Kevin Valencia – Infinity and Abstraction

For this blog post, i decided to relate one of my classes to Calculus, through infinity. in my design foundations class, we were asked to create an abstract cube out of foam using the drawings we made in class as references. i had orthographic projections and geometric interpretations of different models i made in class. i realized that to make an abstract cube, i had to get into a different type of mindset and find abstraction in drawings that were very linear and coordinated. i then realized that all my drawings had construction lines that i hadn’t even taken into consideration because my mind was too focused in on the actual object lines which were thick and visible compared to the light construction lines i had.  i redid my drawings but this time i only made the construction lines. this in turn gave me a whole different figure that seems at first sight completely unrelated to the actual drawing.

now the real issue was what can i do with these lines, and how do i project them on a three dimensional figure? i picked out several lines and patterns and placed them on the different faces of my foam cube. using my tools i carved out the faces and started giving my cube some form. another issue i faced was having every corner and indentation lead into the next face of the cube to create beauty and form. i wanted my viewer to feel puzzled as to where the creases and valleys would end around the cube. i wanted to have a sense of infinity to my cube.

the end result was an abstract cube with a bunch of carved out shapes and lines that although were very peculiar, would diverge into several faces and create a beautiful three dimensional figure.  i can relate this to infinity for several reasons. first the cube was made of construction lines that should go off to infinity. abstraction, i believe is very much related to infinity. something abstract is not really definite or concrete. interpretations of something abstract can be endless. 

I also would like to reference Infinity to music in pop culture. Specifically an album released by Journey in 1978 called ….. “Infinity”. Clearly there is a reference to infinity there. In the album, Producer Roy Thomas Baker decided to experiment with vocals. He added what he called “stacked vocals” where he would have all singers sing each vocal melody line in  unison. With this he created an effect to journey’s sound that was fuller and broader, making three or four voices sound like more. When you have an effect like that, you get to perceive infinity through a different kind of sense. Infinity isn’t just seen with numbers or endless areas, we can also listen to infinity.