A pure form of mind
Contents
Assignment Description
Chinese calligraphy has more than four thousand years of history, existing not only as a writing technique for communication, but also a form of art to share the understanding of the being and the value, to convey the thoughts and the emotion, with simple visual language constructions (black and white lines). It is a pure form of mind.
Chinese calligraphic art often used as a decoration object, or a decoration for an object, yet the principles of Chinese calligraphy are also weaved into traditional Chinese designs, found in tools, costume, furniture and architectures. These principles are for example balance and counterbalance, symmetry and asymmetry, motions and pauses, and interconnections.
Target Competency Area(s), Competencies and Level(s)
- Social and culture, awareness;
- Form and sense.
Entrance Level :Level of Prior Competency Development (Optional)
none
Learning Objectives
The student should develop the awareness of a different language and culture, and some basic skills of Chinese calligraphicy.
Learning Activities
- Introduction of the basics of the chinese characters.
- workshops with chinese calligraphy demostations
- reading books, finding which priciples could be useful in design.
- practing chinese calligraphy
- design activities - use the principles in design.
Deliverables
- A chinese calligraphy art work
- An object decorated with chinese calligraphy
- An object designed with the principles from Chinese calligraphy, but with no direct use of any Chinese characters.
- All the above for an exhibition.
List of Available Reference and or Background Materials
- Lai, T. C., Chinese Calligraphy – An introduction, University of Washington press, 1985
- Qu L. L., The Simple Art of Chinese Calligraphy, Cico Books Ltd., 2002.
- Qu L. L., The Simple Art of Chinese Brush Painting, Cico Books Ltd. 2004.
Assignor Information
Jun Hu, assistant professor, has a background in mathematics, computer science and user-system interaction. As many of the Chinese calligrapher, he practiced Chinese calligraphy in his spare time for many years, for the fun of it. He is much more successful as an Engineer though.