Assessment Task 2A: Drawing/Notation:
Chosen technique: A catalog of Architectural Monsters (John Hejduk:Victims and Monsters)
Final Drawing:
- Fortress
- King’s Hideout
- Serpent
- Archer
- Three-headed Monster
- Spear Launcher
- Alien
- Old Sofa
- Chef
- Slayer
- Bully
- Devil
- Spider
- Ghost
- Nurse
- Writer
- Missile
- Earthworms
- Bear
- Advanced Killing Machine
- Iron Maiden
- Rocket
- Spaceship
- HTC-Phone Charger
Process Work:
Before i started sketching, I studied the drawing in John Hejduk’s Mask Of Medusa and viewed John Hejduk’s Victims and Monsters. I felt very uncomfortable.I started walking around the street around UTS library, one of the traffic light appeared like a real living organism starring at me. After that, I start searching for the structures that look and can be transformed into architectural monsters.
In my above sketch, I roughly draw the structures and number them. in the first one, I draw the structure of the traffic light which can be subtly transformed into my imaginative character which is an Alien. In the second,The structure of the Faculty of Architecture, Design and Building can be changed to look like a Prison- Wach Tower. One of the structures in Railway square can be transformed into a torture device. The 5th one is a structure near the Insearch Buiding which can be changed into a nuclear power plant or perhaps an old sofa which is being thrown away. the 6th one is the structure right in front of the UTS library. With less exaggeration I can turn that building to a Fortress because it strictly resembles the structure of a tower. The 7th one I am not happy about it.
In sketch 2, I found two possible structures which can be transformed into architectural monsters. I have put a tick mark on the ones that i like and a cross to the ones that i might use. I have thought of transforming one of the building in the 12th one to a syringe because it has a distinctive spike on it. In the 10th one which is the Central Station Clock Tower,I can transform it into a monstrous creature with a chef's hat on. the other two structures, I discarded them.
In sketch 3, i have drawn the UTS Insearch Blue Building, Uts Tower building,UTS building 7, the Tafe building. The salient feature of the Insearch building is it’s spikes which i can further exaggerate into creating a royal structure for the king or queen. UTS Building can be transformed into snakes or worms simply by exaggerating the windows only. I do not wish to use the UTS Tower and the Tafe buidling.
In my sketch 4, i transformed the Rendezvous Studios to an Archer by exaggerating the structures. One of the structure of the building can be changed to a quiver.The ABC foyer could be transformed into a knight or maybe a rocket The Christ Church Saint Laurence can be entirely transformed into a Missile.I sketch of the Frank Gehry building which I transformed to a Twin- headed monster by exaggerating the size of the windows to create eyes and the mouth of the heads.
This time, I draw the newly transformed architectural monsters. i have tried my best to turn my architectural monsters into John Hejduk’s monsters. The choice of my tool is ink pens which i think is perfect to create the rough outlines of the structures. Gel- Pens are better over ball-pens. The important things that i learnt here in my sketch is that I should not bother to focus on the details of the structures which are visible in the above structures. The catalog would look much more like John Hejduk’s Monsters if I draw the outlines only. I should focus more on the salient features of the monsters that gives them them character. I should also be careful in placing the right structures at the right place and the margin of the whole page.
I decided to explore the spaces and structures even further around the city. I found more interesting structures that i can transform into my architectural monsters.One of the structure that i found can be changed to a missile by only exaggerating the structure just a little. The Harbour Bridge can be used to create two structures: an insects leg and iron-maiden. Iron maiden is a coffin like structure that is used to torture or kill people. It was used in Britain. The light rail can be transformed into a snake by only exaggerating the front structure.The market city tower structure can be transformed to a pencil. One of the churches that I observed communicated as a tall ghost. The railway square structure can be created as a Spear- machine by exaggerating the spikes. One of the churches can be transformed to a devil but an infant devil. Other structures i have decided to discard them.
I decided to draw one last drawing before the draw the final drawing. I have added and discarded some of the monsters.The above drawing is on A2 Size. In my above drawing I am working on the salient features that gives them the character which is very important. I have decided here, in this drawing what names perfectly suits the structures. I have also wrote small notes alongside each monsters so that i do not forget to work in the process of creating the final monsters in my final drawing. By drawing this, I am sure that all of my monsters will fit in the frame and will look like Hejduk’s Monsters.
Research:
John Hedjuk says that the fundamental issue of architecture is that does it affect the spirit or doesn’t it. If it doesn’t affect the spirit, it is a building. If it affects the spirit it is architecture. (EDUCATION OF AN ARCHITECT). John Hejduk taps on to our minds and making us feel strange and uncomfortable through his architecture.
In the catalog of architectural monsters by John Hejduk, he free-handedly draws silhouettes to create the architectural monsters.Each structures has a unique identity. The whole of the drawing gives us a dark vibe. Although the characters are all unique and independent, they seem that they relate to each other. the architectural monsters are scattered on the page and are randomly numbered. The medium he has used is black ink to create the monsters. They are roughly drawn. The drawings of the monsters create the whole unified frame.
I have thoroughly studied the drawings of Hejduk’s drawings and techniques on The Mask of Medusa. In the above image, the drawing is an example of a monster which is a silhouette and has a character to it.
Reflection:
I have used his key technique that is bringing the structures to life. My final drawing is also free-handedly drawn like Hedjuk’s drawings. I have also used silhouettes to draw my architectural monsters which is a salient feature of the architect’s work. The medium I have chosen is also similar to his medium that is ink. I have also presented my drawings in his style that is scattering the monsters in a random fashion and also numbering them randomly. The most important similarity in the architect and my work is that both of the work conveys a dark message to the audience. They are psychologically disturbing.
I have actually turned the city into a chaotic place. There are dangerous living beings and devices every where. There is also structures where one can hide but only the rich folks can use it. The punishment for not following the rules or if one end up on the wrong part of the city, can be very severe. One can be tortured to death. The poisonous creatures of the earth are trying to come take their revenge on the humans living around the city.This space is creating a bad influence on the young creative minds but unfortunately no one can stop it now. Good things are losing its place on the city and bad things are growing exponentially. Organic structures are eliminated. The structures are being used put fear inside the mind of people. Mindless monsters are created as a result of the created atmosphere in these spaces. Instead of finding a solution to improve the spaces they are trying to even create structures that can demolish the few organic structures and spaces.The general public is being slaved and they have no idea about it. Structures that can be still used are being wastefully scattered in the spaces. The mindless monsters are already trying to conquer the moon from their advanced aircraft. They have also created heavily machines to destroy every thing that tries to go against them. Even the aliens have been sighted in these spaces. They came here to help improve the organic structures of the city but they have already been tortured and captured by the mindless monsters. This is the current story that my final work reflects.
Bibliography:
EDUCATION OF AN ARCHITECT. New York: Michael Blackwood Productions, 2011. video.
Hejduk, John and Kim Shkapich. Mask Of Medusa. New York: Rizzoli, 1985. Print.