching visual works of art form both the De Stijl and Minimalist art movements for their focus on the essentials of a created object and leave vast open spaces that would serve as a great living space for vegetation, and wildlife, to take form.
Nature’s City was chronologically the first idea to explore. In my
research, many designers, engineers, architects, and those related to manmade constructs have discovered interesting ways to make our creations more capable of imitating, or manipulating, the natural realm. From ideas of growing one’s home to reconstructing an entire food chain, there is some form of biomimicry involved.
The city is designed to foster the vegetation it houses throughout
the seasons, and the weather. Each tray houses the variety of plants in the same structure most modern apartments. This sculpture is designed to reconstruct the food chain by possessing the food that will attract the insects, that will attract the rest of the food chain.
After designing this sculpture, I then was guided to search the
spiritual fields to find usable content in the discussion. Despite the interesting ideas many designers are finding, there still seems to be an internal issue with humanity that needs to be addressed.
Mandala was conceived after a critique with my mentors
about my progress. I wanted for include the conversation of arrogance within humanity and its creations, similar to the narrative of multiple movies (i.e. Princess Manonoke, Ferngully: The last Rain Forest, and The Day the Earth Stood Still).
My question, though, was “What could begin to address, and resolve the issue of arrogance among the humanity and its vanity in creation?” I looked into the mandala, a spiritual tool, and ritual, in buddhist culture. The process of making the mandala can take long periods of time, as the monks who construct it create this beautiful illustration of colored sand that depicts the world we all live in and the life within it. By the time the monks are done, they stand back and look at the mandala and wipe it away for the next cycle.
This tool teaches two things:
1. All things are temporal.
2. We must let are pride be earased.
The pride humans put into the things they create is easily, and often, committed. By designing a construct that is supposed to be wiped away, is a process we must consider as a cultural practice to help combat against the prideful lifestyle and allow nature to reclaim its presence in our spaces in more ways than what convention allows.
The image here is an arial view of the sculpture, a mere shell. The piece itself is designed to be consumed by nature within a set amount of time. depending on the type of vegetation to plant in the shell, the mandala will be humanity’s sacrifice, embodying the pride we out into our “progress” and remind us as we progress in technology we must remember that nature does not need “our help” with anything and the best sustainability known is provided by non-human hands.
Eden Tower is also another sacrifice and serves as a “Memorial to
our efforts”. The concept this design holds relates to the idea of making the architecture we build in place of the trees we tear down should serve the nature around it, as well as the humans it serves. The tower is designed to shelter and serve a variety of insects, birds, other wildlife, and vegetation, especially a tree planted in the center. The tree is designed to grow through the core of the sculpture, slowly consuming it, and using the sculpture as a structural support system until it mature into adulthood.
In time, the tree will consume the tower, and assume the responsibilities it once had. In the worst case scenario, humanity, with all its pride or not, should at least serve the nature it “dominates” and give back more to nature than what we currently do.
The plants I considered had to do at least one of two things:
1. Provide edible food for humans and animals.
2. Attract the wildlife to help restart an ecosystem.
The plants, or vegetation, considered includes gala apple trees for the center of the sculptures that will consume their form in time. Another plant was the strawberry bush, which grows in a course of a year. Grape vines and other vines will grow the fastest, which will play a part in consuming the structures.
Materials to build the structures needed to be organic, or be made of organize material. I first looked into concrete for its plasticity and flexibility to form the curvature of the mandala, then using brick materials were considered as an alternative. The rest of the materials to use are wood based materials for their hard structures and sturdy abilities.
In the process of my research I looked into the works of Maya
Lin, Frank Lloyd Wright, and Todao Ando for reference and information I could implement in my work.
Maya Lin is my particular favorite designer, and is known for her memorials, such as the Vietnam memorial, and the civil rights memorial.
Todao Ando is known for his minimalist style architecture such as the church of light and the water temple. His work is the pursuit of the Zen buddhist concept of stripping all creation to its essentials, which is the basis for the minimalist, and De Stijl Movement.
Frank Lloyd Wright was known for his ability to define space in nature. Falling water, although was a failed experiment in some arguments, is one of his well-known intentions of nurturing a relationship with nature.
Frank Lloyd Wright Todao Ando Maya Lin
A Pechakucha is a presentation with 20 slides. Each slide is on
display for 20 seconds before switching to the next slide. The content of the pechakucha can vary on the presenter.
I conducted my on pechakucha as a was of advertising my reserch into nature and sustainable design. In it, I establish the mind-set and reasoning supporting my project an the efforts I, and many other designers before/after me, pursue.
After making my first pechakucha, I then began working on a video pechakucha where instead of 20 images for 20 seconds, there are 20 video clips for 20 seconds to show.
NC A&T SU Visual Arts
Jordan T. Robinson
Illustrator, Animator, Designer
(704) 942 7177
inprogressphysandspir.wordpress.com
In conclusion, this project is only a foot stone to the body of work I
wish to pursue. It is my personal goal to find, and execute, ideas and concepts to help humanity truly progress, physically and spiritually. In my efforts, I do not want to impose anything on anyone, and will not do so, but show the world its condition and offer the suggestions to help it. I am fully aware of the fact these solutions are not applicable across the board, and there may not be a solution to some of our problems, but I can at least contribute to the improvement of mankind and try to restore the elements that I believe makes us human, compassion and respect.
This is the first step into my research and the first mile stone of doing using something I am passionate about to the fullest extent.
Thank you for your time.
-Jordan-