Topic 1 Form Analysis

Why this form? What are its features (stylistic, experiential)

I will show up use picture, and text definition as my form that just like the art piece display in gallery . I will make 3 pictures related to my topic. The first one have few birds fly in the empty gray sky that over a barren land. the second has vivid color, the symbolics bacteria  working well under a Microscope, the last one is many people standing on the green grass, and watch a lot of cute birds fly in blue sky. also for each pictures, will come with different type of music. or background sound.

How is this form typically used, and what do you plan to subvert/imitate/utilize

while I display the picture, and play the background sound, and a human voice going to delivery message.

What would change if you tried a different form? What critical lens does the form your applying emphasize? 

If I would change the other one, I will try to make animation to delivery, and the critical lense of me will emphasize on why people can survive with symbiotic bacterias.

Is there a metaphor well-suited to your form (i.e. cooking with code)? Or, are there other metaphors you might employ?

Yes. I will stay with symbiotic bacteria, but I will consider to have another one to make my topic even stronger.

The form that I intend to use for my guide is a pharmacy medication label.

• Why this form? What are its features (stylistic, experiential)

Medication labels typically show how the medicine is used and consumed, what are its ingredients, and what are its side effects. It is very detailed and has a serious tone.

• How is this form typically used, and what do you plan to subvert/imitate/utilize?

I chose this form because it relates to my topic of medicinal uses of cinnamon (bark). I think the pharmacy bottle and label will emphasize that cinnamon is directly used in medicines, which is something that people often don’t realize. Using typical western medicine packaging makes the audience reconsider whether organic ingredients should be considered medication at all. I also what to use the “side effects” portion of the label to describe the ethics and sustainability of cinnamon production.

• What would change if you tried a different form? What critical lens does the form you’re applying emphasize?

Another form that I brainstormed for this topic were infographics on the production of herbal medicines. Initially, I thought I could draw visuals on the lifecycle of cinnamon production, but I felt infographics was too straightforward and that using the medication bottle would be a better metaphor to describe the medicinal use of cinnamon.

• Is there a metaphor well-suited to your form (i.e. cooking with code)? Or, are there other metaphors you might employ?

It would be a visual metaphor, taking a spin on a commonplace item to describe my topic.

• Why this form? What are its features (stylistic, experiential)
  • I will be using the field guide form for my project. This form is most commonly used as an educational guide for the very young and older generations. Most are used for plant and animal research. The style is very simple, with one side for information and the other for pictures or other graphics.
• How is this form typically used, and what do you plan to subvert/imitate/utilize?
  • I plan to imitate the structure of the field guide. I do want to go through the history of taxidermy till now. Fill it with information but not overwhelm it with words. The graphics in the field guide are ways to keep the reader engaged and able to follow through with the guide.
• What would change if you tried a different form? What critical lens does the form you’re applying emphasize? 
  • If I would try a different form it would be, a guided tour, typically used in museums. I would use this form to show people the idea behind taxidermy and the process of preservation of animals.
• Is there a metaphor well-suited to your form (i.e. cooking with code)?
  Or, are there other metaphors you might employ?
  • I don’t think that there is a metaphor well-suited to field guides.

Analysis of guide
I would use a computer game as my “quilting” guide.

Why this form? What are its features (stylistic, experiential)

First of all, I am adept at making computer game. It is a combination of multiple media which has audibility, visuality and interactivity. By playing a game, we can have a deeper immersive experience. I believe it is a good method to transmit different ideas and it also a good way to narrate stories.

How is this form typically used, and what do you plan to subvert/imitate/utilize?

Player are able to control a female character in this game. They need to collect leftover materials and quilt a pattern in the end. And the key theme I want to present in this game relates to the power of female and the courage of breaking gender discrimination in Chinese handcraft heritage’s convention.

What would change if you tried a different form? What critical lens does the form you’re applying emphasize?
If I tried a different form, people may have less immersive experience as in a game, people can dive into a world that they will address themselves to the protagonist position. This will be easier for people to generate sympathy. The critical lens that the form I am applying emphasize on the gender discrimination in the Chinese heritage of craftsmanship.

Is there a metaphor well-suited to your form (i.e. cooking with code)?Or, are there other metaphors you might employ?
Visual metaphor is well-suited to my form. For example, I can use black colours, a lock and prison to represent the restraint of tradition on women. Red, bright colours, key and sunshine can represent the freedom for women to learn traditional crafts.

I’m planning to create a satellite guide website, which has a brief introduction about the number of satellites in space, live stream video from ISS(International Space Station), and the relationship between satellites, orbits and the distance from earth. Users will start from the bottom and scroll up to the top(maybe endless).

The form is typically used for the popularization of science, mainly users might be students and people who have an interest in astronomy

If I tried a different form, I would probably recreate a world map using the satellite states concept, or an Ikea guide for setting up a satellite, or SpaceX infomercial AD.

I think these forms I mentioned above are all well-suited to the metaphor for my satellite topic(need some help)

Draft link: https://suirunzhao.github.io/ConnectionsLab_A3/satellitesinspace/

Inspiration/References:

https://abraiz01.github.io/Connections-Lab/Week3/Project_1/index.html

https://www.howmanypeopleareinspacerightnow.com/

• Physical Form: Mini booklet or Zine

Q1: Why this form? What are its features (stylistic, experiential)

I prefer to use non-digital format to provide the guide users with a more direct interaction with coat of arms, which reflects heritage and tradition.

Q2:How is this form typically used, and what do you plan to subvert/imitate/utilize?

This form as a guide can give users direct and clear messages in a relaxing and amiable tone.

Q3: What would change if you tried a different form? What critical lens does the form you’re applying emphasize?

I also thought of a webpage version. In that case, there could be more interactions in designing the emblem.

Q4: Is there a metaphor well-suited to your form (i.e. cooking with code)? Or, are there other metaphors you might employ?

The metaphors could be self-recognition: Know yourself. Or family inheritance can be another metaphor.

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I hope to use the “武功秘籍” （Kung Fu secrets）to express yoga movements.

This guide will be very easy to understand.

I plan to talk about 12 to 18 actions, and then each action will use different models, the elderly, children, adults, women, etc. to express the wide audience of yoga.

It can be used as a beginner’s yoga pose introduction manual, so that beginners can learn yoga at the first time.

At the same time, I can also add some religious murals in the background to reflect the religious value of yoga.

In fact, Kung Fu secrets are a metaphor. Practicing yoga, like connecting with kung fu, can actually play a role in strengthening the body.

Qiu Zhijie, Map of “Art and China after 1989: Theater of the World” (2017),
94 1/2 × 283 1/2 in (240 × 720 cm)

• Why this form? What are its features (stylistic, experiential)

I first saw Qiu Zhijie’s work in the “Art and China after 1989: Theater of the World” exhibition at Guggenheim in 2017, it was a gigantic wall-size, ceiling-tall 6 panels Ink on paper. It doesn’t really obey aesthetic rules, and it seems like an overwhelming amount of information trying to be delivered at first glance. Honestly, in a group show of 71 artists, it wasn’t the most eye-catching. In fact, I remember seeing a lot of people skipping this one and going on the other more visually pleasing works. However, if you get closer to the map, and try to read and understand it, you will soon be shocked by the cleverness of it. The artist has a strong understanding of art history, politics, and colonial history, and somehow combines all of that into a readable map of a non-existing world. While serious, it was also mixed with some sense of humor and subtle mockery.

• How is this form typically used, and what do you plan to subvert/imitate/utilize?

A map is typically used to deliver geographic information and ideally be as neutral as possible. For example, disputed territories should be labeled as disputed instead of being labeled as whatever country the map maker is in favor of. However, in Qiu Zhijie’s version of map making, maps become a place where concepts formed into geographic territories, and where the artist is able to share all the information he had digested. I plan to learn from Qiu, and utilize the concept of a map, yet subvert it by utilizing my ugly handwriting and sincere outsider drawing skills to create a map that aims to compile everything that is meaningful to me and related to puppets.

• What would change if you tried a different form? What critical lens does the form you’re applying emphasize? 

If I adopt a different form, I’ll narrow the topic a little bit more, which I understand can be desirable for a research project. By choosing to make a complicated map, I will be facing the risk of having things too vague, with no focus for the viewer. However, I find it to be an interesting challenge, as I’m often too afraid to go big in a project, so this can be a good exercise for me. A lot of emphases will be on how I construct the information. Instead of being neutral, what I learned from Qiu, as well as standup comedy, is to treat everyone equally bad. This means it’s okay to poke fun, just make sure all the stakeholders in the system are being equally offended.

• Is there a metaphor well-suited to your form (i.e. cooking with code)? Or, are there other metaphors you might employ?

I’m not sure how to answer this question, I guess Qiu Zhijie’s unique mapping technique is what I’m trying to employ and learn from.

I chose to do a map for my guide, like a museum map or something similar. There are metaphors around what is considered to be an attraction and also in terms of what is highlighted on the map vs what isn’t. Usually this is used for the showcasing of art or laying out a space for a functional understanding and as an accurate depiction of what an area will look like. I’m going to subvert it by taking the actual map of the Korean DMZ and creating a rigid box structure (like a museum map) with general areas highlighting an aspect of the DMZ. It will resemble the actual map of the DMZ in terms of orientation and general geography, but is a huge oversimplification adding structure to an area that is quite fluid. If I were to do a different form I might need to highlight the history of the DMZ, but I’m much more interested in the present and how the DMZ shapes the modern landscape.