Pop-Up Poetry

Research:

I have been using Pinterest to help me with my research creating a board of different ways to display forms of literature, and then refreshing the page to load more suggestions and proceeding to add more that strike my interest.

I started out by looking at some blackout poetry as I had taken an interest in it back in high school and find it a really simple yet effective way of taking another form of literature and being able to reorganize the words in a creative way to portray your own message.

Looking at this poetry led me onto finding some lanterns made similarly to how blackout poetry is formed, which then led me onto the hanging lantern house. The idea of them hanging inspired me as it feels like it would be a creative way to present my work. This also led me to to start looking at the idea of 'cross braces' (the tool used to control puppets) which you can see in the sketch to the right of the second column.

The last 2 images are just some basic concepts that I found interesting due to the craftsman ship put into them.

Concept Designs:

I have decided to theme my project around mental health and the affects it can have along with certain symbols that are used to represent it some of these could include smileys, cells, hearts or more personal symbols such as semi-colons.

Concept #1

Basis - Light Installations using Black Out Poetry
What - Either Lanterns or use a book as a stencil, this lantern would include a structure within it to hold a LED tealight as a way of producing light without risk of fire, or using to any resources
Why - Blackout poetry has always interested me and being able to twist the concept to use lights to highlight certain accents of it seems fun.
Questions - What text would I use, what do I want the key message to be, how would I make it easily accessible in presentation.

Concept #2

Basis - Pop-Up Book
What - Have the Pop-Up show a cell/heart.. cycle of mental health.
Why - Possibly show another side of mental health that perhaps many people don't take into account, especially in regards to how some people mask mental health behind a smile to serve a purpose or another persons needs/want
Questions - What order would I use, How would I make it presentable/understandable to an audience.

Concept #3

Basis - A Puppeteering Cross Brace Installation (includes a mix of Concept #1)
What - Over head Cross-Brace with strings coming down from each respective end. Each string represents a different song/literary material regarding my chosen theme. There would be another string central to the brace hoisting a lantern (integration of Concept #1).
Why - Going back to my research the imagery of 'feeling like a puppet' and that 'things are out of your control' resonate strongly with me personally but also with many people who struggle with their mental health as it is a common description used.
Questions - Would the centerpiece still include light, How would it be presented, materials needed, how and where would it be positioned (hanging, suspended..).

Concept #4

Basis - Book Sculpture
What - Book Sculpture using folding the pages to present certain images/symbols. Possibly a heart, semi-colon, or other significant representation.
Why - Folding books can be a good way of relieving stress and is quite an artistic way to express something you care about it. Plus everyone would interpret the symbols in a way that would be unique and personal to them.
Questions - How and What would be made, how would it stay stable.

Concept #5

Basis - Deeply annotated songs
What - Presentation of annotated songs perhaps displayed in the shape of something to help imply what they are referencing. These songs could be chosen from one of my current mix's/playlists to keep them personal to me but still relatable to other people. Some of these annotations would be questions in order to get the audience to think for themselves what it means to them.
Why - Music is important to me and I often find myself questioning lyrics and thinking of possible hidden meaning so why not share those thoughts along with some of the music I like and promote them to consider what these songs could mean for them - these songs would also follow the theme of mental health as most songs that I listen to do.
Questions - Where to present, What songs to be used

Concept #6

Basis - Flipbook
What - Flipbook to present how different mental health conditions can affect someone of a timely basis. For example: People struggling with S.A.D having different seasons mean they have to suffer with different moods (sometimes better described as 'Winter Blues' but can be seen in the summer period), or people with Bi-Polar going through their waves of highs and lows medicated or not.
Why - I have family close to me with these conditions and feel that they aren't necessarily understood by many people
Questions - How would I make this affective and appropriate, Where would I put it to make it be able to have the affect I would like.

Main Concept :

I plan to develop Concept #3 as my main concept for this project as despite it already seeming very developed out of all 6 of the previously described concepts I feel like there are still many adjustments that can be made to the design. Some of these could include settling on what text/lyrics I would like to use, whether I would want to keep it to a neutral color palette or add in colors to draw the eye to a central point naturally. These choices could also help enhance the theme the piece is being made to present.

These design choices could also include separate models / ways of doing this concept and having each model focus on a more developed section of this installation piece. It could also include using the design as the way to present it.

Developed Research:

Cross Braces and Marionettes:

"The sum of fixed or mobile pieces used to attach the strings of a puppet, to suspend it, and to manipulate its different parts."

Cross braces, also known as 'the control', can be made out of wood, metal or plastic, and can also include bits of leather, rubber, or springs. The choice of these materials depends almost completely on the artist creating the puppet and what they want the puppets aesthetic to be (disregarding the fact the brace will most likely not be seen). My main interests with the idea of braces is the image of control it creates as the brace is created entirely for the purpose of controlling an inanimate being - this notion easily being able to tie into my theme.

Lanterns:

Lanterns are commonly seen as a symbol of hope and aspiration due to their associations with light. This symbolism is also taken from the way they were used throughout history to lead people and help light up dark places. There are many types of lanterns to function for different needs for example paper lanterns are commonly seen during light festivals and are popular in Asian history.

In terms of construction, paper lanterns are typically made from a paper bag with a candle placed inside however some more complicated versions are made out of collapsible bamboo or metal framing. These lanterns are more typically found in Eastern Asian, and some Scandinavian cultures. In these cultures colors of lanterns represent different qualities: Grief & Mourning (White), Wealth & Prosperity (Red), Good Luck (Yellow), Health (Green), Illness (Blue), Hope (occasionally Blue), Good Luck & Fame (Purple), Romance (Pink).

In the medieval periods of English history lanterns became more popular in the use of street lamps and general use of anyone working a night shift. Originally these lanterns were created in a similar style to the paper lanterns (using wood and rawhide for the frame), but these frames quickly developed to be made of metal and glass making them more durable.

In both popular models of lantern the covering around the outside of the frame is to help prevent the candle from going out which signifies the importance of the candle at the time these designs were made.

Black Out Poetry:

"Any sort of poem that is derived from blacking out any unwanted words from a paragraph, book, sign, etc. using whatever inking or coloring tools you have on hand."

The art form is believed to have originated sometime within the 18th Century however it may have also been much earlier. Some of the earliest acknowledged works were made using newspapers, where poets and artists would be reading through the columns before picking and choosing what they liked to create a narrative. One of most notable for this was Austin Kleon, a Texan writer, who first discovered his interest in this method when realizing there was a different way to read passages - this interest eventually led to him publishing a book called 'Newspaper Blackout Poetry.'

Developed Designs:

Design 1

The design focuses on the lantern aspects of my research.

Each lantern is a different color in correlation to my research into lantern symbolism. The designs that are drawn

Pop-Up Poetry

Research:

Concept Designs: