Jo blogs it

Creating innovative thoughts through design

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Spanish surrealist Salvador Dali painted by @art_vareta.

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Creativity isn't necessarily innovation. If you have a brainstorm meeting and dream up dozens of new ideas then you have displayed creativity, but there is no innovation until something gets implemented.

Shawn Hunter

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Innovation is certainly about putting ideas into practice – making it real.

Sarah Chaloner (Deputy Chief Information and Digital Officer Head)

Unfortunately I had missed the anticipated ‘May the 4th be with you’ workshop, but looking through the provided lecture slides uploaded to vUWS, this quote on Sarah’s presentation stuck.

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My favourite part of MBFWA is the street style posts where guests are snapped in their MBFWA outfits. I love seeing the different outfits collated, who’s wearing what, how they style different pieces and what’s on trend for the new season. Fashion is a way to express your creativity through clothing. What you wear and how you style yourself not only shows creativity, but represents who you are as a person. Not only am I deeply inspired by the clothing (and wish that I could afford them), but it encourages me to wear as I wish, express my own individual style and hopefully inspire others to do the same. I feel as if the fashion community and those who attend events such as these, accept, encourage and welcome all to be open to individual creativity and design. I would love to one day be a part of this community and truly understand fashion as an art form. 

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Glitter ponytails for MBFWA! The Swarovski crystal inspired hair looks created by Redken hair director Phillip Barwick were one of my favourite hair looks to date. A look that is innovative, creative and showed design in relevance to the catwalk collection. I love this look and the effect that it has. Never too much sparkle.

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This video puts my OCD at such ease. The fluidity in his writing and how the paint flows so effortlessly. This is also considered art. Calligraphy, fonts and writing. Who would’ve thought? Understanding the design and creativeness in life makes you truly appreciate the beautiful things that surround you everyday.

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This guy paints incredibly detailed portraits on the palm of his hand. Check out more from Russell at instagram.com/pangaeanstudios.

Coincidently on the way home from the art gallery, I saw this video on my Facebook news feed. Artists Russell Powell uses his hand as a canvas to paint, them imprints the image onto a canvas. The details in his work are amazing and having seen this after the gallery visit not only inspires me to think outside of the box and be creative, but to appreciate all forms of art as beautiful and innovative.

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As i’ve posted before, one of the most influential artists that I’ve ever come across is Frida Kahlo. Although the gallery was holding her exhibition, it wasn’t on for another month (sad face emoji), but she inspires me everyday so I felt it necessary to share this quote. Bringing to life beauty from tragedy, Frida is my favourite artist to date. I had based my high school visual arts major on her, and studied her throughout, so hearing that her works were available to see excited me like a kid in a candy store. I will definitely be seeing that exhibition, and cannot wait to witness her works in the flesh. Her works are innovative, and inspire me to use life experiences to tell a story to inspire others.

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As we wander through the gallery, soaking up inspiration, creativity and history, the diversity that is “art” astounded me. From what was traditionally considered art being just oil on canvas, it has evolved through the years to become so much more. The use of different materials, lighting, electricity, textures, video, sound etc. There are no longer limits to art and what you create. Everybody has a story, art is an outlet to express, something to create and to be inspired by. I was left inspired by the amazing works seen that day and the stores behind each and every one of them. The dedication that artists have to create what’s in their mind is to be applauded. Art is no longer limited. From traditional paintings, to European bronze sculptures, modern day installations, Aboriginal ochre paintings and muted videos, I left the gallery that day with a an insight as to how important the Art Gallery of NSW is to the arts society as well as a part of history. 

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#Dogwalk, 2015-16

#CID16

#MellaJaarsma

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Dogwalk, 2015-16

Mella Jaarsma

textile, leather, iron, stainless steel, stuffed animals

This installation of 12 costumes was confronting at first. As we walked up the stairs, there was a distinct smell as soon as you entered the room. I was intrigued by the costumes themselves and wondered if they were real animals or synthetic materials that mimicked the look and feel of animal skin. After reading the information provided and viewing the accompanying video, it was confirmed that the costumes were indeed made of cows, sheep and goats. As a strong anti-animal abuse advocate, this came as quite shocking to me and a little controversial. Having said that, I can appreciate and understand the artwork in its entirety and after reading the motive behind the work, it made me feel less uncomfortable and opened my mind to all that is considered art. Created for the 20th Biennale of Sydney, Dogwalk emits creativity, invention and innovation, as the installations come to life each week. An interesting, controversial and innovative work that will be embedded in my mind.

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Self Portrait 1932 Nora Heysen oil on canvas 

This was one of the first paintings that really caught my eye. Situated in the Australian art section of the gallery, the stare in her eyes drew me in to read more and to truly understand the artwork itself. 

“I painted that self portrait in my father’s studio - on the walls were several Vermeer prints. I Greatly admired Vermeer’s works and wanted to paint like him - perhaps Vermeer and my father were my biggest influences in those days...”

- Nora Heysen, 1970s

Nora won in the Archibald prize in 1938 and was the first woman to have done so. The painting drew me in to learn this, and after reading that she was the first woman, I began to really appreciate the work for what it is. The look in her eyes and the emotion behind it makes this painting unforgettable for me.

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Art Gallery of NSW

On Monday the 16th of May, #TeamGallery made a trip to the Art Gallery of New South Wales to truly embrace what we’ve been basing our project on the past few months. Upon arrival, the building was nothing but regal. The 19th century inspired architecture was grand in history and I couldn’t wait to go inside to be immersed in all that is art. Having been a few years prior - as part of a high school excursion - this trip was different in the sense that I felt more mature and could truly appreciate the works inside. Only a few days before, I had visited the Hawkesbury Regional Gallery as part of another university unit, but this gallery was different in all aspects. The gallery itself had multiple levels that showcased various themes and categories of art, from European, to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander to Australian art. It was spacious and allowed for true wanderers to escape reality and appreciate the calm tranquility showcased in the gallery. The next following posts are the most intriguing, inspiring and exciting artworks that I had found.

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Define your road in life

National marketing manager for Roadtrip Nation, Beach Pace, was able to meet with us, all the way from California via Skype. Following the technology talk we had just received from Lawrence Crumpton, the Skype call was all too ironic, that we were able to sit in a completely different continent, time zone and country as Beach but still have a verbal “face-to-face” conversation. Beach talked us through everything that is Roadtrip Nation, what it’s about, how it works, the in’s and outs of the shows and what is expected. The 6-7 week long road trip takes 3-4 road trippers across the country, interviewing influential people along the way. Through these interviews and talks, those part of the road trip each gain an insight on the lives of these inspiring people and how they got to where they currently are. The whole trip, from in the van to the interviews, is recorded and edited into series on the RoadTrip Nation website were viewers can see the journey being taken and understand how important it is for those participating. The road trippers come out of the experience inspired with a new love for life and a hunger to not let where they come from affect where they’re going. Inspirational stories like these always pull my heart strings, and I love hearing about how people turn bad situations into good. This inspires not only me, but others to go out and pursue their hopes and dreams, despite the obstacles that they have previously faced. To not let your past affect your future is an important lesson to understand and learn. Beach Pace was also inspiring herself. From the start, her bubbly, cheerful and positive persona made the conversation comfortable and welcoming. She was open to all questions and encouraged participation within the group. Beach went on to talk about all things RoadTrip Nation as well as personal things in her life that have led her to be where she is today. Beach had a goal to attend Westpoint, but was told by her high school careers advisor that “girl’s can't go there”. I was shocked when I heard this, as I believe that gender shouldn’t affect career choice. To hear that she did go to graduate from Westpoint, go in to the military, work for corporate America and now involve herself in non-for-profit work is inspiring. To have been told that she wasn’t accepted into the schooling that she wanted, but to defy all odds and complete her course, all whilst maintaining her positive and upbeat personality is something to be admired. I left that room feeling empowered as a person, and my mind full of positivity, inspiration and a new confidence to tackle any obstacles I may have head first.

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Art Gallery NSW

A digital animation created using Adobe After Effects for a visual communications class. The brief required us to create a walkthrough animation using our own photographs…

As we plan to make a trip to the gallery, I found this video that has made walk throughs creative. This makes me even more excited for Monday’s visit!

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Big (impressive and scary) Data

Technology has become a staple in today’s modern society. Everywhere we turn, we are surrounded by mobiles, tablets, tv’s, new devices, social media etc. What was once a novelty has become a social norm. We had the pleasure of having guest speaker Lawrence Crumpton from Microsoft talk us through “big data” and how it all works. The growth of technology has seen new advancements that is allowing us to do bigger and better things that were never believed to be possible. The one thing that Lawrence spoke to us about that really stuck was the advancement in automobiles and creating “smarter” cars. He showed us a clip of several stunt men/women in self driving cars that lap around a course one after the other. They continue the course, put the self braking feature on and one-by-one, jump out of the driver’s window onto a padded truck where they are reeled to safety. The first car in the formation suddenly brakes, and as expected, the other cars brake too… all on their own, no physical, human driver necessary. This seemed like something so crazy to me. To see technology come so far, where cars no longer need someone behind the wheel and can brake to safety on their own is a huge step in the right direction. Cars are also being designed to automatically park for you without having anyone behind the wheel and come back to the initial drop off zone. But it also makes me wonder and worry on how technology is making life “too easy” for us. It seems like nowadays, technology controls all aspects and is able to do everything. To think for us, plan days for us, drive cars for us, send messages for us… the technology takeover is impressive, but always reminds me of the basic skills we are losing as a human race. With the introduction of new advancements in technology that were designed to help us with everyday activities, such as Siri, it almost seems as it technology will soon be able to “live” for us in a sense. The design aspect of all apps, programs etc. is to be appreciated and applauded. Through extensive trial and error, reports, research and years of perfecting the formula, designing and creating new technology is no walk in the park. 

Lawrence also described the annual ‘Imagine Cup’ competition that Microsoft holds that gives the oppurtunity for individuals to enter an innovative, and creative idea that will help change the world. 2014 winners designed an innovative app ‘Eyenaemia’ that helps individuals detect anaemia by taking a picture of their eye against a card filled with coloured squares. From this, the conjunctiva is analysed through their extensive app and comes to a final conclusion that suggests further necessary steps to take. The ‘Imagine Cup’ had me thinking of the types of things I would design in order to enter the competition. A rough draft I had come up with was an app that would make females feel safer on the streets. As a hidden app on their smartphones, the app would implement location, contacts and government contacts amongst other things. By using maps, users will be able to send an immediate location to their immediate contacts to notify them on their whereabouts. The app would also include useful information regarding safety, the closest facilities (police stations, hospital etc.) and an easy-to-access dial system in case of emergency. Only a draft app, the ‘Imagine Cup’ definitely had my creative juices flowing as I was thinking of the possibilities that could see me in a competition that extravagant.