XINYUE ZHAO

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In V&A Museum I saw a group of snuffbox associated with Frederick II and these boxes impress me deeply especially this one.

This English box proves the international fame of Frederick II after Seven Years War .The idealized portrait on this box shows him in his twenties, when he was a crown prince of Prussia. In fact Frederick The Great was in his fifties when the box was made, that inspired my idea because I thought he became a totally different person when he got older

At the first of my creative journey, I compared him when he was young and old through the books in the library of our school ,I found out lots of difference and I wondered what caused him to active like that for example what this prince who loved art of peace and a philosopher king who even wrote The Anti- Machiavel with Voltaire waging war and began to turn Prussia into a highly military state? Why this culture prince became a man who dress in a plain blue uniform and shows the act of self effacement?

After reading the books about him, I found out one of the most important reasons is that he was grew up in an environment where he was absolutely forbidden to be what he wanted to be. His father didn’t allow him to study music and Latin cause the struggle between father and son, and then caused him hatched plan to run away to England. And that led to his closest friend’s execution. After all these dramatic experiences, he resigned to his dynastic obligations as hier to throne, but he started threw up defenses around him self and became a highly artificial person. It also caused self effacement in his entire life.

Another thing I found that interested me was the place San Souci, which means “without a care” in English. It situated in Potsdam ,away from the bustle of the royal court in Berlin, Sans souci was the Frederick’s spiritual home, its inner circle is looked to France for its intellectual inspiration. He invited Voltaire And other philosophers to have discussions and dinner there for many years. Combing with the name of the place, it seems that his idea of this place was to live in the world he was dream of and the real world.

Then I found out I can make a magazine which illustrate And compare the difference between The World he wants dream of and the real world. And also tell the historical story of him.

In this project “London A-Z” I chose the area below to research it is a very peace region located in Knightsbridge with 3 museums (Victoria & Albert Museum, Natural History Museum and Science Museum) and imperial college, which is one of the famous college in London.

While doing research in this area,I noticed a los of things that impress me deeply and then I recorded them in my sketchbook.I decided to go there by metro , when I arrived there I found there is a Poppy Appeal in the station. After asking for some information from the volunteers and knows it is situated for supporting the Armed Force community past and present. I decided to donated ten pounds and then I get an cute poppy brooch.

And then I went to the museums outside in exhibition road, first of all I went to the Natural History Museum. It impressed me with its skeleton of the whale in the hall, so I draw this sketch while visiting there. Science museum is also interesting I record how human developed from 8000BC To 2015 in my sketchbook.I loved the collection there very much!

At first I wanted to make a magazine about the museums or about the human being history because I visited the science museum.

Then I went to the V&A museums, i already visited there plenty of times. And this time I discovered a lot of exquisite snuffbox like this there

Then I found out these box forms are the group of snuffboxes associated with Frederick II, the Great of Prussia.

I always know that Frederick was a cultivated admirer of the arts and he had a passion for gold boxes, and showed a keen interest in their design. He carried a box at all times; one is even said to have saved his life by deflecting a bullet during the battle of Kunersdorf in 1759, because I read Friedrich und die große koalition (Frederick and the great Coalition)written by Thomas Mann but it is the first time for me to see these tiny box with lavish decoration, I almost want to cry the time I saw them. So I think it will be the theme of my magazine For the secondary research, I chose 4 artist who are famous for their paintings and installations, they are Antony Gormley, Yayoi Kusama, Murakami Takashi and Félix Valloton because I saw some exhibition about them this month. I went to UAL library to borrow some books about them, and in there I find a book named Hermann Hesse: His mind and art.

After reading this book I found that the fifth artist that I want to do research about is Hermann Hesse, this novelist, poet and painter. Because in my mind littérature is also a important art form, and I am a fan of German literature and Morden German philosophy .He is one of the artists who influenced me the most because they encourage me in my lowest moment and stop my conceit and arrogance which deluded me into believing I was important. I love his distribution about art, he said that art was a union of the father and mother world, of mind and blood in Narziss und goldmund (Narziss and goldmund).

Refference

http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O157799/snuffbox-unknown/

For serval days each year,Paris becomes the world capital of contemporary art with the FIAC,the international contemporary art fair [Foire Internationale d’Art Contemporain] it was founded in Paris in 1974, and it brings together modern and contemporary art galleries. All media are represented: painting, sculpture, photography, installations, videos, performances, and digital arts. 

FIAC Galleries brings together around 200 exhibitors in the Grand Palais, including many of the most influential specialists worldwide in the fields of modern art, contemporary art and design. It presents the finest examples of artistic creation since the turn of the twentieth century, and it is an opportunity for the public to discover the latest develop in contemporary art, through works by some of the most famous artist in the world. I am very delightful to visit this exhibition while go back to Paris to see my family.

The grand palais,The environment of the FIAC is unlike other art fair’s venue which situated in a modern convention center filled with light that can boost the appeal of the surroundings, it is an old architecture that was built for the Exposition Universelle in 1900, the structure has a glass roof and the largest nave in Europe, which have helped to make it an architectural and civic icon. It is a epitome of the Beaux-Arts architecture. That caused in the FIAC, the ancient combine with modern perfectly, nostalgic coexist with fashion masterly. I feel very peaceful there, and a lot of installations there is very cool.

Louise Hayward, a senior director at Lisson said:“FIAC has its own atmosphere,It’s totally unlike other fairs, and part of it comes from being in that extraordinary building.”

According to the parisien culture which leans toward visiting and enjoying. After that people can have a very specific way of talking about art.”FIAC provides conversation fodder for anyone strolling around Paris, and students are entitled to free entry to the Grand Palais for the fair itself free. It is a very convenient chance for me.

Among all of the installations, my favorite is Yayoi Kusama’s
“The Place Vendôme is an historic site, and the sculpture there is always the most important outdoor project,” said Glenn Scott Wright, co-director of Victoria Miro.
In the upscale Place Vendôme, Yayoi Kusama, who is known for her painting,sculpture,installation art ,performance art,film,fiction,fashion and writing and had a surge in popularity over the past decade, made a giant marquee outdoor installation, a inflatable pumpkin, in her signature polka dots. The installation is partly a collaboration with her galleries — Victoria Miro, David Zwirner and Ota Fine Arts.

“Life of the Pumpkin Recites, All About the Biggest Love for the People,”
Yayoi Kusama

It is not only the name of this installation, but also a poem, Hermann Hesse said “A poet wrote with the eyes of painter.”He give this opinion from the perspective of a writer .But through this remarkable work, i comprehend that as an artist, Kusama built it with a heart of a poet, with the love for the people.

FIAC is also an occasion to explore the rich and varied exhibition programme on view in Paris: museums and cultural institutions which offer a wide range of exhibitions during FIAC week. On the Thursday of the fair, numerous galleries participate in Gallery Night, offering openings, encounters with artists, book signings, along with art and design exhibitions. 

The next edition of FIAC will take place from 22 to 25 October 2020 at the Grand Palais in the next winter.

Reference:

https://www.fiac.com/en/galleries/exhibitor-list/

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/16/arts/FIAC-fair-paris.html

My biggest challenges is to design things that express what do I think about and how can I achieve that. In my outcome,new technologies, especially the facilities in digital space and letter press, will play an important role.

Here is my process :

I find the machine of letter press very interesting and it is quite easy for me to use although i am a novice.I used it to print some words that I want to use in my project so that it will be more facile for me to create the shape of my words in my poster.

I used Indisign to draw my banner, I never use this before so it was difficult for me at the binging.Thanks to our teachers in Digital Space I finally learned how to use them and successfully finished.

Then I used the digital space ’printing machine to print my work.At first i even don’t know what the “heavy weight stock”mean and then with the help of our course leader and my classmates,I find the right place and then print my work out.

I think in this project I learned lots of new things such as use new machine and how to use indesign.They will be really useful for my art study in the future.but the one thing that I need to improve is during the producing of this poster,i think i was limited by my preliminary sketch.I want to draw more because i want to learn illustration and it is what I good at,but in the out come there is not many drawing in it, it is very pity for me this time.

The second thing that I want to improve is to predict what my work ’ quality before it was printed out.During this work,I had to print it again because it is not the color I want and it is not clear enough in the first time.i think it is a kind of waste.

In addition to new technologies and manufacturing technologies, design must face the issue of social responsibility. My first concern is the news censorship system.I am a Chinese who grew up in Paris. When I back to my hometown,the difference of the censorship system between China and France interested me a lot.
 

I visited Ai Weiwei’s exhibition.He is one of China’s most prolific and provocative contemporary artists（Sorace, 2014）. In 2014, Ai Weiwei hosted the Ai Weiwei: According to What? exhibition in Miami, Florida, USA. According to the museum’s official website, Ai Weiwei’s exhibition aims to reveal its constant questioning of Chinese society, politics and culture.

He makes me think of that as a design major, learning related skills is necessary. At the same time, design students must pay attention to new technologies. On the other hand, The expression of design must focus on social issues.

According to the 2019 Press Freedom Index, China’s press freedom ranking is the fifth lowest in the world. Even in today’s world when something does not go in favor of the Chinese government and their fear unrest among their populations they simply lock down those information on the internet to avoid distribution of those information.Chinese people nowadays seems get used to it and no one doubts is it real good thing for their sociality, but in 30 years ago ,in 80s China, a lot of people parade through streets and ask for the freedom of press.

Why do they change?What Covered their mouth ?.In my mind the worst thing is that no people can talk about the truth,and a normal society allows people to express their different views rather than only eulogizing.That’s why after these research I chose freedom of the press is the matter of my design concern this time

References

Sorace, C. (2014). China’s Last Communist: Ai Weiwei. Critical Inquiry, 40(2), 396-419.

“2019 World Press Freedom Index”. Reporters Without Borders. 2019.

The purpose of the design is to express. How to express must pass certain technical means. So I visited the school’s letter press, screen printin, 3Dworkshop, digital space.

To deepen my impression, I chose revisitdigital space and letter press. I deeply feel that the future of digital space and 3D printing technology is full of hope and will play an increasingly important role in the manufacturing renaissance process.

INTRO TO CCS:It is the first day we have CCS class .Our class leader explained what is the CCS and give some examples of culture study.it is interesting to experience such a new thing

FOOD SHARING: asked us to bring food from our hometown or some we have found in London. I bring vita lemon tea which is a very famous drink among young people in China .And my classmates bring something from they hometown.it is very interesting to see the food can be very different when they from different areas of the world.i think the religion,culture,tradition are also have such big difference when they from different areas

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LONDON EXHIBITION RESEARCH:In this class Trudi introduced some website which can show us the event and exhibitions in London recently.it is very useful,after that class I went to lot of exhibition from that website and learn many things.

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