Final Map:
My decision making process is actually pretty simple. My initial idea was to simple mapping out my thoughts and images in my head. The reason I want to achieve a map totally out of my head is that I am used to pay more attention to the appearances of things when I make art. I care how things really look and want to achieve perfect (or to say identical) drawings as the originals setting, which lack my ability to be creative and wild in most of my previous art projects. I wander what is going on in my mind. I am interested in the relationships between space and people. And I just love thinking randomly about my own dreamland and myself. Thus, I decide to do a map of my future specifically from age 23 to 25 (right after graduation from college).
My map surface is a palette of four colors (purple, blue, red, and pink) from one blending to another. I create my own color emotion system and incorporate it on the lower left comer of the map.
My connection system is a path of footprints meaning my journey from 23 to 25. The path is going off the top and the bottom edges of map to show its continuity.
My sign system is going to be mostly original sketches/illustrations. I really want to achieve the idea of designing my own life and things in it. Except the blue traveling part, I will incorporate iconic items accordingly to the countries to show my worldwide travel.
Here are some sketches/icons
I guess two readings that inspired me the most were Kathy Acker’s Map of My Dreams and the Chapter One Maps Blossom in the Springtime of the State. The map of dream provided me a good way of formatting a map where it has not a lot of logical order. It is pretty random. Her thoughts are floating on the map surface with simple icons. In the Maps Blossom in the Springtime of the State where says that maps give us a reality beyond our reach. This brought me to think of what should be included in a map or my map. I guess the topic of future is always beyond our reach. You can dream of any future that you want and make it happen for really. And to visualize things that haven’t happened yet is to make the invisible visible.
In terms of “this-ness” and “there-ness”, “this-ness” is showing my designs of my flowers/items shop and putting my favorite flowers and design items into the shop and placing them to places. The “there-ness” could be found in my pink part where contains mostly my diary-like writings. To imagine and put myself in the future, feel what is going on there is my way of presenting “there-ness”.
This is a image of selective writings
Inspiring artists: Karey Kessler, Stephen Walter, and Nathan Carter
