Me in a nutshell

With visual means you can explain a whole wealth of words, therefore negating endless babble.

Via Mushaboom Movement

Lanterns in the night

I found a video of this event through the site Lost At E Minor. Absolutely ethereal, fantastical, and breathtaking.

Design Process

I have never been happier for an acrylic box. 

I was smiling all the way home as I held it on the bus from Rapson Hall on East Bank to home last friday. No one understood why I was clutching my box so tenderly. The tall man in tan exited the bus to the right, and only glanced at my wonderful creation. I wanted to stand up in the middle of the bus, arms outstretched holding my box at arms length spinning around like those cheesy lovey dovey scenes in moves, then I would slowly and tenderly hug my creation and continue to spin in dizzying circles. I felt like announcing to the whole bus of bored blank faces of ipod-induced-coma college students “LOOK! My beautiful creation! Yes it may look like a simple acrylic box with circles cut into it, but it’s so much more don’t you see? I made it! I took it from an idea, a sketch on paper, and now it’s a thing! I’m made something! Isn’t it wonderful?”

Okay…even though I wished to do all those things I sat silently with my heavy backpack in my lap, balancing the box on top. Then I slowly made my way home. Not really anything theatrical. But why would a simple box give me such joy? A simple creation? Well, because it really is so much more than that.

It’s more than a box because it’s part of the whole design process. Taking an abstract idea and ultimately making it into an physical thing is wonderful. For example, I am currently fabricating a luminaire (fancy design talk for a light fixture) for my lighting class. This project is coordinated with my interior design studio work where I designed a coffee shop, and now I am making a luminaire that would be placed in said shop.

A Cabinet of Curiosity by Domenico Remps

I start with an abstract idea or an image, such as the above image which I used as an inspiration for my coffee shop design. Then how does that get translated into a physical thing? I make many hasty sketches on notebook paper, sketchbooks, the back of class assignments, and post it notes. Eventually I come to drawing out specific dimensions. 

After that I mock it up with paper, then a crescent board model, where it really helps me figure out the exact size I want. For this luminaire specifically I wanted to see the size of the box in relation to the light bulb that would be placed in the acrylic box to be made.

I figured out the perfect size! After that I put the design into AutoCAD so I could bring the file to the workshop and cut it into acrylic on the laser cutter....

Presto! After about a half hour I had this wonderful object which I carried home one the bus (as noted above). It took little time to glue it together.

While I was home on Easter weekend, I put the lamp kit in, and screws....and that's where the process ends for now! I'm going to finish the luminaire this weekend and present this coming week!

Now you can see into the world of a wonderful design student! Things don't just magically come to be because there is so much that happens in between an initial idea and a finished product. 

Maybe I'm strange, maybe I'm crazy, maybe I have no life (well as a design student homework=life), maybe I'm a nerd, but I LOVE school. I love learning,and curiosity really seems to be a major theme in my life recently. There's so much to know about the world, things to make, inspiration to be had. 

I'm just enjoying the process.

Being Inquisitive

The whole point of this blog is to exercise my writing muscle, by writing about a variety of topics, by writing in a variety of styles, by exploring my written voice, and by thinking about what I want to share with the world. I often think about writing throughout the week, and wait for something to stick. I make a mental post-it note, and let it travel with me as I live my day. I roll the words over and over in my mind, composing sentences, thoughts, or phrases. Then I start to fill in the cracks, and complete the thoughts in order to convey something clearly.

I realize that I write better and more expressively when I am describing something, talking about something I love, or conveying my thoughts about my favorite things, such as a cabinet of curiosities. So my current idea is to pull all those things out of the woodwork, and thoroughly flesh out the things that have inspired me for years. There are many things in the realm of art and design that I continually revisit in order to replenish the creative ‘well’. I also enjoy a great quote, poem, movie, or song. Revisiting a place, exploring somewhere new, and adventures are also some of the most inspiring and encouraging things. Of course you can never quite predict what will appear here on my blog (well because half the time I don’t know until I start typing), hence the name haphazard.

This week the phrase, the importance of being inquisitive has stuck in my mind, an absolutely perfect segue thought to begin exploring things that inspire me. Anyway.

Curiosity rules my life. If there is one thing that would almost define me, that would be it. When something is so innate and ingrained, you cannot imagine life in it’s absence. What would it be like to not be ridiculously curious about everything around me? I don’t know, what is it like to not have an arm? Those questions are one and the same for me, meaning I have no faint idea of what it is like.

Being insatiably inquisitive about the world around you is the best way to learn. You don’t have to have information shoved down your throat because you are already thirsty for knowledge and experience. 

It's hard to be in class sometimes and have people constantly complain about whatever we happen to be learning. I have gotten through school thus far because I always find something, anything, in any subject matter that somehow intrigues me. I know that I'm not going to be a geologist, but it's fascinating how many amazing rocks and gems there are. I don't plan on being a doctor, but medical stuff is so interesting to learn about! I could go on and on. 

As an interior design student, I have to exercise my creative muscle constantly. Curiosity and creativity are infinitely intertwined. You take in, and in, and in, and then you can just explode with ideas. After sketching and exploring ideas for my designs I can feel just empty, so afterward I have to go on a design website, look at an interesting magazine, check the news to see what's happening in the world, read a book, take a walk, hangout with a friend, or do anything not necessarily design related to replenish the creative well. 

If you do not care about curiosity and therefore the world, I urge and implore you to take a chance. Explore something, get out of your comfort zone, eat something your normally wouldn't, go somewhere you've always wanted to go. People who never do anything cool are not really curious about the world, because if they were they would get off their butt and actively pursue something. I know many people have ways that they replenish their creative wells, and ways to encourage curiosity, here's some of mine.

Ways to exercise your curiosity:

1. Journal. You will start to learn how to describe your life and it will force you to explore the details.

2. Draw/Sketch. Taking a quick photograph just does not compare to studying the contours of a person, the shape of a feather, the mass of an orange, or how light plays across an object.

3. Take Walks. I grew up taking walks with my mother and siblings, and never realized how important they were until now I think. Learning to enjoy seeing the world at a slow pace takes time. Go outside and enjoy the fresh air, go see the world. I walk almost the same (and quickest route since I like to sleep in) route to the bus and my classes in the morning.  Along the way I always try to notice one thing I have never seen before.

4. Have a Conversation. Sit down with someone who studies a subject you know nothing about, and ask them questions. Get to know someone who is completely different than you.

5. Invest in People. Similar to the one above, when you take time to have conversations with people, and find out about their life you will always learn something!

On Writing

I've always been a writer I guess.

I am never one to freely grab at labels and apply them to myself. Some labels such as daughter, sister, Minnesotan, and Preble apply to me, I was born with them. But some are what you make of yourself: student, lifeguard, Christian, or friend. I've had labels attached to me by others, and politely declined them. At what point do I really become an artist, designer, writer, poet, etc?

My favorite things, including one of my past journals

Anyway, I've been writing my whole life. I am a very visual person, but at the same time I think in  words. Often when I see something I will construct a perfect way to describe it, in a sentence or two. I've been a chronic journaler since I was 12, but a few scrawled entries date back to 7 and 8 years old. Capturing memories has always been my hope. Journaling, composing poetry/prose, essays on random subjects, or just silly stories about teddy bears and trees have all been produced at one time or another. Not for other people, but for myself. Often times it doesn't even feel like a choice, I am compelled. I must write, and commit word to paper. 

Okay, enough musing... but my actual point for writing today was to share some of my writing with you. Here and there I write poetry (more like prose), I consistently write in my journal, and also find various other outlets (such as this blog). While tinkering around with writing, I realized what a rich resource my childhood is. I tend to write simple memories from my childhood when I can't find anything else to write. My childhood is such a source of inspiration. In my tween years I wrote terrible 'poetry', ugh. But many things I jotted down about my childhood became seeds to return to and cultivated into a more complete thought. At my previous school I took a reading poetry class, and a writing poetry class. I always gravitated toward writing prose about my childhood. It’s interesting that my writing style tends to be more whimsical than anything else. I just try to capture a memory, sum up a moment. Basically it’s those moments that are so pivotal when you are a kid. The moment when you realized gravity existed, or realized how bad you were, or jealous you could get. The moments where you learned that you and others were not invincible...

Here's one of my favorites:

The Day I Learned How to Fly

The day I learned how to fly

I first discovered gravity

Tiny white fingers gripping each metal step

I ascended to the top of a mountain

Pulling my weight up to the summit

Though no more than four feet high

On top of that swing set slide

I could reach out and touch the clouds

I surveyed the land below, my backyard, prepared to jump

My parachute was harnessed and ready

Little tennis-shoed feet lifted off the metal

Leaping into the unknown

Unexpected, hands broke my fall in the grass

The halting flight ended in a crinkle of plastic

I didn’t fly! My trusty parachute!

Glancing at my shoulders I inspected the straps

The thin plastic bag was in working order

Rather than risk bruised knees a second time

I took flight with my feet firmly on the ground

The grass cushioning my steps as I took off running

The day I learned how to fly

I first discovered gravity

Cabinet of Curiosities

This semester I have to design a coffee shop for my Interior Design Studio class and I think I will base my concept for the project off one of my favorite things: a cabinet of curiosities.

I have always been fascinated by the idea of a cabinet of curiosities (Also known as a cabinet of wonder, Kunstkammer or Wunderkammer in German). It may spring from all the nature center visits of my childhood, tapping on the glass pane separating me and snakes, picking up pine cones on nature walks, or simply being enthralled by even the simplest natural object.

I visited the Bell Museum of Natural History right here on the U of MN campus after my last class for the week. I cannot believe that I have not explored the wonders held within that building until now. Having a lecture in the large auditorium connected to the museum this spring and last, I have been mere steps away from a whole world of  wonderful objects without even knowing it. 

A cabinet of curiosities is literally a window to the world, a visual delight, and sometimes a visual overload. Basically they came about during the Renaissance period from rich guys who had time and money on their hands to collect cool stuff, though humans have been collecting intriguing objects throughout the ages. They bring to mind great adventurers and explorers who went to the ends of the earth and decided to pick up a few things along the way, or the anthropology professor who has filled his old creaky office shelves with peculiar things. They are a delight the eyes and the imagination.

I am particularly interested in the cabinets because they house such a variety of not only objects, but stories. Being an aspiring collector of curious objects myself, with every object there is a story and a history. The rocks on my bookshelf were picked up on the shore of Lake Superior last fall, the piggy bank a gift from my parents, and the feathers from a collection of my grandfathers.

We are accustomed now to searching out the latest YouTube sensation, the next big musician, or the up and  coming artist or designer on the internet, yet we are still taping into the age old search for something that fascinates us. I think we need to remember that there are curious things all around us everyday if we just step out our door. 

In the Bell Museum Touch and See room, it's like a cabinet of curiosities was strewn over the entire room. There are animal bones, antlers, rocks, seashells, animal pelts, live snakes and turtles, and many more objects that you can pick up and investigate closely. I felt like a kid again as I knelt on the floor and stared into the red eyes of a turtle, or when I lifted the various antlers to test their weight. In the room there are also cabinets full of various natural history objects, and I could spend hours gazing at the wonders within. For me, looking at the various treasures is more aesthetic than scientific because I could not tell you the difference and names of one bird or another, or identify what animal skull graces the shelf, but it does not diminish their intrigue.

I drool over books such as the 636 page volume of Albertus Seba's Cabinet of Natural Curiosities. I spend hours perusing photos of fellow curiosity hunters, such as Curious Expeditions Flickr page. I long to have an array of objects like ones you can buy here from a store in New York. I could spend hours in the Touch and See room at the Bell Museum. Some people collect the same object when they travel such as mugs, t-shirts, or snow globes, I buy something that is unique and will add variety to my collection. I cannot help but be curious about the world around me, I guess I still am that little kid who thinks they found a great treasure when I pick up a perfectly shaped rock, a piece of driftwood, or a fascinating seashell.

Google Earth

I spent the majority of my day typing a paper about the uses for Google Earth. It's actually quite an amazing program, and if you haven't downloaded  it and zoomed around the earth, I strongly encourage you to do so. In my research I uncovered some unique ways people have used the program like a skydiving simulation!

Or what about looking at 13,000 satellites around the earth in real time? Check it out here.

Have a bunch of time to waste? Check out this website. It has a bunch of images that people have found in their hours of searching Google Earth images. 

This one also updates with the newest info about Google Earth, right now they have aerial images of the protests in Egypt. 

Okay, so this one uses Google maps actually, but I thought it was so cool! A graphic designer from Turkey came up with the idea. Make an envelope with a map on the inside. you can type in any location in the world, and it will put the Google map of it, then just print it off, cut it out and enjoy how awesome looking it is!

I know this post is super link happy, but I thought I would share some of the things I found.