A Visit to the Antique Centre

I remember when I was young, my brother and I would loathe going into antique stores; now I love em. Aside from the smell.....I can never quite get past that mothball smell, I love the number of things that you can find that really surprise you.

The other day I ended up at the Paddington Antique Centre. Even on my day off I was thinking about my project and collected some more images of vintage items that should help with the design of items and objects within my animated film.

Vintage Advertising & Groceries from the Past

As part of my visual research it was suggested by my supervisor that I have a look at some vintage advertising posters and print ads to get a sense of the colours and styles that were popular in the 1930s-1960s. As I am making the background pivotal in progressing narrative it is vital that they are detailed and are able to capture a particular moment in history through colour and design.

The idea will be to capture the essence of these posters not simply copy them- this is the same kind of approach I have taken in creating objects of significance wherein I tabulated a small sample of objects from the period and then came up with common design features that then enable me to create my own version of a particular object rather than simply choosing a cup and copying it verbatim.

Once again I have used Pinterest as a means of pin-boarding the pictures thus giving me an overall impact of the common design and colour choices that typify advertisements and products from a bygone era. The photos were taken from a variety of sources including antique centres, eBay, Etsy, the Australian Museum and collectors of Australian advertising memorabilia.

The analysis of this collection is to follow shortly and will include a palette study and design features list that will assist me when creating the background details and become a part of my visual reference library.

Comparative Observational Matrix (Part 2)

These matrix will provide the basis of my visual reference library for objects of significance within my Hons project. The objects were taken from a variety of online sources including eBay and Etsy. See below for a full cross-matrix analysis:

Comparative Observational Matrix Analysis

This mode of research was designed to provide me with information integral to the success of my Honours project. My Honours project relies upon my ability to choose objects of significance that reveal the narrative and character without direct input from the character herself. Objects of significance, refers to objects that are significant to the character, the story and the setting and it is through the objects that the audience is invited to actively participate in the construction of the narrative.

This quantitative data collection and subsequent comparative analysis will provide me with visual references in creating these objects of significance. The original source of the objects is less important as it is in the visual- design, shape and colour- that I am collecting information useful in interpreting how these objects should look within the project and not the history of the object itself.

    

The idea behind the collation of the comparative matrix was to collect objects noted as being within a particular era. The broad parameters enabled me to collect objects with a variety of shapes, design features and colours to provide a visual cross section of designs from the 1930s-40s and modern day objects. The only requirement was that the piece had to be stipulated as coming from a particular era, be in keeping with expectations of that era and not be a form of retro style that could blur the recognition of a particular object as being from a particular era. This was particularly an issue in relation to the collation of objects from the modern day, as many items now use a retro look as a selling point in their design, most notable in this was the kitchen items and radios. The objects of significance themselves were selected based on their prominence in the story and the importance of their visual transformation (as per the narrative) from the 1930s-40s to current day items.

Variables such as the legitimacy of certain objects as being a part of a particular era and the organisation and selection of the actual objects on the matrix are acknowledged, but since it was the visual qualities of the objects that were to inspire my own incarnation of specific objects within the narrative it is believed that these variables are outweighed by the variety in the objects selected and the way in which these objects were to inspire rather than become the objects used within the project. From the cross section of object designs from individual eras I will be creating my own representation of these objects from a range of objects listed on the matrix not from a single source. This will enable me to capture the design essence of an era rather than simply copying a single object from a single source as definitive of an era.

When viewing the matrix, images of objects were collected then colours were recorded to provide me with a base palette when considering the objects in their respective eras. The shape component utilised the idea of silhouette and was a combination of design aspects that were prominent in each of the objects selected within a particular era. This silhouette will form the basis of my own visual interpretation of the object as seen within the project. Individual observations, similarities and differences were then recorded in relation to a particular group of objects for example cars, kitchenware and radios.

In an attempt to become familiar with the visual essence of an era across a range of objects it is also useful to compare not only within a single matrix but also across the three matrix to identify similarities and hence capture a sense of continuity in design identifiable in a particular era.

The objects from the 1930s-40s did display similarities in design that I was not expecting given the historical era in which they were created. Given that the 1930s and 40s were a time of economic and social upheaval in Australian society with the 1929 American stock-market crash and the associated depression followed by the Australian entry into World War Two in 1939, I had expected the design of cars, kitchenware products and home appliances such as radios to be exceedingly plain and functional. However across each of the object groups in this era there was an attention to detail and a design emphasis on long sweeping curves, curls and flourishes. Of course these objects would not have been available to every social strata of society but I selected objects that would have been present in the narrative of my project (white, upper/middle class suburban). Cars would have been a rare commodity in this time period as most people would have walked or taken public transport so the design quality of the car in this era can be closely aligned with the upper social classes only. Yet, these same design qualities are found within household objects frequent within the aspirational middle classes of society. Teacups and kettles seem to have been designed with an emphasis on the English tradition and heritage associated with the domestic ritual of tea drinking. Teacups with scalloped edges, gold trim and a dominance of floral motifs all reinforce this idea of a typically English tradition that was refined, civilised and a small statement of luxury amidst a broader social context of change and strain. This emphasis on curves and flourishes in design also carried over to the central appliance of any household wealthy enough  afford one, the wireless. The radios of the 1930s-40s were works of art and their design reveals the prominent position they would have played within the household. These boxes were designed to be seen in the ‘good room’ and their delicate wood carved flourishes and art deco style shapes indicate that the radio itself was as important as the link they provided with the news and entertainment of the day.

Now seen by some as fussy, the flourishes and flounces present on many objects from the 1930s-40s including cars, radios and kitchenware have now been replaced with a harsh streamlined functional look of the current day design across the very same objects. Cars, although now available in many more colours, have an almost uniform flowing design that seem to hug the road, is lower to the ground and designed to evoke a sense of speed in contrast to the boxy tall shapes of the past. This streamlined almost no nonsense shape follows through to kitchenware and radios where there is a focus on neutral earthy tones and colours in kitchenware that could be seen as a focus on reaching the widest possible demographic to compliment a myriad of individual styles. Cups and mugs are thicker, chunkier with large handles designed over the smaller delicate teacups of the 1930s and 40s. This perhaps reflects the changing nature of the tea drinking ritual with people no longer having the time to sip tea at a specific time of the day and instead make a cuppa and drink it as they work. The radios of modern day have also shifted in their emphasis and there seems to be more concentration on the function of the radio rather than the look of the object itself. Although many now have lights, these boxes made of plastic and usually black or grey are no longer designed to be the centre piece of a room, they are expected to be unseen. The radio is no longer a status symbol in this format, it is the advancements in the audio and function of the unit that is now the focus, these radios are designed to be heard and not necessarily seen.

Given that my project will use these objects to show the contrast between a golden age that is a memory and the ‘realities’ of today, it has been useful to compare and identify the similarities between the objects across the three matrix. From this research I now have a reference library and I will be able to create objects that have a design grounding in the era in which I am representing within the narrative. 

Comparative Matrix: Quantitative Research (Part 1)

An integral part of my Hons project is the use of objects from the 30s-40s and their modern day equivalents. In the project these pieces will morph as the memories of the old woman come back to her in the quiet of everyday activities such as making tea or going to the shops.

To start this process of visual research I listed out the objects of significance and then in the tradition of quantitative researchers such as Bernd and Hilla Becher (The Water Towers), I set about to collect images of these objects and will investigate in a comparative matrix the similarities and differences between the eras and across different objects from the same era.

http://worldwaterneeds.tumblr.com/post/343051188/becher-water-towers

This in turn will help me 'create the world' of my project and furthermore assist in the morphing of the objects by providing me with the extremes that can then be used to map the change that would occur if the objects were to morph in real life.

At this stage in the research I am collecting images from various sources. As my research is focused more upon the generalities of the design of the object I am less concerned about the history of the piece and more upon the overall look of the piece that will become a part of a combined vision (colour, design, shape) of what that particular object may have looked like in the memories of the old woman in my project. Therefore images of the objects have been taken from various online sources such as online auction sites such as eBay, Etsy and online antique markets based on searches for the objects and the year in which they were popular or produced.

To collect all these images online I have been using a new online program called Pinterest. Pinterest allows me to set up virtual pinboards onto which I can pin images I have collected from online sources. I have created a pinboard entitled Vintage that holds all images of objects of significance from 30s-40s to modern day objects.

My boards on Pinterest

The Vintage board on Pinterest:

This virtual pinboard is not the analysis of the objects, merely a means of collecting them and organising them, however one of the benefits of the boards is the ability to see all objects laid out together and already I can see similarity in shape, colour and design across objects from the same era from cars to kettles to teacups. It is this later process of analysis in a comparative matrix that will allow me to capture an era and tell a story through a single object that will be the key to the success of my project.

Preliminary Visual Research

Part of the challenge with the project meets exegesis thing is that you have to get your head around the fact that you aren't doing two separate components of a written and a film. Rather you are using the written research to inform the decisions that you make about your project and help to extend the knowledge base through your findings. Once I got my head around that I found it much easier to come close to a question to focus my research that contextualises my animated film.

Another challenge for me has been to see the act of drawing as research. Visual research is going to be a large part of my film given that I am not only focusing on environments and objects in animation, but I am also setting the narrative in a real place (Ashfield/ Croydon in Sydney) and in a real time (1930s-2000). So, in the spirit of visual research I have included some of my preliminary sketches of objects and places. What I will be doing at a later date is compiling a visual comparison of different objects and places cross referenced with an era in history. This process will allow me to see patterns in visual design including common shapes and colours that are present in objects and places from cars to cups (in some form) in a particular decade.