#Interview
In a self-interview, I talk about the experience of creating Mirage Expo, a group project done during the foundation year of design and media.
This project aimed to work in a group of 4 to create an exhibition with a hindered sense out of the five senses.
Based on Claude Monet’s paintings: “Bridge Over a Pond of Water Lilies (1889)” and “Water Lillies (1897–98)”, the exhibition’s idea was inspired by the Orangerie Museum in Paris, where Claude Monet’s last works, Water Lilies, are hung across curved walls of two egg-shaped rooms. The absence of the horizon line in all the paintings, as described by Monet himself, gives the impression that we are inside the Water Lilies paintings.
Claude Monet, Water Lillies (1897–98), Oil on Canvas
Claude Monet, Bridge Over a Pond of Water Lilies (1889), Oil on Canvas
Water Lilies (1897-98) by Claude Monet (1840-1926) at the Orangerie Museum, Paris.
With that description, Mirage Expo invites its audience to step inside Claude Monet’s “Bridge Over a Pond of Water Lilies (1889)” where they’ll be utilizing their sense of smell, touch, and hearing to experience the painting instead of using their sight (the hindered sense).
Myself at the time.
I consider this exhibition to be my first experience working in a group as a graphic designer. It was very new to me to work with other artists to try and create a unified piece of work that can represent all of us and our collaboration at the same time. As the graphic designer of the group, I felt like my job was to try and unify the image and visuals of the exhibition more than anything. The conceptualization and refinement of the idea was the most challenging part of the process, trying to merge all ideas into a coherent exhibition. It was the most important building block for the execution later on.
Strengths and weaknesses.
Since it was my first experience working with other artists, my strength was my motivation. I was trying something new for the first time. I was able to accomplish goals like creating a font for the first time, creating merchandise, and being able to communicate our layered idea through visuals.
I feel like I can speak for everyone in the group when I say communication was a struggle as terminologies for everything art and design were even more limited than they are now. Being very new to the field and exposed to a lot of things at once, finding the right words to convey our ideas with accuracy was a challenge.
Looking back at it now.
I can say that this first experience is one that I will always look back to with all my group projects in the future. I feel like I should hold on to that passion and motivation because when it’s lost then the design is lost as well.
Cole, K. (2016, April 25). The cataracts paintings. Davis Publications. https://www.davisart.com/blogs/curators-corner/claude-monet-cataracts-paintings/
Great Art Explained. (2020, November 6). Monet’s water lilies: Great art explained. YouTube. https://youtu.be/fd-Me3EBGYY
The water lilies by Claude Monet. (n.d.). Musée de l’Orangerie. https://www.musee-orangerie.fr/en/node/197502
Water lilies. (n.d.). The Art Institute of Chicago. https://www.artic.edu/artworks/16568/water-lilies