montserrat design
design senior projects, ca 1998-2020

2011  <   2012   >   2013 course blogs : spring 12

			Brittany Armington Zachary Burt Randi Giles
			Tiffany Gill Ari Grosvenor Erin Humphrey
			Bridget Kenahan Erika Lagesse Ruby Martinez
			Eric Pierce Lana Wheeler Arielle Winchester

 

• Brittany Armington
  map translations

  Maps help us get from one place to another by creating negative and positive space that shows the ins and outs of the environment. I am interested in translating these maps back and forth between three-dimensional and two-dimensional... to gain an understanding of our relationship to our world by pulling away from the original context...

  materials, formats — maps; paper, wood and thread sculptural forms; infographics.

  blog posts —
  spring 12

• Zachary Burt
  The Tortoise, Hare, Dog and Sheep

  animation
  thumbnail image above, hare in final approach...

  Burtzman20 animations (youtube)
  and vimeo

  blog posts —
  spring 12

• Randi Giles
  Insulae

  In the warm, early fall of 2011 I set out to walk around the shoreline of Prudence Island , Rhode Island. During these walks I had the opportunity to discover new territory in a familiar place. As I walked around the island I gathered mostly trash and abandoned objects. I photographed the objects and then paired them in digital collages. This process brought a series of questions to mind. What is a thing? Can I see things as more than mere objects? Can a thing be an island? Is an island ever truly isolated?
  Once I considered the things I collected as more then just trash I started to think of the former history of each artifact, how they may have been used. Studying the unique physical properties of each piece I could recognize if it was a fragment of something, or imagine what pieces make it up.
  On further examination I made the distinction that an object is only part of what a thing is. A thing is not only an object but an idea or concept. And what gives a thing its significance is our ability to acknowledge and consider its existence.
  Each object in this book has a corresponding number as well as a description that hints to its prior life. These things give clues to what life is like on and around the island, as well as a sense of intrinsic beauty and poetry that is found in unexpected places.

  First semester :
  Walked half the shoreline of Prudence Island, collected things. Brought the objects to Beverly and drew them. Went I walked half the shoreline of Prudence Island and collected things. I brought them to Beverly and started to draw them. Went on a second walk, collected more things, then I organized them. I also found some carvings in the rocks... Made Eighteen drawings [of a single styrofoam float fragment]. Photographed, collaged and numbered the objects. [Mapped the locations at which objects were found.]

  Second semester :
  Mainly focused on making the catalog of the objects I collected on my walk around the island and preparation for the senior thesis exhibition, called Proximity.

• Tiffany Gill
  letterforms

  The process is simple enough. First type out the name [or word], then create outlines around each letter, then release the compound paths to give me total control over each individual letterform. Cut up each letterform into various forms and shapes, connect them at times, allow them to flow across the page... sentences... a large, long running mural on a wall, a blueprint of a story untold in a location that gives it meaning, etc.

  “All of old. Nothing else ever. Ever tried. Ever failed. But never so failed. Fail better.”
  ex Samuel Beckett, Nohow On.

  blog posts —
  spring 12
  more

• Ari Grosvenor
  nature of beauty / beauty of nature

  I am surveying our society’s perceptions of identity, and their effect on community. My work explores the interdependence of language and human beings by asking the question: can one determine what “normal” and “natural” are?

  formats and concepts —
  posters; guerilla packaging; dictionary; installation
  thumbnail image above : skin/flesh strips, tests

  blog posts —
  spring 12

• Erin Humphrey
  Contradictions

  Explicating the contradictory practices of government with regard to human rights. The Western concept of “human rights” as a birthright does not translate the same into other cultures. In a historically Confucian culture such as China, hard work, virtue, and family determine respect and status, not merely being human.

  formats — vinyl wall installation, posters

  blog posts —
  spring 12

• Bridget Kenahan
  identity through objects /shoes / 21 Years of Consumerism

  ...my personal exploration through the... items that I own. My goal was ultimately to confront, document, and catalogue these items based upon their personal value to me. This process was a personal journey which brought the issue of identity through objects, as well as the issues of “hoarding.” My intentions were to document these things in a way that other people could read and understand, through graphs... and alternative ways the information could be displayed.

  formats —
  three-dimensional graphs, installation, collage, website

  blog posts —
  spring 12

• Erica Lagesse
  Fractal Typography

  Project merges my interest in typography and in fractal geometry. A fractal is a curve or geometric figure, each part of which has the same statistical character as the whole. I would like to create letterforms and characters using both digital as well as hand-crafted materials, and then go in and create intricate designs inside of each letter. I intend on using materials such as computer-based illustration programs, sharpies, x-acto knives, cut paper, vellum, etc.

  blog posts —
  spring 12

• Ruby Martinez
  The Moon

  Animation of a story by the Grimm Brothers
  drawing, storyboarding, animatics
  (and a lot of typographic experimentation)
  image : detail of animatic, presented at Lateral Relations show (April 2012)

  blog posts —
  spring 12

• Eric Pierce
  Gamepocalpyse

  zines and website providing information on video games (reviews, game hints, player statistics, online events, etc.)

  blog posts —
  spring 12

• Lana Wheeler
  The Closet

  close observation, photographs and drawings of items in closet; formal experimentation with these; derivation of significant forms into a bright, colorful jewelry collection.

  blog posts —
  spring 12

  lanawheeler.com

• Arielle Winchester
  public words / facebook infographic progress

  several social media / statistical visualization exercises.

  1
  I compiled a list of the most commonly used words from the Montserrat newsfeed on Facebook, from the week of January 16th to 23rd, noon to noon. [Words were charted on a 3D map.]

  2
  Over the course of one night I recorded the verbal conversations in my kitchen on an old cassette recorder. During my physical interactions I noticed myself checking and replying to text messages. I wrote down each message along with the snippet of real-life conversation that I was having at the same time. Most of the spoken content is silly and unimportant, but what I find the most interesting is the clear lack of focus. As I try to text more, my letters get jumbled and I leave pauses and confusion in my physical conversation.
  I wanted the photos to reflect the sort of confusion and glitches that occur while doing two things at once. I took images of myself texting as well as the kitchen and what was going on around me at the time. As the book progresses, more pixel-like bars start to appear in the space reserved for conversation.
  The book is about the size and shape and look of my phone. The text messages and photos were printed digitally, but each physical conversation was very carefully letterpressed for emphasis on the tactile.

  blog posts —
  spring 12

  Arielle Winchester Graphic Design (website)