The Archived Artist
The Archived Artist Gallery is a display space in which art enthusiasts could feel free to express themselves. There are an infinite number of personalities and much more than what meets the eye. It is very easy to get caught up in societal expectations while trying to fit in. Over time I have realized that individuals for the most part do not act true to themselves and stray from their true passions within their professional life. The Archived Artist gallery is a steel display design reflecting a collection of individuals. I designed 6 unrealistic and abnormal characters who are meant to be a metaphor for all the unique people existing in this community. The space reflects the true identity of the characters and their art. My site is located on 36th street within the USC zone and is surrounded by apartment complexes which are mainly rented out by USC Students. I specifically picked this site so that students would be able to reach it easily and truly reflect on where they are at life, perhaps meet people with similar struggles, and share their art. To talk more about the program, even though the display system appears to be random, the deconstruction of the display would reveal that it is composed of the same 5 components of steel placed in different rotations and connections. This program is meant to emphasize on the simplicity that lies behind a complicated visual. I chose steel as my most occurring material, as my design acts as a structure and display. The joints used within steel allow the structure to be more durable and the same design would not be applicable with a different structural system. The overall structure is meant to convey the utopian idea of being true to yourself. Human perception is mentally constructed in a way where we often overwhelm ourselves with unrealistic burdens. The archived individual collection is meant to deconstruct those unnecessary thoughts and remind you of your core.
The Characters: The Bird-Man, The Office Guy, Janice, Dennis the SkaterDog, Roberta the Pancake Chef, and Bart the Lawyer.
The second set of drawings are from the Living Study Project in which existing steel joints were re-defined to construct a space that would be used for resting, studying, and storage. a set of Generic and Authored joints were re-invented to create an “Outgoing” living space. The manipulation of scaling was used to have joints function as pieces of furniture and lighting fixtures.
