THE THINKING EYE Kapilan Chandranesan 0978632 8 November 2016
CONTENTS Introduction 02 Assignment 01 03 Assignment 02 09 Assignment 03 15 Assignment 04 21 Assignment 05-07 25 Conclusion 32
INTRODUCTION The following booklet is produced as a compilation of the work done as the part of the seminar for the course 7XX4M0 The Thinking Eye. The booklet also includes written reflections on selected works done as part of the workshop component for the subject, placed concurrently with the relevant assignment of the seminar. Throughout the development of the course, I saw myself involved in the thinking of image making equally as I was in the act of image making itself. The course has been important for me to develop a critical approach to drawings and images in reading and understanding their content and also in their production.
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ASSIGNMENT critical description of drawings
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The act of drawing is therefore not merely an act of reproduction of what is existing. It involves observation, analysis and eventual synthesis. In a way, drawing is the filter through which essential data is extracted and presented. The two drawings presented here illustrate the above. The drawings show how the same subject, in this case the ruins of Greek temples, can be interpretted in different ways. The sketch by Le Corbusier is mainly concerned with the setting of the columns and how the visual frame is constructed through it. Whereas the drawing by Louis Kahn looks at the ruins of the columns as objects in themselves, studying instead how they stand in free space, studying also the quality of light and the tonal variations.
Le Corbusier, Parthenon in Athens, 1911 graphite on paper Louis Kahn, Temple of Apollo in Corinth, 1951 pastels on paper
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The main purpose of the drawing was to consolidate all my experiences of the environment in which the building Sangath is situated in a single frame. To emphasise the close relationship between the building and the surroundings and to bring out the multiplicity of the surrounding environment, I chose to do the drawing in the style of the Indian miniature paintings. The chosen style not only helps to give a layered overview into the drawing, but also provides a basis for understanding and abstracting the environment in detail, such that the flora can be identified by the way in which the foliage is represented.
Kapilan Chandranesan, Sangath in Indian miniature style, 2011, coloured pencils on paper
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The series of collage done digitally was used to illustrate the experience of a designed urban ruins that serve as a backdrop for temporary events such as the weekly markets. On other days they exist as an urban park. The ruins were a theoretical exploration of the overlapping frames and multiplicity of layers that are experienced in an open market.
Kapilan Chandranesan, descriptions the marketplace-1, 2016, digital collage Kapilan Chandranesan, descriptions the marketplace-2, 2016, digital collage
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In the representation of The Green Pathway, the main focus was to highlight the fragmented experience the space gives. Though it has been constructed as a uniformed physical entity, the following stretch is always experienced in fragments. The representation of The Green Pathway therefore uses multiple points of view, combining plan with elevations and perspective views to highlight the experience one might have at each different region of the path. The representation aims to create an overview of the pathway while at the same time suggesting the localised experience in diiferent locations of the pathway, both at the same time.
critical reflection the green pathway
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Matteo Basso & Kapilan Chandranesan, the green pathway, 2016, mixed media [opposite page] Matteo Basso & Kapilan Chandranesan, the green pathway - details, 2016 08
ASSIGNMENT portrait
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The following drawings produced during the same time-period of the Italian High Renaissance demonstrate the particular interests of that time. Both the portrait and the facade feature a composition that is formal and stable with a focus on symmetry - the composition follows a triangular order where the pediment, in the case of the facade, and the head, in the case of the portrait form the upper vertices of the triangular. Another characteristic feature of the time-period is the emphasis given to the individual elements and the manner in which they are brought together.
Michelangelo Buonarotti, facade for San Lorenzo in Florence, 1516 Jacopo Pontormo, Man with red cap, 1529
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The following drawings from the mid to late 19th century coincides with the Impressionist time-period. The painting by Renoir illustrates the Impressionist concern of the quality of light and theirparticular interest in rendering the atmospherical qualities of the space. The architectural view by Viollet-le-Duc shows the similar interest in the atmospherical quality of space. As with both drawings, an assymmetrical composition helps to create a volumetric effect. The subject matter in both the drawings are illuminated by diffused light that blurs the strict definition of indvidual elements while concentrating on the overall quality the scene or the space has.
Eugene Violeet-le-Duc, the Market project, 1865 Pierre Auguste Renoir, Portrait of Alphonsine Fournaise, 1879
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The following drawings stand testimony to the Cubist period of the early 20th century. The cubist tradition broke away from conventional concerns in art - to represent a particular quality of the real world - to combine multiple aspects of the subject matter into a single image. The multiple aspects were combined by combining multiple viewpoints or projections into a single view - in the portrait, the artist combines both the side profiles and the frontal view into a single image while in the architectural drawing, the plan is combined with the elevations to form an axonometri view. While none of the images represent a specific quality of reality, they combine multiple facts into an abstract image. A close affinity can also be observed in the use of colours where each colour is used in its orginal hue without mixing with other hues.
Herbert Bayer, Drawing of Walter Gropius’ study in Weimar, 1923 Pablo Picasso, Portrait of Dora Maar, 1937 12
With the premise that a portrait is meant to describe an object or a subject matter, with its qualities, we approached the Vanabbe museum to explore the character it has by itself and in relation to the context in which it is situated. Several sketches from the on-site study of the Vanabbe museum revealed its specific character of functioning as a visual pedestal, from different orientation, for the iconic forms that contribute to Eindhoven’s skyline. In the final drawing, we chose to highlight this aspect of the Vanabbe museum, as a pedestal for the citie’s iconic objects from each of the six different viewpoints from which the museum can be observed. In being a pedestal, the museum itself becomes an object that stands out from the natural setting of the garden in the foreground and the sky in the background.
critical reflection portrait - Vanabbe museum
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Matteo Basso & Kapilan Chandranesan, Portrait of the vanabbe musuem, 2016, coloured pencils on paper
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[opposite page] Kapilan Chandranesan, vanabbe museum- onsite study sketches, 2016
ASSIGNMENT other senses
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“light and volume” object In the sketch, Siza is concerned by the external effect of light on the enclosure of volume, the external form. The sketch conveys the architect’s study of the perceptive qualities of the external form in response to its setting. atmosphere Contrasting with Siza, Zumthor instead is concerned with the qualities of inside volume and the perceptive qualities of the inside space in relation to the qualities of light. Here, no concern or any suggestion of the exterior form or the setting is revealed.
Alvaro Siza, Drawing of Bonjour Tritesse - sketch study Peter Zumthor, Therme of Vals - sketch study
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“timeless space� dynamic In the painting exploring the conceptual basis for the Vitra fire-station, Hadid presents a space that is homogenised and eliminates any evidence of the passage of time. The compositional techniques, especially the tilted and slightly curved horizon gives the effect of a continual space while the seemingly outburst of the shards from the horizon suggest a dynamism that is frozen in time. stable For the conceptual diagram of the Cimetro di Modena, Rossi eliminates any object or feature that could represent the passing of time. Unlike the previous example, the following drawing creates a stable composition of cubes and cuboids that rest solidly on the floorplane and a formal composition that is symmetrical. In both the examples, a warm colour scheme with directional lighting from an unseen source highlight the effect of suspended time which is used to lay more focus on the conceptual aspects of the project rather than the actual effect it might have.
Zaha Hadid, conceptual painting of the Vitra fire-station Aldo Rossi, Cimitero di Modena
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“distant utopias� persuasive In the utopian vision, FL Wright represents an imagined future in which every inhabitant of a city can have access to his own land, food and dwelling which is the ideological basis for his Broadacre city. In the image, he tries to convey the role technology can play in helping shape that life. Given that the quality of life and living the primary concern, he chooses a point of view that shows the world as it would be. mechanical Archigram’s Plug-in city demonstrates the technological manifestation of an ever changing city where technology is employed to facilitate flexibility of the city. Their emphasis on the role of technology in facilitating an aspect of the city explains their preferred choice of representaion that is technical. Frank Lloyd Wrigt, vision of Broadacre city Archigran, The Plug-in city
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Would I recognise my physical form when I cross myself on a street? This was the motivating question in creating my self-portrait. I needed an expression that could convey who I am which includes my influences including people, places and ideas, my likes and dislikes, my desires and aspirations, my memories and dreams. I believe that these are what make up a person more than the physical appearance. I thereby chose to make a collage of all these aspects interweaving with each other like in a fabric to create myself as a person. While the images in grayscale determine the influences I’ve experienced, the images that are coloured represent how they are processed by me as paintings or text thereby making them my own. The combination of these thereby constitue myself.
critical reflection self-portrait
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Kapilan Chandranesan, self-portrait, 2016 mixed media - collage and soft pastels
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ASSIGNMENT architectural presentations
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In the case of the drawings and architectural presentations of the early 20th century through the following examples, one can delineate the key concerns and aspirations with which architects were preoccupied at that time. The presentations show the attempts of the architect to find an expression in response to new materials and construction techniques such as the RCC frame construction and the glass. The drawing by Gropius illustrates by itself the new expression of geometric purity as a result of the new techniques and materials. Instead, the drawing by Mies van der Rohe aims to create a drama, focussing the new expression as a revolutionary and heroic breakthrough from the shackles of the past, as is suggested by the central composition and the older buildings in silhouette. In both the cases one can identify a search for a formal expression to the new materials.
Walter Gropius, Design for Bauhaus Dessau complex, 1926 Mies van der Rohe, Friedrichstrasse, 1919 22
The architectural concerns of the late 20th century and the early 21st century as illustrated by the architectural drawings produced during that time period show a different set of concerns than the previous epoch. The architectural quality breaks away from formal composition and expression to fracturing and displacement. As can be observed through the drawings, juxtaposition and layering based on function and other parameters were used to generate the final form. In other words, more focus was given to the process than to the final form which eludes a strict formal composition. Instead, the final form is consequential of the process that was taken.
Bernard Tschumi, Parc de la Villete, 1982-98 OMA, Seattle Central Library, 2004
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In the original design of the Vanabbe museum by Kropholler, one can see the classical composition with a strict formal language. But the design does not relate itself to the concerns of the architects at that time who were testing new industrialised materials and construction techniques. Kropholler’s design stands isolated from those advancements. Instead, the extension by Cahen in 2004 shares the tendency of fracturing and displacement that was in line with the architectural explorations of the time, in this case, giving more emphasis on the interior space and volumetric juxtaposition than on the final exterior form.
Kropholler, Vanabbe museum, 1932-33 Cahen, Vanabbe museum extension, 2003
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05-07
ASSIGNMENT style and expression
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The following series of assignments evolved from exploring the word ‘texture’ visually in the form a collage and taking it further to design a tea-set exploring the given word. The idea that texture could be the result of the material, surface treatment and form is explored in the tea-set. The tea set is the combination of two contrasting materials and expression, namely, the rough, heavy and crudely sculpted cylinders integrated with the light, sleek and shinny steel, each bending and altering in form true to their material qualities. In the next image where a single component of the tea-set, namely the folded tray, is blown up to the scale of a monument in a landscape. While the monument reflects the textured pattern of the fields, the way in which it reflects the fields suggests a completely different material and physical character of the monument contrasting with the texture of the landscape pattern.
Kapilan Chandranesan, Tea-set and texture, 2016, soft pastels on paper Kapilan Chandranesan, Everything is architecture, 2016, digital collage
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I decided to represent the monument by shrinking it in scale without reducing its significance. Continuing with the idea of texture as a quality of the surface and the material and by virtue of the monument’s form, I chose to represent the same in the specific style of the Baroque Still Life painting. The Baroque Still Life painting was therefore studied for its thematic and representational qualities. Representationally, the Baroque still-life creates a sense of drama by the use of a sharp contrast in light and dark. The object or the subject matter is highlighted by a uni-directional light source that creates a strong contrast of highlights and shadows, while it stands out distinctly from the dark background. Thematically, a common recurrence is the theme of the Vanitas meant to symbolise the inevitability of death and the fleetingness of earthly pleasures. In the painting by Claesz Heda, it is symbolised by a toppled glass and a half-eaten fruit showing signs of rotting.
Willem Claesz Heda, Still Life with a Roemer and Watch, 1629 Willem van Aelst, Still life with Fruit and Crystal Vase, 1652
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While I looked at the Baroque still-life for their thematic and the representational qualities, I looked upon other Baroque paintings of different themes to identify compositional precedents. The Baroque compositions, like in the stilllife feature a strong contrast but display an additional quality of dynamism and movement. The dynamic character of the Baroque paintings are characterised by the presence of strong diagonals that structure the composition and the way in which the eye moves through the painting and therefore the way in which it is read. In the painting by Reubens, the diagonal structures the anatomical composition of the various subjects that are mostly parallel to the diagonals. Furthermore, the diagonal is reinforced by the direction of light that follows the line of the diagonal and that which lays emphasis on the central subject, the body of Christ.
Peter Paul Reubens, Descent from the Cross, 1612-14 28
Similar compositional techniques can be found in the painting by Rembrandt in a more sophisticated manner. Here, the diagonals structure the way in which the different lines organise themselves in the drawing including the spears, the guns and the flagpoles. The diagonal, like in the previous example is also reinforced by the way in which light enters the frame and selectively illuminates the important subjects - the centrl characters and the little girl behind the two men. The direction of the light is also suggested by the direction of the shadow of the out-stretched had of one of the central figures that follows the diagonal.
Rembrandt van Rijn, The Night Watch, 1642
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Kapilan Chandranesan, still life, 2016 mixed media - collage and soft pastels
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In my rendition of the monument which takes the form of the table cloth becomes the central subject. Therefore I shifted to a lower point of view than in a conventional Baroque still-life. Thematically, the concept of Vanitas is represented by the towers of Manhattan one of which is toppled over. I chose to break away from the stable composition of the Baroque still-life to explore the diagonal composition of the other Baroque themes. The composition is not presented frontally as in a Baroque stilllife but in a tilted manner to highlight the qualities of the folded cloth. Also, the light strikes diagonally, almost perpendicular to the folds of the cloth to emphasise the textural qualities of the material and its form. The shadow of the toppled tower accentuates the form of the textile while reinforcing the direction of the incident light.
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CONCLUSION Through the following course I was able to improve not only my skills in drawing, but more importantly I was able to develop and improve my ability to critically look at images and drawings and dissiminate the meaning that they have to offer. I also realised that images and drawings are constructed and expressed depending on what they want to convey and that meaning can be mined from them by methodologically approaching them. In doing so, I also developed the ability to think beforehand while creating images and drawings of my own and choose the relevant expression, technique and vantage point depending on the subject and message that I want to convey through them.
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