The objective of the assignment: Material Considerations, is to imply and underline characteristics or achievements of a well-known person by using unconventional mediums, applying such mediums in surprising ways and presenting the piece with careful considerations.
My person of choice is Helen Keller, the famous American author who was both deaf and blind. Despite her disabilities, she managed to obtain a Bachelor’s degree, inspire thousand with her writing and spirits.
Her portrait is created by applying braille dots with various densities according to the darks and lights of her picture above, and is then used as the cover of a book. The book’s dimension is the typical size of a braille book, 11.5 inch by 11 inch. Instead of using plain white paper, I selected black paper with the appropriate thickness. I aim to create a conceptual parallel between the experience of the viewers trying to read, touch, distinguish her portrait and Helen Keller’s journey of learning and reading.
The book contains 10 of her most well-known inspirational quotes written in graphite. The reason of choosing graphite is largely due to its reflective quality: For many, her words are like the argent shines in the darkness of night.
