In addition to the graphics I presented for my research question and abstract (in the previous post), for the midterms I also presented an intuitive response to my research topic in the form of a model and a graphic.
The graphic, on the right above, was a silhouette image of “Natalie”, a fictional character also known as “the Miniature Killer” – a poor girl who murdered her sister at a young age by pushing her out of a tree house.
“…When Natalie looked down from the treehouse at chloe lying dead, the scene looked to her like a model, like a doll’s house. It was the first of her murders, and the only one she did not recreate in miniature.”
The graphic was produced using CMYK patterns that blur or mix when we view the image from enough distance – so the colors above appears as a slightly patterned greyish shade of soft red, purple and yellow pastels. But when you move closer to the graphic…
…we see that the patterns is actually produced from smaller silhouettes printed in in bright shades of 100% cyan, magenta and yellow. This is actually a references to classic CMYK rosette printing (halftoning); the optical effect is actually produced by the limitation of our vision in discerning discrete colors which mix in our eyes and brain to produce a greater range of shades and colors. My concern here was to create a metaphor for the differences a range of perceptual scales can produce.
Likewise, the model intends to confuse by combining visual devices we attribute to different scales. The use of nails in architectural practice has been used to represent people at 1:100 scale….
This perspective is re-enforced by the temple aspect of the design; from the lower viewing port we can look up to see Natalie as a giant statue, from the same angle as the nails.
But from the higher viewing port we look down to see her as a little doll, trapped inside a confusing dollshouse. At this scale we can see her for what she is, a doll of a little girl, at 1:6 scale.
…whereas in other viewpoints the model can be seen at 1:1. At this scale everything is blunt; the model is simply made from wood and paint and the nails are just nails…
…or stretch our imaginations towards the scale of 1:500, and see the model as a towering monolith.
