Architecture1o1 - Part 1:From Nothingness To Place

My Personal Journey

Anja Petry

by @mslibrador

• Contents:

• Quote

• Part One: What I’ve Learned

• Part Two: What I’ve Learned From Others

• Part Three: My Place

• Thanks, Sources And Credits

My Personal Journey

- Vincent Van Gogh

“I feel such a creative force in me: I am convinced that there will be a time when…I will make something good every day…on a regular basis…I am doing my very best to make every effort because I am longing so much to make beautiful things. But beautiful things mean painstaking work, disappointment, and perseverance.“

Part One: What I’ve learned - The first week of our course taught me how to take better pictures by

looking at things with my senses wide awake.- I learned to sketch on a tiny screen and to trust myself in the process.

What is more, I let go of perfectionism in order to focus on what is already there deep within me and to once more appreciate my beginner’s mind.

- I have always liked making collages on paper. How fascinating these real cool collage photos all over the internet were! Perhaps one day I could create something similar. Well, I just learned this and discovered great techniques by using a variety of smartphone apps. To crop, to cut out, to blend, mix and compose.

- I also learned new ways of observing the weather, then to turn the snowy sky into a glittering kaleidoscope star. I learned to speed up clouds and slow down rain. All of this -to my ongoing surprise- just by using my phone as sort of magic wand.

- Shaping diagrams to show our body-mind-place connection, followed by drawing maps to put a pin in our place were by far the most challenging tasks. It took me way longer to complete these drawings/photos because they made me think so deeply about myself. Where do I currently stand? Where I am headed next? Those are questions which needed more careful consideration. My place at this point is a destination, a place in the near future, my-dream-come-true-place. As the title says, this is my personal journey. @mslibrador, 2015

I remember this cold, but fairly sunny day when I went out into our backyard with the rest of my morning coffee to find the best flow. I spilt a lot of coffee that morning…After a sudden insight, I found the right angle and light. All I had to do next was to crop it and find a nice filter to get the intensity I felt the image deserved. Yes, this week I learned to educate my eyes and to create something beautiful from almost nothing. Furthermore, I learned that making nice art can be done with everyday objects, everyday and with a new perspective on what surrounds me. I walk through the streets more attentively.

#ThingsWithNoName Liquid Morning Gold

#50000YearsAgo

Crinkled paper showing nameless figures.

Birdman lookalike - Michael Keaton, I do apologize …

#QuestionWithoutAnswer

Birdman lookalike - reversed

At first I found the whole task of drawing with my finger on the small iPhone screen rather challenging. After I got more familiar with the iOS app Adobe Ideas, I really enjoyed the sketching process. This was taken from a review of the movie -Birdman- in The Guardian.I learned that to stick with a given frame and to create within that special frame (in this case : switching to my computer or tablet was out of the question, even if this idea seemed tempting) helped me to focus persistently until I had the desired result.

#StealingThingsIs joining the dots with László Moholy-Nagy (prominently featured here), enhancing my view from the background (where my place is hidden), making new connections.

#SomePeopleTheyKnowThings

…others can’t stand the rain against their window.I transformed the photo I had made that same day almost accidentally into this version.Rendering the rain was great fun with the Color Lake Free app. This exercise freed me to experiment more with my photographs and to try filters, shapes offered by various tools.

PART TWO : What I’ve learned from others

Thanks to my dear fellow students I learned among many other things:

- not to compare myself to more advanced students, i.e. experienced graphic designers or everybody else whose middle names are Photoshop and Lightroom ;-),

- to enjoy the energy of being in this course together and supporting each other, just do it!

- how our different backgrounds or the places we live influence the way we create new things

- that others struggled with some of these tasks, too, but overcame every obstacle.

- how much I grow personally if I allow others to critique my own work #beyondthehonest

- how much all of us have in common, how similar our hopes, dreams, fears, projects can be

- how dedicated most of us are in developing our creative skills.

- to view the world with a fresh pair of eyes and try out new tools

- to spread the LOVE! To be more generous with compliments. To be #INSPIREDBY:

#InspiredBy the work of my peer @alexfontes_id whose elaborated craft intrigued me most throughout the course. He managed to express his thoughts and emotions clearly and very powerful. I learned to dig deeper into designing techniques and to try just a little harder every time. Practise, practise. Thank you for your friendly advice!

#InspiredBy the mapping techniques and the intelligently shaped diagrams by my fellow explorers @b.pad & karenlili101. They gave me new ideas on how to create my own future maps and diagrams. I loved the clarity and the forms in these photos.

#InspiredBy @keep_on_asking & @arta.b These ladies showed me how to find simple and elegant solutions to complex creative problems. Sometimes our everyday objects can make beautiful art objects like art.b proves in her photo in the lower left corner here, her #MySunMachine was fuelled by an empty paper roll. She observed the spirals hidden inside of the roll and made them visible. Paper can take on some many precious forms, even act like a sculpture in the hands of @keep_on_asking. What is more, @arta.b knows how to draw a fine line, again, simple and effective. Chapeau, mesdames!

#InspiredBy the varied works of my fellow students @grudinska, @rz_ralte and @clareuna because of their experimental use of apps, layers and techniques, as well as showing me exciting new forms of expression. Merci beaucoup!

#InspiredBy this unknown fellow student whose work I had the pleasure to evaluate. S/he showed a very consistent concept of the sea as personal place in all its shapes throughout the whole week of drawing maps. Mysterious. The depth of the ocean…

#InspiredBy @Wadjin, who shared her daily work on Instagram. She obviously lives in a beautiful place which she refers to as her Tropical Garden in Australia. Her deep inspiration stems from the Australian Aboriginal mapping techniques and art. I learned from her how she views her space and how she sees her connection with past &present. She also generously participated in our community discussions on Instagram. Thank you!

• My special place is one of exploration, currently a state of preparation for the next stage in my personal & professional development. This year we’ll move to England to work & live there.

• My place at this point is a destination, a place in the near future. My place became clearer to me throughout working on the course material; every photo brought me closer to it. I know I might sound a bit vague in some of my descriptions, but this place is so huge and has its twists and turns. What is more, everybody needs secrets, right? I feel very much alive in my place, very happy, too. For now, I call it :

• My-Dreams-Come-True-Place

• One of these days these boots are going to free themselves from the restrictions the past.

• Walk on. Never stop. The time is now.

• Manifest your dream, make it real. Believe in yourself. Trust your intuition.

• Live, laugh, love - everyday

• Embrace the new. Study languages & psychology. Travel often. Study the classics. Write!

• My place is filled with music and art.

• My place is close to nature. Close to my heart.

Part Three: My Place

#DoorsOfPerception stretched vision

I was very pleased with the contents of that particular week. All of the tasks had a very spiritual feel and a touch of Asian philosophy which I am very fond of. I have previously read a lot about zen and buddhism, but lost sight of the sacred texts. Therefore, I am glad that Architecture1o1 brought them back to my attention, also, allowing for a new, more artistic point of view. My personal place is always filled with books, philosophical or psychological topics are some of my favourites.

#ExcuseMeWhile

This is currently a part of my place in winter. I make preparations for spring while it is again snowing outside. The process of creating something meaningful every day for this course lets me see my surrounding through several different lenses. There is a beauty in everything if we dare to look more closely.

I kiss the night sky and the snow covered trees which bathe in the street lights.

#HumanBehaviourFlows…in every direction. Sometimes you have to be a rider on the storm, still deeply driven by desire, emotion and knowing that you’re on the right track.My place is travelling across the sea to reach its future destination. The sea of time connects past, present and future. To live in the moment often, and to celebrate everything life has to offer is the key to more balance.

#YourMindWillalways find the right place at the right time…There are too many things on my mind to fit into this small frame. So here’s what was important to me while creating this piece. I will continue to map my roaming mind…My place of study and laying the foundations of my new life in England. I’ve got my mind set on you…(G. Harrison)

#TheWorldIsone of many worlds out in this vast universe and we are just stardust circling towards the centre. I am a stargazer, a passionate astrologer, lover of books&maps and trust in the power of synchronicity and serendipity.

“Are there patterns in our skies, are patterns only in our eyes? Or is a constellation, just a constellation?” -Darwin Deez “Constellations”

#NoManIs …is alone who has an imaginary island that sends out its ships into the world. Here is my Atlantis-shaped island (according to Athanasius’map). Welcome to the Isle of Knowledge in the English Channel connected to the mainland by Curiosity Straight. I currently reside in Brain Town in 7, Road of Good Intentions… At the moment I am planning to make my lifelong dream - to work and live in England- come true. There is still a lot to do, but I am on my way! This course inspired me to explore my creativity in new and more varied ways. By the way, the background picture was actually a photo of snow which I rendered or transformed to look like a 3Dish sea.

• Thanks, Sources and Credits:

• All Photos were taken by myself, Anja Petry, aka Trey Japan aka @mslibrador(Instagram) with my iPhone 6 camera and related iOS8 apps.

• All templates or artistic influences or sources for further development were always indicated if known.

• I enjoyed the community part of the project very much and posted questions/answers or comments on the “iversity“ platform or on Instagram, including some critiquing interaction with fellow students in the #beyondthehonest section.

• Some apps and sources of inspiration: Adobe Ideas, Bazaart, Glitché, Mextures, Pic Collage, Instagram (filters), Thicket, 1000 Hands, Polyfauna, NASA app, Space Images, Gerd Arntz' pictograms, Marian Bantjes’map, Apple Maps, Wikipedia (Athanasius Kirchner’s map of Atlantis), Idea Sketch, Shrink&Share, ColorLake Free, Instabooth, Mindly and course materials.

• Thank you dear course instructors of Architecture1o1- Part One: Stefano Mirti, Anne-Sophie Gauvin, Petronela Nita and the whole Design1o1 team plus all their assistants. Thank you for all your hard work on this course!

• Thank you’s to everybody from www.iversity.org

• Thanks to all my dear fellow MOOCers for their peer evaluations, comments, ideas, links, and finally for letting me learn so much from their creative work. Just to mention a few people whose work I liked a lot : grudinska, clareuna, sarahkaushik, b.pad, kenza_dm, rightfromthesoul, santanatalya, arta.b, alexfontes_id, ladulcinella, wadjin, mani_elab, xraizor, toeiruji, daniel_landry, rz_ralte, hamishm, cenascenas, _sunaddict_, caturinn, deejthheefth, ellepinancy, jqmpics, jarring, jo_zaj, katy.cowley.carter, lara_decarlo, lucabigs, architrax, telezarmarina, anelim77lm, rebeccaporras, sabrosas_journal, sensiateliers, the_answering_machine, sonianrc, xuelinginging, zizalis, karenlili101, lasindromeditourette, and all the beautiful people out there - you know who you are

• Very special thanks to my beloved beautiful wife C. - I love so much <3

• Copyright by Anja Petry, @mslibrador design books, France 2015

ISBN 978-2-0007-0001-5

9 782000 700015

@mslibrador design books

part of the cosmic family