Zac Kim

HEADSPACE BASE
To be different, to be the minority, to be weird; in the view of the majority, when you are these things, you are a monster.  You become something unknown.  Your culture is strange.  You make people uncomfortable.  Your intelligence, morality, and aptitude are questioned, even assumed to be non-existent.  This un-belonging must be familiar to many people, some more than others.  The things that make people feel like they occupy the spaces designated for the "other" are what will be the creative foundation for this semester project.

My monsters will draw inspiration from qualities that humans possess that make them feel monstrous (different).  Some of these things will be things I personally relate too (Homosexuality, Asian-American, Christian).  However, I want to also explore the things that make other people feel isolated that I cannot relate to.  

Therefore the first step to my project is going to be conducting research and compiling a "mood board" of thought for each of these otherness qualities. 

However, is difference bad?  (I hope you say no)  Diversity is being human.  Difference is natural.    Therefore the technical leg of my project will hopefully speak to this aim; being the other is a natural phenomenon.  

 

TECHNICAL PRACTICE
Exploring unnatural movement, this is the technical goal for this semester.  Or to elaborate further, my goal is to create characters that have perplexing and unnatural forms and rig them to move in unnatural ways.  But as a viewer looks onto these creations of mine, they will hopefully see that these beings were made to move the way that they are.  And the fact that the viewer presumed that these creatures were unnatural may illuminate some of their own prejudice. Technically, this is to grow my understanding of the complexities of rigging and animating forms in diverse ways.

Some tangible software goals I need to accomplish.  

  • Create complex models of monsters with unusual geometries.  (Zbrush & Maya.  Maybe take a peek into Blender)

  • Texture models.  (Substance painter) (abstract paintings)

  • Rig efficiently and animate fluidly.  (I assume Maya)

  • Render a film or create a virtual viewing gallery.  (Arnold, maybe a different renderer for laughs or Unity)

[As I was running this morning I had the theme of dance come into my mind.  Whether I drop these characters in a virtual environment or animate a short film, the vehicle for my final project is a dance.]  I still very strongly about this idea of dancing.  What is more natural then to submit to the beat of a song and let your body move the way it desires?  So I have a goal of learning how to mix a good beat.

places of drawing

- Religion
- Sexuality
- Ethnicity
- Gender
- Education
- Relationship Status
- Mental Health
- Body Image