processbook

Sterre boessen

table of contents

monday blz ...tuesday blz ...wednesday blz ....thursday blz ... friday blz ...

mondayShirley and Johannes

I really like the experimental phases in Shirley’s lessons and assignments, before design academy I almost always drew and painted so this was very new and very fun for me to do. I think it took me a little more time because I wasn’t aware of all the options and materials you can use, because you can use every-thing! For me her lessons are a real adventure, you don’t need to think just do it. It was hard for me to do that because I al-ways think about everything, but once your busy with exploring it is so relaxing and fascinating. I also like her way of working with us, reflecting each others work, but not for too long. She is very clear in her assignments and that’s exactly what I need. Although I’ll just go my own way if something is not very clear, make it clear yourself.

SHIRLEY

my building was the trainstation in Liege from Salvador Calatrava. I always feel like walking into a giant skeleton from a mysterious animal like a whale or so-mething. In my tshirt and fashion photo I tried to make a new kind of ‘skele-ton’ shape. I started with the skeleton of the tshirt (=the seams) and went further from this on.

SilkscreensI have to say, I adored silkscreening so much! I bought a lot of wicked fabrics and I played quite a lot with them.Shirley told us it wasn’t mendatory to match them with the colors of your animals. So I really didn’t, my goal was to make interes-ting silkscreens with a lot of color and glittery/shiny things.I went two times because I wanted to make some more, and be-cause I loved it so much. :)I think this was my favourite assignment, I never would have thought that I love this so much!I think that this really opened my eyes and I am even thinking about designing prints etc later on in my life for some wicked fashion designer or something! I was so impressed from Joost (silkscreen) he told me he works for Walter van Beirendonck, I always go to his atelier/shop in Antwerp (I grew up in Antwerp).

At first I disliked his lessons, not because I hate painting but because of his behaviour. But when he started to give more ex-planation and depth into his lessons I started to like the lessons more and more. Sometimes I see Johannes as a client, because he likes what he likes and he dislikes what he dislikes, no com-pensation. Than I start looking and discovering what does the man like? And when I find out I apply it in my work, of course I make what I make and I will always stay ‘me’ but sometimes it’s better to listen and act like it. I also find it hard to make as-signments for him because you never know his attention with it. Most of the time I understand the assignment and the meaning of it when we reflect each other’s work. (So when he tells us what he likes etc.)So it’s always a little bit guessing. I adore painting now I never really did that. It’s very relaxing to do and play with strokes and colours.

Johannes

things that influenced me and other stuff that made me ‘me’. 1. My favorite artist, Collin van der Sluijs.2. A signature on my concert ticket from ‘T Hof van Commerce’; a group of rappers from Antwerp, I was raised in Antwerp.3. An old diary from when I was a teenager, crazy me.4. A picture with Bart, the greatest friend and boyfriend you can ever imagine.5. Several wristbands from festivals all over Europe.6. Gemstones, I loved them when I was a little girl (and still do!)7. A statue of a kitten I bought in Mostar, Bosnia. It reminds me of Tonka, the kitten I found in Croatia and traveled with us until he suddenly died in Montenegro.8. A picture from me and my art teacher; Wil van der laan, loved the guy.9. My ticket to the United States, to travel there for 3 weeks, amazing experience.10. A ticket from a party in Berlin, I go to Berlin quite alot to party and exhibit different kinds of awesomeness.11. The bottle from Tonka, I always fed him with. From this moment on I changed my mind about having children; some day I do want children.12. A small booklet with my parents in it, I made this when I was young to take with me. This is such a good example for our weird but very close relationship.13. A spraycan for my affinity with graffiti and streetart.14. I always need very big agenda’s because I am that chaotic.15. A love letter from Bart, we experienced a lot together and I will never forget him.

I really liked the sock assignment, I changed the whole plan though.I figured I wanted a flashy fabric and dots of fur, but it didn’t felt like me at all.After some experimenting with my silkscreens I figured I wanted to do something that was liquid or something drippy. I bought li-quid latex and some plaster, I did some tests with it and I got a good end result; it is really me.The concept stayed as it was; my inside is ‘harder’ (sarcastic, as-sertive, determined) than most people think. So you really have to know me for knowing all of this about my different layers of personality. The outside looks bubbly and a little bit blemished aswell, that’s because my skin is always blemished and sensitive aswell. I like how the sock looks like a second skin, I adore the whole vibe of it; it has something kickass but also something brui-sed or painful.

some tests I made to figure out what I wanted to express with the latex and the material.

Tuesday

David and Karin

II like David as a person and teacher and I even like wood but I am very bad with it; I’m not precise, I always make mistakes with measurements and other things that you don’t think of on fore-hand. I don’t have a lot of patience with it either..

For me, this was the hardest assingment from the whole trimes-ter. I was very slow and I am such a noob with wood, but afterall I did it although I am a little bit slow compared to the others.II do think that David could have give me some more attention, but this is also a new thing for myself and I need to work on this to. You really need to fight for his attention, and I never really had the balls to actually fight for it. I didn’t want to because I think it’s rude but I really need to stand up for myself a little more.Because otherwise I will not make it without feedback and poin-ting out problems. So I really need to work on this for myself, otherwise I won’t make it.

David

I really hated the fact that we were so dependant of the wood workshop, there was this crazy vibe where everybody was stressed out and bitchy about their stuff and space. Also a lot of wood got stolen, mine also; 1 and a half plank (yes my name was on it) and some parts got stolen and I had a lot of delay because of all this. I think when we all had more space and machines (yes, mission impossible I know) we could’ve been ready much earlier. David told us we aproximately take 12 hours to make the chair, but it actually took the most people 30+ hours. This was fatal for a lot of us I think, and also for myself. I put alot of effort and time in it (days from 9h till 22h) and even when I am writing this the chair isn’t finished yet and I have no clue if it will be finished next Monday.. So even for me it’s a surprise. I definately learned that I never want to make furniture, I dislike everything about it not because I am bad with it but even when I succeeded in something I still didn’t like it.

I think these lessons are so useful, the whole process of produ-cing things and outsourcing is a craft on itself. The assignments are very nice; you immediately see what went wrong and what went good. I like Karin as a person; she seems very kind and involved because she studied at design academy as well.; she knows the drill.Also she is very clear and direct, which is very nice because you know where you stand without guessing the whole time.

I do think its very hard for us to decide if we could make an object in 3 hours. But it’s a good thing that we have to figure it all out ourselves and ask the workplace people for advice. but I tend to postpone it because I feel ashamed that I don’t know sh*t. I really didn’t know how to make my doorstop mysefl for example, I really had to ask the plastic workshop dude.

Karin

With the second assignment (the doorstop) I was less clear and less into it,because this was quite a busy time for me (chair!) So you immediately see that the design and product are not the same. I wasn’t clear enough with my few sketches

My lamb was very easy and simple to make, and I think it was also convenient for my producer because we had few time left (end of trimester) I wanted to make something recycable. I only figured later my idea already excists; sad.

wednesdayDesign history and design debates

It took quite a while and some patience for the design history classes to start but finally! The lessons are very interesting and good topics, she was also very interactive with us, I like that. I also like it that she doesn’t teaches us for too long with loads of information but just enough. In this way she keeps her lessons light and ba-lanced.Also what she says is very clear and easy to un-derstand and remember.

Design History

Design History The design debates.. they are so poorly managed! I really think that only 30 percent of the whole crowd can see the people and hear them aswell. I reserved a seat for 2 times now and I never had a seat or a view. Its terrible to sit on a floor with so many people and try to concentrate on the voices you hear. This is such a shame because the themes of the debates are really inte-resting and I want to hear them but it’s not possible because of the location. On the one about Google I just left, I couldn’t see anything but students and I couldn’t here anything but students. I also would like to have a little introduction with what we are talking about, because in a lot of cases I don’t understand what they do or did and that’s a little bit frustrating after a while.

I do think they have great and interesting topics about design but it’s just a shame that the location makes it so unpleasant to go there!

Design Debates

thursdayTheo, Margot and WinekeTheo, margot and Wineke

Thursday

I think their lessons are the most intensive, you really have to participate, it’s so active! Their lessons are very interesting and also very tiring after a long day of lively Theo and unstoppable Wineke. I like how they work with us, if you don’t participate in the lesson you will not learn sh*t. There it is.

So they kindly force you into doing things, and that’s interesting because you will do it eventually. And when you’re done you feel like a good person and you even learned a lot from it. Great.But this also makes their lessons very confronting for yourself, absolutely. And that’s a good part of the lessons because you have to face your fears and just do it. I really experienced this with the whole strangers thing. I was terrified a lot for their assignments.. like “oooh boy not again!”

I do think Margot is a good addition for Theo and Wineke, they tend to like the extreme things and also really like to force you into things, while Margot might like to take a step back and reflect on it. I think she has a more gentle appraoch and sometimes it’s better to be a little bit more gentle instead of forcing yourself into interesting situations. She is a sweet lady.

I learned a lot of their assignments, maybe not always in the ‘right’ way (that everything went well and naturally) but I definately learned from every assignment. Although I was very afraid and stressed about almost all of them! With the talking to a stranger assignment I was really sad and frustrated about not able to talk with somebody and then I walked into a church and sat there for a while, I got overwhelmed by the beauty and loneliness of the church and just cried for no reason.I also learned a lot from the design questions assignment, I talked with a lot of people online over the whole world, the guy I had a appoinment with had to cancel our meeting so I went searching for depressed people. I eventually found a chatroom only for depressed people, talked with a lot of them about the causes and the healing from it.

I feel the end of the their lessons were the lessons where I learned the most.I never worked in a big group like this, it was very hard for all of us to compre-mize with each other and to work with eachother because we had a lot of strong personalities and contrary visions. We had some struggles but in the end we were the closest group. It was very instructive for the all of us how we could be such a large group and still connect to eachother in a healthy and respectful way. We had a fight the day before our end presentation about who did a good job (we were answering the questions about eachother’s behaviour) and who didn’t.In the end I think it had to be this way; just be honest to eachother and every-thing will work out eventually.

Wim, Liesbeth and Catelijne

Friday

CatelijneTo be honest? I was terrified for Catelijne! She was one of my teachers from the admission and I felt like crying when I was done. They were so strict and unfriendly. It was my first admis-sion ever. (She really reminded me of ‘Elle Driver’, the nurse from Kill Bill)But when she came by a at the beginning of the trimester (and I felt like shitting my pants) she was actually very nice! And her little intro about ‘A touch of Code’ really attracted me, so I signed up for her different approach of codes and I loved it. She is such a different person now, actually very shy, sweet and helpful. So I’m glad I said yes (instead of shitting my pants, ha-ha) She really opened a new (yes, another one!) world for me and I feel that I’m not ready with this world just yet :)

For the schouw we had to come up with a concept for a project with processing/arduino. I still have no idea how I should do it but that’s the nice part because in this part of the process you will actually learn you can do everything in the world of codes, love it!

WimI always loved drawing and I will always do. Wim is very clear and personal with you, he likes to come by and have a chat about your work and what you’re making.I think he has original assignments with interesting surprises. although he changed his opinion about my drawings, on the be-ginning he really liked them but at the end of the trimester he told me I was a bad drawer. Opinions change I guess, I do think I overestamated myself in the beginning because he was very positive about the things I did. Nevertheless I really enjoyed his lessons, he has a different vision on drawing than I am used to from other teachers.

I walked. Nervous because it all began that day.

I wondered where the hell you were..

I asked people, but they didn’t knew you ofcourse

I was afraid I would be too late.

I was excited but also frightened.

And when I got there and saw you and the others

I knew it was allright.

LiesbethLiesbeth is really different than other teachers, she is super calm and relaxt, takes the time to read your stuff and talks with people for quite a long time. In the beginning I really didn’t li-ked her assingments but later on it got nice. I have to say my concentration was a nightmare on friday afternoon so I did the work almost everytime at home.

I walked. Nervous because it all began that day.

I wondered where the hell you were..

I asked people, but they didn’t knew you ofcourse

I was afraid I would be too late.

I was excited but also frightened.

And when I got there and saw you and the others

I knew it was allright.

Lids slowly closingSinking away, fatigue.Wipe my puffy eyes

Sleeping in slowlyBefore opening my eyes

The shrill sound of trains

You are very strict. You are very hard

but also modest.

It suits you.

Nothing on you is crooked or even

skew.

I have to say you do have something

My name is Sterre Violet Victoria Boessen, I am 18 years old.I’m studying at the Design Academy Eindhoven but I live in Maastricht. I grew up in Antwerp, and moved to Maastricht when I was 6 years old and I think my love for big vibrant cities started here.

I’m no exception for the typical thing to say; ‘ I always knew I wanted to do something with arts as a child’ but yes, I did. Of course design is slightly different from arts but frankly I don’t exactly know what design is or should be? I like to keep it that way. I think my goal is to make bridges between art and design, just like design and technology; they go perfectly together.

I have to admit, I am changing so much lately. Or maybe it’s better to say my surroundings? Or maybe both..A big world opened for me on my school. And I love to dive into it, I see that I am quite young and have lots of things to learn and develop but I also see that I am doing this with a lot of joy and I am learning quickly. I am in my first year by the way!

My parents made such a good impact on me, we have a really strong connection; almost like friends. I have never met any other pair of parents that were so loving and affectionate to their child and others. They both studied arts so I have some great support at home.

We like to travel a lot. They took me to every museum, every church, and every ancient city they could afford to take me. I developed my interest for other cultures and art quite well because of all this.¬Like every parent they warn me for all the danger and pitfalls in life, but I am quite ready and willing to make the fall and conquer the dangers of life. Of course I sound like a spoiled na¬ve young girl ready to take over the world. But I don’t know how to put it in a different way; I guess that’s a student thing.

I am fond of art and design when there is something exciting about it, I love when things have to turn out and you can’t really calculate on forehand. This keeps me playful and active with my work. I don’t make plans on forehand that much, I have an idea or a kind of sphere that I want to express in my work and I am satisfied when the idea that was planted in my head matches the final result. Until then I have to find the good material, colour, effect, sphere, expression etcetera. These kinds of unpredictical things are really addicting to me and are almost like a kind of spell that fasci-nates and motivates me.It’s very hard to translate the language of my soul and character into words. I guess you just have to look at the things I make and I hope you will understand my style, meanings and

My Biography