Julian Bleecker in his article Design Fiction states, “When something is “designed” it suggests that there is some thoughtful exploration going on.” He goes on to emphasize how imagination can expand when one seeks to physically design that world. In order to create a new world, we were forced to explore and define much more than we originally thought. Just by changing one event in history, we were required to project numerous differences socially, economically, politically, and so on in order to make the world seem authentic. Thus, we had source material from which we could truly make our imagined world come to life. Our new culture was born out of the ashes of a nuclear war in which Egyptian society survived and mixed aspects of modern technology with classical Egyptian ideology and culture.
Map of New Cairo
We as a group thought a descriptive and authentic-feeling artifact of this new culture would be some sort of damaged, rough copy of the new civilization’s city plans. As mentioned, the new Egyptians would be able to reverse engineer some technologies and retain certain skills, but we felt that (due to lack of resources) the new culture would revert back to papyrus and inaccurate drafting techniques. Thus, the map models itself after modern Cairo’s city structure, but presents certain changes and modern buildings in a rough style seen in early city plans. Logically, we used the outside sources of modern satellite images and older city plans for inspiration in creating the piece. Finally, we decided to maintain a sense of authenticity and label areas in a rough and corrupted form of Arabic as such a style would be more realistic.
New Cairo Original Plans
Modern Cairo
Example of 18th Century Novgorod Plan Style
Desert Wear
We wanted to incorporate clothing into our project because of the unique perspective it would bring. This society, a dystopian world that decides to model its government after the inspiring success of the Egyptian empire, would have a very distinct blend of wasteland survivor and ancient religion. Pulling from the costume design of such films as Mad Max, Star Wars, and the animated short The Oceanmaker, as well as iconic tropes of Egyptian fashion, we created a mask that incorporates both worlds. It is practical in its use of keeping sand out of your mouth, but is adorned with Egyptian design made from broken pieces of lost technology.
Made From A Computer Motherboard and Linen
Model Wearing Mask
Prayer to Pharaoh
As we decided on the history and details of our fictional culture, we had to focus on creating items that properly represented this society. This particular creation is cross between the Islamic call to prayer and a fascist propaganda program. New Cairo’s self-proclaimed Pharaoh has commanded the universal worship of the Egyptian Pantheon, a theology that reveres the Pharaoh as deity himself. Spreading a gospel of quiet subjection and unquestioning devotion, the Pharaoh perverts the established order of Islam into a hybrid pseudo-religion that combines the form of the Islamic faith with the content of ancient belief. Navigating the slippery slope of religious and political correctness was challenging, but the involved process of design pushed all of us to create unique and thoughtful pieces that not only represent our fictional world but the aspects of reality that inspired us in the first place.
Wall Mural
Every time human being have inhabited a place, they feel the necessity to create art. This forms of art are usually related to the religious beliefs, history and the social environment.
The first piece illustrates what happened before new Cairo was established, and combines Egyptian symbology and modern technology, the snake representing Apep, the evil spirit of destruction and darkness.The snake is placed right next to the image of a nuclear explosion which as we know is also a symbol of destruction and death.
Both paintings are a representation of the most important aspects of this society, both religious, political and ideological.
Some of the inspiration behind the paintings are the Marsh scene tomb of menna and the facsimile of the Egyptian book of the dead.
No comments:
Post a Comment