Project 3: Final Critique Pieces

David Altmejd at the TD Pavillion

I decided to place the work of David Altmejd downtown Toronto beside the TD Pavillion due to the stark contrast between this building and his artwork. He is known for his pieces inspired by death and decay, therefore by placing it by such a simple, sleek building would definitely attract some attention.

The piece I chose is called "The Hunter", which was completed in 2006. It is an extremely controversal piece and I think the viewers will see a relationship between the TD Pavillion's glass siding and the mirrors used in this piece.

Exercise Seven: Alanna

David Altmejd

Book: David Altmejd by Louise Déry

For more examples of his work & a brief biography, see the ModernArt.net site.

The University 1, 2004. Mirror & Wood. 66" x 71" 106"

"With his installations of severed werewolf heads, taxidermied animals and decaying giants, sculptor David Altmejd certainly seems obsessed with the macabre. 'A lot of people think that I'm really fascinated by death and morbidity, but I'm much more interested in life. I just think that things look more alive when they're growing on top of what's dead,' he says, bending his fingers to mimic blades of growing grass."

By Catherine Hong, wmagazine.com
November 2007

Individual Force Maps: Alanna McFarland

McCowan Station - Force Maps

Natural vs. Man-Made Spaces

Residential vs. Commercial Spaces

Main Traffic Routes

Residential Traffic Routes

Parking Spaces

Exercise Five: Alanna McFarland

Toronto Old City Hall

1. In 1899, a time capsule was placed in the cornerstone. It included money, maps, city records, newspapers, and other artifacts of the late 19th century.

2. Alderman Hallam was removed from the opening ceremony in 1899. Some say he was overcome by emotion and wept uncontrollably, while others say he was removed because he was the source of much of the scandal that plagued the building.

3. Old City Hall has been used in movies and television shows such as This is Wonderland, Flashpoint, and Dirty Pictures.

Project One, Part Three. Anna Totska. Katie Felton, Alanna McFarland

McCowan Station.

Katie Felton. Greenery.

Transportation. Alanna McFarland

Base Map. Anna Totska

Human Occupatin. Anna Totska

Exercise Four: Game Board and Rhizomes

GAMEBOARD MAPPING

-presented like a game board of contested territory with drifting and layering-the analytical seperation of different agendas and issues.
-Raoul Bunschoten-London based architect- developed a system fro mapping agents and players that draws out the urban potential. -different frames over the map represent conditions )ie: socio, economic,...)
-Rauol's plan for Bucharest can be shown on a larger scale relative to around cities situated around the Black Sea, depicting a sort of cartographic stage which shows grand scale relationships.

-Bunschoten memorized four fields:

TOPONYMY(masque) cultural plan of an ethnic society)
FLOW(market) new influx and regulatory mechanisms
BASIN(urban flotsam) regeneration of ecological environment.
INCORPORATION(liminal bodies) design of institutions for conflict and negotiation.

-He then created steeping stones between the four fields. mapping all possible scenarios between parties.
-the MAP evolves and is drawn and redrawn often by planners.

RHIZOME

-point to point connections arranged in hierarchal systems expanding outwards from a mid-point.
-milieu-defined as the urban center.

-difference between MAPPING and TRACING:
-MAPPING allows innovation, TRACING is redundant and often just repetitive overlaying.
- key is INTERCONNECTION-body of connections, graphic and notational systems depicting even the "unmappable."

-See: Joseph Minard's narrative map of the fate of Napoleon's Army-sythesizes relationships using geometric forms, vectors, etc. to tell the story of the terrain.-it is essentially a framework, a "data-scape" that may be read.
-frameworks such as these can use anything from images to infra-red photos of an aerial view-field plots to show agriculture.

-MAPPING should be a creative and immaterial representation of a multi-faceted world, free of hierarchal relationships, and depicting ideas that are able to affect change. -making logical but possibly fictional constructs- similar to a good argument.

"All perceiving is also thinking, all reasoning is also intuition, all observation is also invention." -Rudolf Arnheim

Exercise Three: Alanna

Exercise Two: Alanna

1. Room Plan

2. Upstairs Plan

3. Table Plan

Exercise One: Alanna

In ten years from now, I will have completed my Bachelor of Design at OCAD, and should be well on my way to having a successful career in interior design. I also hope to have travelled to at least a few different countries by then, as it has always been my dream to see the world. I think that travelling would not only allow me to gain experiences, but would also have a big impact on my design work.

I find that the most interesting aspects of interior design are the relationships that exist between different forms, appropriate lighting and the importance of choosing the right colours for a space. Aside from becoming an interior designer, I hope to have maintained and further developed my interest for drawing, painting, fashion design & dancing.