ready for flight

  

Thought behind the thought:

It takes years and years of patience and hard work raising a child. Raising children is more about learning than teaching. It is more about setting examples than expectations. Most importantly it is about communication, bonding and giving time. Before you know it the children are ready to take off. Set off, on exciting new voyages! They will definitely benefit in the knowledge that you have faith in their convictions and actions.

About the art: 

Sir David Attenborough broadcaster and naturalist, is best known for writing and presenting the nine Life series with the BBC Natural History Unit. A former senior manager at the BBC, he also served as controller of BBC Two and director of programming for BBC Television in the 1960s and 1970s. He is the only person to have won BAFTA awards for programmes in each of the black and white, colour, HD, and 3D formats. Attenborough set about creating a body of work which became a benchmark of quality in wildlife film-making and influenced a generation of documentary film-makers of future generations.

Documentary filmmaking needs infinite patience, courage, conviction and faith just like parenting. The length at which one goes to capture a single frame is simply remarkable. The odds are always against you. You go in with your gut and relentlessly give it your all. The terrains that one has to navigate, the problems you encounter and all the hardship is worth that one shot of twenty four frames.

These base jumping goslings and their parents are indeed unique creatures. Young goslings plummets themselves down a cliff on a maiden flight. Down below are the richest pickings and to reach it they make the leap of faith along with their parents. Also waiting down below are predators from whom they need protection as well. Yet in spite of not having developed wings these goslings make a parachute like dive from the cliff. The gosling go down the cliff bumping into rocks but still make it and live to tell the tale. They have a unique mechanism where if their bellies hit the rocks they cushion them and most survive.

Documentary filming is a passion way beyond imagination and to really get under the skin of the dirctor and camera person so go the following link and read the experience of the makers of this piece:http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20141020-chicks-tumble-of-terror-filmed

Credits:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_JoetV3ZTQ

http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20141020-chicks-tumble-of-terror-filmed

driving your life

Thought behind the thought:

The one thing that’s most annoying while driving is to have someone in the rear continuously shout out instructions to you. The back seat driving is so troublesome that it actually distracts you from what you are doing. Driving is an occupation that needs your total concentration, attention and focus. Life is like that, one has to have the control to steer their lives in the direction they want. Control the pace, the speed and the course of the journey. Control who accompanies you on it and who does not. Control if you just want to stop a while and stretch your feet. The word driver itself means you get to steer your life and the entire onus is on you as to where to begin the journey and how to keep cruising ahead.

About the art:

Automobile design is possibly the most sought out career for aspiring young designers today. The field is challenging and demanding and there are no limits to imagination and innovation here. The possibility is endless. The greatest innovators  have been the ones who were able to see the future, the ones whose mind reached places that did not exist at that time and the ones that were fearless and relentless and had deep conviction in their beliefs. Carl Benz quotes that the passion for innovation will never die. Passion is truly the driver that has constantly pushed boundaries and given us spectacular results as design solutions if one looked at the automobile design history.

A design takes birth on paper and not in some tech savvy software. Most designers today are of the impression that design is created using  technology and hi tech procedures. It is the sketching table which is the most critical point of the design process ,it is here that the design actually takes form. Every line, curve, plane contour and every little nuance is a part of the sketch design. Scale, volume, proportions and details are all integral parts of the sketch design stage itself. Sketching allows the designer to bring his individuality, passion and emotion to the design. From the first sketch design more detailed and complex drawings are made using software.

From the sketching table the design moves on to computer softwares where cutting edge technology, engineering and design combine to create yet another state of the art car. Here the design is tested; fine tuned and all other components are incorporated within it.

The third stage of design is rather traditional. The design moves to a clay modelling studio. The car is modelled in clay to scale and each and every aspect is worked out in detail. A silver foil is used to cover the car to check how light and shadows are falling on the planes and contours of the car.
Technology can provide solutions ,simplify and make better machines but the human element involved in the design process makes the machine not just a commodity but a statement. One can clearly see that hand skills and sensibilities can take a simple design and raise it to an extremely elevated level.
Life too is in our hands. How we shape it, give it form and control quality will define how we emerge as individuals. 

Credits:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTxclPfn-uc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qfzIcv1q8Q

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUz75_8gPs0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APNgS33HT3Y

journey

Thought behind the thought

To embark on a new journey is probably something that excites all of us. The anticipation of discovering new things, the sense of adventure it brings, and the enrichment and satisfaction that follows! Every road takes us through a new terrain, every turn opens our eyes to a new dimension and every obstacle brings out qualities that we never thought we possessed.

And the most interesting journey that we can make is probably the one inside our own mind! For, that is a place full of undiscovered hills and valleys, streams of reason and imagination and forests of feelings. What could be more fascinating than accompanying ourselves on a journey across the landscapes of our mind!

Film project “Imaginate”(year 2013) by street trials rider Danny Mac Askill.

( Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sv3xVOs7_No)

About the art

"Project Imaginate" a trailer, and 5 episodes to promote the riding clip which is hugely popular, with  over 14 million views ! In this project, Street trials rider Danny MacAskill brought his child hood ultimate playground to life, only this time he rode it for real!

Danny MacAskill is a professional street trials rider for Inspired Bicycles Ltd, born and raised in Dunvegan on the Isle of Skye, Scotland. What he does with his bike, is nothing short of performing art! And the animation video above fully conveys the sense of adventure and excitement that must abound in his mind when he rides!

On April 19th, 2009, when he was 23 years old, Danny released a 5:30 minute street trials video on YouTubeset to ‘The Funeral’ by the Band of Horses. Little did he know, this video was about to change his life. Filmed and produced by his flat mate Dave Sowerby, “Inspired Bicycles” got a few hundred thousand views over night and as of today has been watched over 34 million times.

Since the video went online, things have progressed really fast for Danny. He found himself featured in theNew York Times and several other big publications and was nominated for sports award in the category “Action Sportsperson of the Year” at the Laureus World Sports Awards as well as for the National Geographic Adventurer of the Year Award. Naturally he gave up his job as a bicycle mechanic and moved to Edinburgh to ride his bike full time.

(Text source: http://www.dannymacaskill.co.uk/about/)

Credit and source of informationhttp://www.dannymacaskill.co.uk/about/

butterflies

Thought behind the thought
There is something very fascinating about butterflies. The delicate beauty and the lively, colourful movement are just a part of the story. The most important thing is probably the fact that butterflies didn't start out being as beautiful as they are. All of them were voracious caterpillars and ugly cocoons before they finally emerged as beautiful creatures!
And probably patience is the key to this transformation. Things will happen at their own pace. And if you have it in you, nothing can stop you from emerging out of your cocoon. One only needs to have self belief and loads of patience!

About the Art

Installations with butterflies by Paul Villinski

Paul Villinski has created studio and large-scale artworks for more than three decades.His work has been included in numerous exhibitions nationally. Villinski’s work is widely collected, including major public works created by commission.

His studio is currently completing “SkyCycles,” three full-scale “flying bicycles” to be installed at “Ocean Breeze,” a new Parks and Recreation Track and Field facility, through the New York City Percent for Art Program. The City of New Haven Percent for Art Program commissioned “Dreamdesk,” a flying school desk with 18’ wingspan which was installed at the entrance to the East Rock Magnet School in 2014.A pilot of sailplanes, paragliders and single-engine airplanes, metaphors of flight and soaring often appear in his work. With a lifelong concern for environmental issues, his work frequently re-purposes discarded materials, effecting surprising and poetic transformations.
(Text Source: www.paulvillinski.com)

"I am drawn to humble, yet evocative materials; in this case, crushed beer cans from the streets of New York - every one of them once raised to someone’s lips. My process of “recycling” them into images of butterflies is a quiet physical meditation, a yoga of tin snips and files and fingers. As the butterflies alight on the walls of my studio, they lead into an exploration of formal, painterly issues. Often, they want to gather into a certain shape, or fly off on a particular tangent, and I let them. They function both as marks in these abstract, three-dimensional “paintings,” and as actors in curious narratives. Some pieces develop a quirky, magic-realist quality, as if a strange child has trained the insects to perform some ritual dance we are not usually privy to. Finally, the butterflies operate symbolically, and I try to develop a conceptual unity between materials, process, and imagery: metamorphosing littered beer cans into flocks of butterflies mirrors the act of transformation and rebirth that butterflies symbolize across all cultures.

Butterflies seem impossible. How can these ridiculously delicate creatures, apparently blown about by the merest breath of wind, actually fly many thousands of miles to migrate? How is it that an innate, intergenerational GPS guides them year after year to the same tree? Are we more like them than we suspect, or could we be?"
(Text Source: www.paulvillinski.com)


Credit and source of information
http://www.paulvillinski.com/work/archive.html

strength

Thought behind the thought

Strength is a quality that we believe is  inherent to all human beings. We think of it as our capacity to carry loads, to face difficult situations and come out unscathed from the experience. We also believe that the more we can bear, the stronger we are.

Is it really so? Or is strength the capacity to carry with elan, even the little load we may be required to carry? Is it the capacity to mould ourselves, to reinforce ourselves so that we can face any situation with equanimity? Is it about 'how' you carry, not 'what' or 'how much' load you carry?

Architecture and design

Paper is normally thought of as a 'weak' material when it comes to carrying great loads. Think again!

These amazing structures, made of paper (cardboard) tubes demonstrate the capacity of paper to carry loads and create interesting forms , in a way that is as innovative as it is elegant. Created by Japanese architect Shigeru Ban, these structures challenge the very notion of strength of a material. If paper can be used so innovatively, we can safely assume that given enough thought , any material could lend itself to the creation of amazing architecture.

Not only are these paper tubes used for creating long spans, but also for creating tall towers!

An architect by profession, Shigeru Ban has also been associated as a professor at several universities across the world, and has honorary doctorate degrees conferred on him. His list of awards is endless, topped by the Pritzker Architecture Prize 2014, one of the most prestigious awards in the Architectural field. Ban first began experimenting with constructing buildings from paper tubes in 1986, and he has continued to test new ideas of form and material ever since. For Ban, good architecture must answer questions of utility and sustainability even as it delights with aesthetics. 

"I believe that the material doesn’t need to be strong to be used to build a strong structure. The strength of the structure has nothing to do with strength of the material." Shigeru Ban


Credit and source of information
http://www.shigerubanarchitects.com/
http://aiare.org/quote-129-shigeru-ban/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shigeru_Ban
http://blog.ted.com/buildings-made-from-cardboard-tubes-a-gallery-of-shigeru-ban-architecture/

transformation

Thought behind the thought
Who would imagine that an egg could fly? But it does, when it transforms into the bird it always was! And so can we. If we only recognize this truth, it will motivate us to take the efforts towards becoming what we really are. It is difficult, and at times frustrating. Most of us give up very easily. Most of us wonder whether the transformation is worth the effort, after all! But if we believe in ourselves, we could overcome this skeptical frame of mind, and transform our shells into wings!

About the art
Eggs can transform in to wonderful pieces of art as well.

 Beautiful egg shell sculptures by Chinese artist Wen Fuliang.

 Egg carving is done using a fine diamond bit on an electric rotary tool. The artist sketches a design on the shell, which has been carefully emptied of the yolk and egg white with a syringe.

Wen Fuliang , of Shaanxi province, was laid off from his job as a wood carver and turned to the unusual and skillful form of art to make ends meet. He uses chicken, goose and duck eggshells to carve out places of interest, such as the iconic Dayan Pagoda in Xi'an.

The video shows how this delicate art takes shape at the hands of a skilled and passionate sculptor.

Credit and source of information
http://www.culturainquieta.com/en/escultura/item/1661-wen-fuliang.html
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2253113/Cracking-good-art-Chinese-man-creates-intricate-sculptures-EGG-SHELLS.html

conquering yourself

Thought behind the thought
We are always in pursuit of excellence! To be better than others is at times, the only definition of excellence that we accept. But is it really so? In fact, being better than others is hardly a scale by which to measure excellence.
Real excellence comes from bettering yourself, being better today than what you were yesterday, acquiring knowledge and skills that you did not previously have, learning new ways of being the best. It is really about conquering your own self!

About the art
The first name that comes to my mind when I think of conquering my own self is that of Buddha, the enlightened one! We, in India, venerate him for his teachings and the eight fold path that he showed us for bettering ourselves. Almost all art that depicts the Buddha, be it painting or sculpture, always communicates a sense of serenity that comes out of being the master of your own  heart, mind and soul.

Image of Buddha in stone (source: website of the Sarnath museum)

The stone sculpture of Buddha from Sarnath, dated to the Gupta period (5th Century BC), is a remarkable example of spirituality and inner peace conveyed through art. Apart from the symbolism that the sculpture embodies, (the Dharmachakra, the Mudra, the lotus, etc) the sculpture is a fine study of geometry and proportions in visual art.

Graphics prepared by designjatra, based on original analytical images from the book

  

The three 'chakras', that are one of the base concepts in Buddhist philosophy, are symbolically represented through the three circles that define the geometry and proportions of the sculpture. The overall size, the progressive visual lines, the various elements of the sculpture viz the arms, hands, ears,etc. and also the lotus seat and the disciples of Buddha are placed on the lines generated by the geometry of the three intersecting circles and the grids hence derived.

An in -depth study reveals even finer points of proportioning, an important aspect for achieving excellence in visual art.  It also brings a sense of organisation and preciseness to the art, adding visual serenity to the composition, heightened by the closed eyes and serene facial expression.

The above study is based on the analysis presented in the book Concepts of Space Ancient and Modern By Ms. Kapila Vatsyayan, a leading Indian scholar of classical Indian dance, Indian art and Indian architecture and art historian. She was the founding director of the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, Delhi, and continues as its chairperson. 

Credit and source of information 

http://www.sarnathmuseumasi.org/Gallery1%20Acc%20No%20340.aspx

Concepts of Space Ancient and Modern By Ms. Kapila Vatsyayan (http://ignca.nic.in/ks_10.htm)