Rain Project Sketch

Design For the Floating Wetland Rain Project

When I was thinking about a sketch for this project, I thought about using the mascot (Patriot) or the star but as I thought more about the project and my own idea. Ultimately, it led me to create an entirely different style for the floating wetland. Initially, I envisioned the flower for the design and then it evolved into a baroque style flower. I've always been fond of European styles and geometric shapes so I wanted to incorporate those elements into my own design.The flowers, swirls, and geometric shapes all came from designs I came across online, in books, and in magazines.

Floral Ornament in Baroque Style

(http://comps.canstockphoto.com/can-stock-photo_csp14281705.jpg)  

In France, the garden located behind the Palace of Versailles is known for covering nearly 1,976 acres of land. The use of geometric shapes, irregular swirl patterns, and curved lines all played a role in the final sketch of the floating wetland.

                                  Picture of the gardens at the Palace of Versailles


The pictures below show the failed attempts and the progress of how I came to the final design of the floating wetland.

Materials To Construct the Floating Wetland

The materials for the sketch of the structure will be constructed with PVC pipes, a waterproof cable, hooks, and a couple of cinder blocks. The PVC pipes will be lined near the edges of the structure underneath the floating wetland. The pipes will make put together by not only the straight and curved PVC pipes but also ones that can allow the straight/curved pipes to turn in different directions. This will allow the PVC pipes to be able to connect in the end to make the structure that you can see in the image above. Originally, I thought about lining water bottles to make the inner square of the structure but I figured that the water bottles would cause an imbalance in weight distribution. Furthermore, I reasoned that since the floating wetland is planned to be in the Mason pond for about two years. The use of water bottles in the structure would not last in different kinds of weather and the amount of time the floating wetland would be in place. The waterproof cables will be used over rope or other kinds of material due to the durability and longevity of the material. The waterproof cables will be tied to the corners of the wetland where a hook will be mounted onto the corners to ensure that the waterproof cable will stay in the place. To keep the floating wetland in place, the structure will be anchored by four cinder blocks placed at the bottom of the pond that will be tied to the structure with waterproof cables. 

Project Summary

All in all, the potential design for the floating wetland will be used to clean up the Mason pond and also serve to be aesthetically pleasing to everyone who walks by the pond. The floating pond will be placed in the pond for about two years. If I had more time to spend on the design and construction of the floating wetland project, I would probably work on the design a little more and think about how it relates to George Mason University. Besides the colors of GMU, I believe it would be hard for students and other people to see how my design symbolizes the university. The idea of my design came largely from European and Baroque art styles that I've always liked. However, I believe my simple design or some of the elements of my design idea can be used if chosen as the final floating wetland design.

Research for Project #2

Research for Project #2

http://patriciajohanson.com/fairpark/ 

Patricia Johanson's "Fair Park Lagoon" located in Dallas, Texas was a project that was requested by the Director of the Dallas Museum of Art. The Director had seen Johanson's "Plant Drawings" in a New York art gallery and reasoned with her that she could produce a new design for the Fair Park Lagoon. At that time, there was no program and budget for the lagoon project so she decided to take on the task of coming up with a redesign for the lagoon. From her first trip to the lagoon, she realized that the lagoon was environmentally degraded and no animal or plant life was found. When she recorded all of what she saw at the lagoon, she came up with a design that allowed people to cut across the lagoon and a display of a variety of plants and animals. The "Fair Park Lagoon" addressed environmental degradation, pollution, and a number of other environmental issues.

https://www.djc.com/stories/images/20110325/BayerEarthworks_big.jpg

The second artwork I chose to research was Herbert Bayer's "Mill Creek Canyon Earthwork" that he constructed in 1982. The work is a combination of art, ecology, and landscape architecture that is located in the Kent, Washington. The Earthworks is composed of sculpted earth, pathways, water, and laws, which together function as a public park, storm retention facility, and landscape artwork. The project was commissioned by the City of Kent to respond to King County's 1979 groundbreaking symposium, Earthworks: Land Reclamation as Sculpture which was the project's 2.5 acres of cones, circles, lines, and berms that both manage Mill Creek's cycles of flood and drought. The project is simultaneously both intact and protected as well as greatly threatened by the greater demand for the ecological function it provides. When looking at this project, I think of Feng Shui and the elements behind that particular art form. The simple designs and spaciousness found in the project invokes harmony in art and the environment. 

Gift of Water Sculpture

(http://jackiebrookner.com/project/biosculptures/)

The "Gift of Water" sculpture was constructed in 2001 in Grossenhain, Germany. This particular biosculpture is part of a wetland pond that essentially helped provide natural filtration for a large public swimming complex that is used by over 1,500 people on a daily basis. The two moss covered hands you see in the image above reach from the wetland into the pond. The two hands are cupping the water just as a person would cup water to look at the water before the water escapes between the hands. This sculpture is a living sculpture that cleans and filters the water and provide practical ecological as well as aesthetic solutions to water quality and water quantity problems.

Making of Assignment #1

MAKING OF ASSIGNMENT #1

1. Presentation of research relevant artworks, and scientific research in relation to your project

Self-portrait as Revealed by Trash: 
365 days of photographing everything I threw out 
Variation 1, 2006 
By Tim Gaudreau

Image Source: http://timgaudreau.com/2012/trash/trash.html 

From looking at the artwork above, I decided I wanted to show the consumption and use of daily beauty products I use everyday. I looked to the beauty products I used and then decided to take a closer look at the products by looking at the ingredients. 

COVERGIRL LashBlast Fusion Mascara

Coconut Oil

Vaseline Body Lotion

Documentation of Artwork;

Including the making of (brainstorming, conceptual drawings and writings, failed attempts, stages of development, etc), and finished project documentation.

Brainstorming/Conceptual Drawing Process

First, I gathered all the items I used on a daily basis during the five day period. Then I took a picture of each individual item. As you can see from the items below, I used most of the products.

                                                  

 In the second part of the project, I took a picture of my body which would be used as the overall structure and outline of where the products would be placed. I used one of the tracing tools on Photoshop to trace  my body and then I filled my body with the color black so it looks like a shadow. 

Initially, I wanted to use my whole body to show what products I used everyday but then I decided to use just my upper body so I cropped about half of the picture of my body on Photoshop.

After that step, I was thinking about what the background would be behind the outline of my body and I decided to go with the pictures of where I was from Monday to Friday. 

After that step, I went on to try and put together the images all together on Photoshop. From the pictures below, you can see the failed attempts as well as the finished product. 

The finished product is shown below:

Making of Assignment #1

Documentation of Artwork;

Including the making of (brainstorming, conceptual drawings and writings, failed attempts, stages of development, etc), and finished project documentation.

Brainstorming/Conceptual Drawing Process

First, I gathered all the items I used on a daily basis during the five day period. Then I took a picture of each individual item. As you can see from the items below, I used most of the products.

                                                  

 In the second part of the project, I took a picture of my body which would be used as the overall structure and outline of where the products would be placed. I used one of the tracing tools on Photoshop to trace  my body and then I filled my body with the color black so it looks like a shadow. 

Initially, I wanted to use my whole body to show what products I used everyday but then I decided to use just my upper body so I cropped about half of the picture of my body on Photoshop.

After that step, I was thinking about what the background would be behind the outline of my body and I decided to go with the pictures of where I was from Monday to Friday. 

After that step, I went on to try and put together the images all together on Photoshop. From the pictures below, you can see the failed attempts as well as the finished product. 

The finished product is shown below: