Are You Awake?

許多事情
因為回頭看會覺得好笑
所以我們變得膽小怯懦
怕自己的不堪
怕別人的眼神
不知道從什麼時候開始
我變成這樣的一個人
所以開始逃避
所以開始不削
" 難怪你跟他們會是朋友 "
這是你送我的最後一句話

有時候似乎就是這樣
許多事情在一覺醒來之後
一切都變得很不真實
甚至懷疑是否從來不曾擁有過
在這樣的時代這樣的社會
世界上沒有任何一個人是無可取代的
如同"十二夜"裡所說的
" 只有戀愛中的人才會覺得所有的事情都不是偶然 "
現在才明白原來不只有愛情是這樣而已

也不知道從什麼時候開始
我變成一個習慣去懷疑的人
懷疑自己，懷疑他人
懷疑現實，懷疑夢境
懷疑理想，懷疑愛情
似乎一切都失去了相信的價值
似乎所有事情都有藏在背後的不只一種可能性
當信念和真實有所抵觸的時候
自我便成了一個破碎的圓周
在X軸和Y軸裡找不到一個象限去容納這樣一個矛盾的個體
沒有定位，也失去了方向
連故作瀟灑的離開都顯得尷尬

世界上最美的地方
是Space Between
世界上最美的一句話
是選擇不說
世界上最美的故事結局
是未知的永遠
我和A總是喜歡猜測
Lost in Translation裡面最後Bob Harris在擁擠擾攘的東京街頭到底和Charlotte說了什麼
但我總選擇不要繼續再猜
連一點點明朗的軌跡可循都不要有
" 因為就不美了 "
我說

Research Approach

For this project, I was asked to research the life of Harry Houdini. My central research method was to use the internet to find images associated with him and find large databases of biographical information. The fascination with Houdini, both during his lifetime and continuing to the present day, is a response to the large number of cultural structures that he embodies:

• The concepts of performance and 'The Performer'
• Celebrity
• Magic and mysticism
• The subculture of the psychic
• The blurring of fact and fiction, reality and conceit
• The space and staging of 'The Escape'; daring, risk and bravery

During my research, I became particularly interested in the circumstances surrounding his death, and his immediate posthumous legacy, especially his instruction to his wife concerning after-death communication via psychics, as it seemed to tie together several core themes; violence, falsity, performance and the background of a mystical Eastern European heritage (exoticism).

Cool Houdini Posters

Houdini Posters

Project 3 - Houdini

There is no question that Houdini is the most famous magician in history. His name is synonymous with escapes; his ability to get out of seemingly impossible situations- and his knack for publicizing these events- made him a legend in his own time. The Houdini myth is about to be examined, and truth really is stranger than fiction.

Harry Houdini, born Ehrich Weisz in Budapest, Hungary 1874, was one of the seminal entertainers of the 20th century. He understood at an early age that the key to captivating an audience lay in telling a story, in getting them to identify with the little man who defied all odds, and take them on an exciting journey with unknown outcome.

Through all his many performances this was his hallmark: the excitement, the uncertainty, the magic of the moment. In this, he was so successful that his name lives on long after his death as a trademark for the nigh-impossible.
Houdini died of complications following a ruptured appendix on Halloween, the 31st of October 1926. Behind him he left a long and illustrious career.

He made a fortune as a prominent vaudeville performer. He was a pioneer in many technical fields and became the first person to pilot a plane over Australia. He was a prolific writer and produced tons of articles and books. He devoted a large part of his life to the debunking of charlatans, fake mediums and self-professed paranormals. He made a brief foray into the world of motion pictures and starred in a series of movies, where he also performed his own - often very dangerous - stunts. In 1921 he even founded his own studio, The Houdini Picture Corporation.

All his life, Houdini overcompensated for his lack of formal education and built up a formidable collection of literature, mainly on the subject of illusionism.

Before passing on, Houdini promised his wife Bess that he would try to contact her from "the other side". They agreed that Bess would hold a seance on the anniversary of his death during a ten year period and try to establish contact, but despite many serious efforts the escapist was never again heard from. Or so it would seem...

Outcome - The Beatles Clip-Art

My idea was quite straightforward; I wanted to present the Beatles as completely iconic, beyond any kind of context.
I thought that the best way to do this was to combine an extremely famous piece of contemporary music iconography,
the cover art to Blur's Greatest Hits by Julian Opie, with very pure line drawings based on photographs of the Beatles.
My hope was to bring together striking contemporary music design with the idea of musical legends who exist unchanging outside of trends or fashions.

Line drawings seemed most appropriate to place the Beatles in a space outside of ordinary appreciation,
to reduce their immediate humanity and to encourage viewing them as just the representation of an idea, or cultural moment.

At the same time, I liked the idea of referencing contemporary music-related art,
to bring the idea of clip-art into tension;
evoking something for NOW, very much of its time,
but that brought together cultural messages which form the structures which have created the present.
I hope to have worked through ideas concerning this relationship that clip art exposes between this particular cultural moment or time,
and the more general, long-term cultural signs and meanings that allow clip-art to convey meaning at all to nearly everyone.

The Second Step

Then I gave The Beatles colours.

The First Step

Line Drawings of the Beatles.

Project 2 - Contemporary Clip-Art

In this project, I decided to take "music" as my theme of clip-art.
And here is the source of image.

Part 4 - Destroy

In part 4, I returned to the image of the scooter, and decided to interrogate the relationship between this image and the text which was ‘about’ it in the article.

Playing with layout, I arranged the text around the scooter silhouette, letting the image control the shape of the text, questioning and dissolving the relationship between word and object.

I found that this was most effective when the text looked most homogenous, like an undifferentiated stream rising from the scooter, which itself has become a sign more than a ‘picture’.

Heading to Part 4

Finally in part 4 of the project, we were encourged to experiment creatively with the work we have generated to explore further posibilites for the visual communication messages.

Those are sources been used in my part 4 of work.

Part 3 - Create

In part 3, I tried to develop a design theme based on a sketched-style illustration of a scooter, taken from the original magazine and worked on in Photoshop.

In the front covers and article concept, I wanted to pursue the idea of making the magazine interesting to an almost completely opposite audience to the original.

With the simple sketch against flat colours, open space and ironic, referential title style, I wanted to present the information for ‘the young intellectual’.

This audience likes design that is simple and structural, but with kitsch ironic gestures; my aim was to combine an open purity, a quasi-academic seriousness and an ironic gesture, with scooters appealing as ‘geek cool’.

Moving on to Part 3

Those are sketches of the scooter.

Part 3 of this project we were aimed to become conversant with the language of layout and type through the generation of our own templates, targeting an audience of our choice.

Part 2 - REMIX

In part 2 we were tested by remixing the content and examining the result.

We had to change the layout of scootering magazine into the Design week magazine.

I found it quite interesting after i've done this part, cos It looked kind of funny in the form of a design magazine, which means the audience has completely changed.

Sample Exchange

Those are images from the front cover and double page of the original scootering magazine.