Cognitive Mapping

Cognitive mapping:

This is a method of articulating in exact terms, a description for one’s product/ artwork. One simply builds up the adjectives that match up to the description and connect the words on a graph to get just the right few, and thus one forms a sentence with these words and there, you have your perfect description. 

For example, the product I chose to cognitively map was the ‘Blind Bag’ . 

“The Blind Bag is a helpful invention that gives a blind person information in order to easily navigate their way around, and also serves the purpose of storage.”

The second image is the diagrammatic representation of the description: The Emotional,

Contextual, Intellectual, Sensorial, Spiritual and Experiential aspects of the product. 

Emotional:Large wavy lines inside the circle

Intellectual: Diamond shape

Experiential:Entire Circle enclosing all aspects

Spiritual: Spiral shape

Sensorial: Squiggly lines spread across

Contextual: Square shape

The Train Of Life Review

The Train of Life:

The movie starts off with a ‘lunatic’ man, Shlomo running crazily, his voice playing in the background, saying that he has seen the Nazis in a nearby town. Once he gets into town, he informs the Rabbi, and everybody who would listen. A town meeting is held, and many of the men do not believe it, the absolute terror that was being told made them anxious and in denial, and many criticise Shlomo, for he was anyway the town ‘lunatic’, and who would believe him? But the Rabbi believed him, and they try and come up with solutions to face the upcoming events. Amidst all the confusion and chaos, Shlomo suggested that they should build a train, so they can escape. It is agreed upon. Some of their members pretend to be Nazis in order to transport them to a concentration camp, when in reality, they are going to Palestine through Russia. On their escape on the train there are many misunderstandings between the villagers, it’s all very confusing, they end up encountering real Nazis, Communists, and even Gypsies, then the community arrives just in between German and Soviet fire.

The movie ends with Shlomo himself, who tells the stories of his ‘train mates’ after the train arrived in the Soviet Union, Some went on to Palestine, some stayed in the Soviet Union, and some even went to America. As he is talking, the camera takes a close-up of his face, and he says, “That is the true story of my shtetl…”, but then the camera zooms-out, showing him grinning and wearing prisoner’s clothes behind the barbed wire of the concentration camp, and he ends with, “Ye nu, almost the true story!” 

He was imagining it the whole time, no such train was ever built. The nazis had taken them all.

We can assume that Shlomo was in this slightly altered state of mind because he had seen most of his companions executed, he was deeply disturbed and traumatized but still craved freedom and made up the whole story for himself in his state.

The film left me in a state of mind where I was questioning why these things happen, why is it that his idea of escape was considered ‘mad’ or ‘unreal’? We have been taught that any idea- no matter how “impractical” or “impossible” it sounds, is a masterpiece and if only one keeps the faith and belief in their ideas they can achieve anything. Art begins in the mind, a thought that develops further and further to create something much bigger and meaningful, and so our creativity shouldn’t ever be limited by humanity’s confinements and limitations, and definitions of possible and impossible. 

The Kite Runner Review

The Kite Runner:

The movie, The Kite Runner is based on the book titled the same, by author Khaled Hosseini. It’s a beautiful depiction of reality, in simple words. Amir and Hassan, fast friends growing up together in Kabul,

Afghanistan, their childlike adventures and pranks, an important part of their lives being flying kites, the hard times they faced and the show of ultimate faithfulness by Hassan toward his dear friend Amir, who was the son of Hassan’s father’s master. As time passes we see how things change in Afghanistan, with the Soviet spies everywhere, Amir and his father move to the United States. The course of life takes each person to lead their own individual adventure, each has a set of adversities to get over and time stops for nobody. Amir had married Soraya, the love of his life. Amir’s ‘baba’ (father) succumbs to cancer soon after their marriage.

One of Baba's old friends – a man who was like a second father to Amir – calls Amir in America. His name is Rahim Khan. He wants Amir to come back to Afghanistan, cryptically telling Amir, "There is a way to be good again". Amir drops everything in America and goes to meet Rahim Khan. There they learn that Hassan had married Farzana and they had a son, Sohrab. Hassan and Farzana had been executed brutally by the Taliban, leaving Sohrab orphaned. Amir and Soraya are to take Sohrab and adopt him, but this would be tough since there were no death certificates of Hassan and Farzana. Amir promises Sohrab that he will take him to America, but he had to be put in an orphanage for a while in order to get the paperwork, and Sohrab is distraught and tries to commit suicide, but survives.Though Sohrab survives, he doesn't fully forgive Amir. Yet the movie ends on a hopeful note. Amir takes Sohrab to the park where some Afghans are flying kites. Sohrab and Amir fly a kite together and even fight another kite – and win. It brings all of Kabul back to Amir and, we think, shows Amir and Sohrab how their love for Hassan has brought them together.

The movie was deeply moving and leaves one with a feeling of hope for the betterment of families that went and still go through these terrorising events, and yet we feel joy for the simplicity and love  that these two boys had in their friendship, and ho they were united in a way at the end. 

The Blind Bag

THE BLIND BAG:

We got this amazing opportunity to showcase our ideas to make life easier in Yelahanka for differently abled citizens. After mapping the area and analysing the situations that arise commonly, the product that we came up with was ‘The Blind Bag.’ . We were able to make or kind of invent the idea to help the blind people by providing a prototype of the product. Our product was noticed by the faculty and the students.

This was our first experience in designing a product, which really taught me how to work in a group and how individual roles are important in creating a functional product such as this one. We learned a lot from this, and were also able to empathise with different kinds of people and have a perspective different than ours. This prototype has fuelled us to do better for the society and we look forward to more of this sort of work.

The diagrammatic design of the product and the the prototype model. 

Arduino Motion Sensor Alarm :

How does it work?

Here, we are using a PIR motion sensor. PIR stands for Passive Infra Red. This motion sensor consists of a fresnel lens, a infrared detector and supporting detection circuitry. The lens on the sensor focuses any infrared radiation present around it towards the infrared detector. Our bodies generate infrared heat and as a result this gets picked up by the motion sensor. The sensor outputs a 5V signal for a period of one minute as soon as it detects the presence of a person. It offers a tentative range of detection of about 6-7 m and is highly sensitive.

Working of a PIR motion sensor

When the PIR motion sensor detects a person, it outputs a 5V signal to arduino. Thus, an interruption on the arduino is triggered. We define what the arduino should do, as it detects an intruder. Here, we are creating an alarm sound through a piezo buzzer/an ear plug. Therefore, when the sensor detects an intruder, an alarm sound will get triggered through the buzzer.

The piezo buzzer or an earplug is activated through the arduino using PWM signals which is attached to the chest piece.

The product we are  planning is for the blind people which will use this basic technology which will enable them to be more aware of the surroundings and not get into accidents.

Materials used :

Bag, Arduino board, connecting wires, motion sensor, earplugs, box, cloth pieces, velcro strips, sewing thread and needle, pvc pipes, metal rods, elastic bands.

Sources: YouTube, Wikipedia, general Google. 

 

 

 

Wall Painting

Wall Painting:

We were divided into groups, and were made to come up with our definition of what a ‘body’ is. 

After many crazy out of the box discussions and exchange of ideas, we concluded that a body is simply a container, a vessel that is capable of holding something within it. Like a cookie jar. It’s a container, it’s a body. There are several examples, but we stuck with a cookie jar, because cookies come in so many different flavours and kinds, just like life on earth- it’s vastly diverse, the different creatures and species, from living to non-living, it’s all coexisting and surviving together, despite the differences and similarities. 

Then we thought of a deeper meaning, something larger than even us. And we got it- The Galaxy. It’s the largest body that we know of, it contains us all- our lives and everything that makes it. So our wall painting is “THE COMPLEX COOKIE JAR”, thus defining ‘body’ for us. 

 

Rembrandt

REMBRANDT:

Born in Leiden, Netherlands in 1606, Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, a 17th century Dutch painter and etcher was the one whose works dominated the ‘Dutch Golden Age’. One of the most revered artists of all time, Rembrandt's greatest creative triumphs are seen in his portraits of his contemporaries, illustrations of biblical scenes and self-portraits as well as his innovative etchings and use of shadow and light. He is generally considered one of the greatest painters and printmakers in European art and the most important in Dutch history. Having achieved youthful success as a portrait painter, Rembrandt's later years were marked by personal tragedy and financial hardships. Yet his etchings and paintings were popular throughout his lifetime, his reputation as an artist remained high.In his paintings and prints he exhibited knowledge of classical iconography, which he moulded to fit the requirements of his own experience; thus, the depiction of a biblical scene was informed by Rembrandt's knowledge of the specific text, his assimilation of classical composition, and his observations of Amsterdam's Jewish population. Because of his empathy for the human condition, he has been called "one of the great prophets of civilisation.”  

Having lived a fruitful life, Rembrandt died at the age of 63, on October 4th, 1669.

Different Kinds of Indian Art

Gond Paintings 

This form of tribal art is based on nature and wildlife. The paintings are geometrical and very brightly colored.

Kalamkari Paintings

The color scheme used is red, maroon and yellow. Their paintings mainly depict the Gods and a few animals.

Mughal Miniature Jahangir 

These paintings are mainly portraits of Jahangir itself. They're a lot similar in comparison to those of Akbar's. 

Malwa Paintings 

The use of the color red and yellow is very prominent. They portray scenarios in and around the palace.

Deccani Paintings 

The colors used are slightly dull in comparison to the rest. A lot of of dull greens are used.

Jaunpur Paintings 

These paintings are very architecture-based, and the colors used are not too bright. 

Shekawati Paintings

A lot of intricate designs and patterns are used. The use of the color maroon is very prominent. 

Bundi Paintings 

These paintings are based on dancing women with long, flowing skirts. 

Kishangarh Paintings 

These paintings depict humans - either singularly or as a couple. A lot of blues and greens are used. 

Mysore Paintings 

Attention to detail when it comes to human features and cloth patterns is seen. There's high usage of the colors red and gold. 

Tanjore Paintings 

These paintings depict different Hindu Gods. They all have plain-colored backgrounds and a lot of the color gold is used.

Jain Patachitra 

Use of bright colors is seen. All these paintings have framed patterns. Gods are depicted, and very intricate patterns are used.

Buddhist Thangka Paintings

Buddha is depicted in every painting. A lot of circular forms are used. There are vibrant colors used in every painting. 

Ajanta Vakataka Paintings 

These are cave paintings which portray human figures. Dull colors are used. 

Kerala Mural Paintings 

Intricate paintings with a lot of use of the color red. These paintings depict Gods. The human figures are very curvy. 

Odisha Pattachitra  Paintings

These paintings are bordered with intricate patterns and designs. 

Kalighat Paintings 

A very subtle color scheme is used. Most of the pictures comprise of female figures. The backgrounds are blank. 

Jamini Roy Paintings 

These pictures depict cartoon-like human figures. Dull colors are used in the paintings. 

Company Paintings 

These are very realistic looking paintings depicting scenes from olden times. Mild colors are used.

Gulam Mohammed Sheikh Paintings

These paintings are very vibrant and colorful. They're also very abstract. 

Bhupen Khakhar Paintings 

Modern art depicting men. The color blue is used a lot. 

Ramesh Kalkur

His paintings deal a lot with the human body.