The ^future Architect: sculpture

LIGHT FROM WITHIN

For the last plate for our midterms, our professor asked us to make a robotics & hi-tech inspired Christmas tree, which also represents ourselves, using a minimum of three materials to a maximum of five. I was actually surprised because I thought that it was too early for anything Christmas related but then again we’re Filipinos, aren’t we?

To be honest, I was pretty excited about it because Christmas is my favorite holiday. Christmas is a stress-free season, it reminds me of a lot of good memories and also the fact that it doesn’t involve any plates, it really is the season to be jolly!

For my model, all the materials I used were recycled because when it’s Christmas, it doesn’t really matter how grand it is but it’s the spirit that makes it alive and special. I used the DVDs that I found somewhere in our house, the DVD/CD holder, a light bulb, and the wire for the power supply of the light.

For the design, my concept was from a parol, another symbol for Christmas, which means light over darkness. The star on top represents Jesus since Christmas is all about our savior being born, He serves as my star which the three wise men followed because He’s the one guiding my way to the right path.

It’s a bit rough around the edges because that’s my personality and I think that isn’t a bad thing because there’s always a room for improvement. The DVD also creates this beautiful hologram effect where it diffracts light when it hits because just like my personality, I tend to radiate positivity.

Unlike the typical Christmas tree where the Christmas lights dangle around the branches, I decided to put it inside so the light would shine through the cracks because for me, that signifies fragility but at the same time, it also represents strength because despite all the imperfections, there’s still a light within.

I wasn’t expecting to be chosen or even be the top one in this exercise since I thought my blockmates did so much better than I did. Another factor was the light bulb that I used wasn’t as bright compared to their LED lights but I am beyond grateful for being chosen.

I may be in pieces but I’m still whole.

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In sculpture,

BOUNCE BACK

For the second sculpture, my professor told us that we had to come up with a brutalist sculpture but this time, it was not with our partners. We had to base our sculpture from the negative experience of one of our blockmates whom we picked randomly from a fish bowl and we also had to make it positive. We had to keep it a secret and interview the person privately, aka through facebook.

To be honest, I was quite nervous about it because even though my blockmates and I have been together for two terms already, most of us do not really know each other that well because we are segregated by groups or our previous blocks. I picked Bianca Bueno, I cannot say we are close because the only conversation we had that I remember was when she asked something and that was the first and the last. We are not even friends on facebook, and that says a lot (HAHAHA). I added her and asked what her negative experience was. I did not come up with a concept right away but I did not take too long either.

According to her, when she was in fourth year high school, one of her teachers chose her to represent their school for a poster-making contest. When the contest started, she was pretty confident that she would finish her art work but then when the time was already up, she was not able to finish it and she was really embarrassed about it. I believe that every negative experience has a good outcome so from there, she began to practice more and more. She harnessed her skills and learned a lot from that experience.

The concept for my sculpture was a ball in motion or a ball being dropped. As you can see, the ball came from a high point, which symbolizes her confidence and then in the middle was when it reached the ground, which on the other hand, symbolizes her disappointment. I thought that it was a really good concept for her experience because she really did get back up and I even saw her AFREHND plates last last term and in my opinion, she is really skilled. The sculpture is made out of sintra board and thirteen one peso coins.

As an architect, I was really honored to be able to translate her experience into something else. It was quite challenging because I felt like I had to do really well so that the person would be able to appreciate my work and I think she did, at least I hope.

I think that it was a really good trust exercise, better than the trust fall, for both as an architect and as a client because trust is a very important bond that both should establish.

Life Lesson: No matter how hard you have been thrown or dropped, the important thing is that you always bounce back.