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Cloudiness
Background
Clouds are very difficult things to depict. They do not have hard edges. They are not solid. They look the same at different scales (making it difficult to guess how far away a cloud is). They do not have a fixed shape or easily definable form. They are fuzzy. They are three dimensional but they do not really obey the laws of perspective. There is nothing neat or tidy about them and in most cases they move and change.
Clouds are not just things that float in the sky and cause rain. Cloud-like things exist everywhere and at all scales, from galaxies to electrons. They can be made of anything, both real and imaginary, natural and man-made. Here are some examples: dust, smoke, social space, scent, electromagnetism, explosions, sound, insects, people, culture.
Clouds are patterns of density of things too small, insignificant or homogenous to represent individually. We are living within many different types of clouds: the weather, the signals from a radio transmitters, the area surrounding you that you consider to be your personal space. This brief is about representing that fact.
Task
Make 10 different representations of 10 different clouds. Some of these representations must be drawings and some of those drawings must be from direct observation. At least one of the representations must be a three-dimensional model. We recommend that you start with drawing before moving onto other forms of representation.
By ‘clouds’ we do not just mean weather related phenomena. So, think broadly about cloudiness and look for interesting and original examples to represent.
Considerations
Put the cloud in context. How does it affect its surroundings and how is it affected by them?
Consider representing both the outside and inside of the cloud. When travelling on a plane, flying through a cloud is often a disappointingly foggy experience. Can you depict your cloud from the inside without representing foggyness?
Consider the qualities of the cloud: opacity, density, colour. In short, convey the cloud’s atmosphere.
References
- The Cloud Appreciation Society
- The Turner collection at Tate Britain
- Seat Altea tv commercial
- Home-made clouds (via James Goggin)
- Edward Tufte’s Visual Explanations ISBN 978-0961392123
- Diller & Scofidio’s Blur Building
- Usman Haque’s Open Burble
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