Forma : finding art in the mundane through visual deconstruction

Abstract

The role of an artist is to question and investigate the world around us, bringing its art and beauty to the surface for others to discover. This project aims to unveil the artistic value of ordinary objects that are often taken for granted through practice-based research and the visual deconstruction of mundane objects not usually thought of as artistic. The process was split into four phases: Selection, Observation, Visual Deconstruction and Abstract Reconstruction. During the selection phase, six objects were chosen as the subjects of the research, each one from everyday environments. Moving into the observation phase, the items were thoroughly studied through photography and sketching. This led to the deconstruction phase where the subjects were reduced to their simplest shapes and recreated digitally. Finally, each object was re-invented as an abstract design playing around with the extracted shapes, scaling them up and down, changing their opacity and adding colour. These abstract compositions were printed as large posters and exhibited together with a series of DIY stamps of some of the extracted shapes for the audience to interact with and create their designs on postcards. Additionally, in-depth interviews were carried out during the project which led to important composition choices and unexpected findings. These have widened the range of possible future developments of the project and for further research on the art inherent in all things, even the most mundane ones.