Week 10: Origination

The Laws of Simplicity

Chapter 9: Failure

 1. Using UPHERE as an example, describe an aspect of your work or something

you have worked on, where you have found a symbiotic relationship that is both

complexity and simplicity

The artwork I want to contribute to the exhibition is quite complex, yet I want it to look simple. There are lots of stages involved in bringing my lanterns to their final form: designing the 2D patterns, finding the right materials, printing, measuring and establishing the right template, cutting, assembling, etc. The result is one simple piece, made up of lots of complex pieces.

2. Provide a conceptual example of a situation that has arisen during this project

where you have had a return on failure?

Perfecting my design – finding that one method doesn’t work, so changing it slightly to look better/work better. It is also about my point of view on it, on certain days. Prototypes are a great way to physically see what will work and what won’t.

Eg. Changing my lantern design from single tetrahedral to joining them all together to make a sphere shape.

This TED Talk is by JK Rowling and she speaks of her personal experiences relating to the 'Fringe Benefits of Failure' which is not unlike John Maeda's concept of 'Return on Failure'.
She speaks of how she 'failed' to achieve the expected outcome of others which instead lead her to write her famous Harry Potter series. 
http://www.ted.com/talks/jk_rowling_the_fringe_benefits_of_failure.html 
(This clip could not be embedded).

3. Homework: How are you using the laws in relation to your contribution to The

UPHERE exhibition? Provide a short explanation and example for TWO of the

laws so far. Use your work towards and your examples.

LAW 2: Organise: There is a process and priority to the order in which I need to do things to make my piece/s come together. Eg. The 2D pattern needs to be printed on the lanterns before they are assembled, and the individual tetrahedrons need to be assembled before they can be joined together to make the whole lantern. The finished product would not work if all these components do not occur in that order and the process was not prioritised and sorted prior.

LAW 7: Emotion: There are certain emotions that I want my lanterns to evoke in others when they look at them. Some key feelings I want the lanterns to convey are: warmth, luxury, relaxation, unusual, elegance/glamour and indulgence. I can achieve this through the use of 2D patterns and also in the structure of the lantern.

The materials used will also help communicate these feelings (ie white/cream translucent paper will allow the light through more efficiently to create a feeling of warmth/relaxation).