c.t i a n.11.20 @ gma i l.com

CAI Tian’sPORTFOLI O

2008-2010

ABOUT CAI TIAN

FURNITURE DESIGN (PROCESS)

THAI Lamp (2009)

PRODUCT DESIGN (PROCESS)

Skate Compote (2010)

EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH (PROCESS)

One Cubic Meter Cardboard Box (2008)

Shadow (2008)

Choices (2008)

Bling (2008)

VISUAL IDENTITY SYSTEM DESIGN

圈 (Juan) LP Music Restuarant (2009)

ILLUSTRATION

2010 Space Odyssey (2008)

Growth (2009)

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CAI TIANBorn in Shanghai China, 1988c.tian.11.20@gmail.com

Education:BA, Integrated Design, Fu Dan University Shanghai Institute of Visual Art

Tian was born and raised in a well-known family of painting and calligraphy. Her father CAI Ju is a famous painter with rich cross-cultural experience. His works have been exhibited for over 60 times in the US, France, Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, Indonesia, and in other countries. Grandfather CAI Shangguo was Shanghai’s influential scholar, painter, literary ideologist. Tian was deeply influenced by her father at the studio when she was a child.

The school Tian has studied in contains five departments - Design, Fashion Design, Digital Media, Fine Arts and Media Communication & Performing Arts. She spent two years learning Integrated Design, which is one specific major of others in Design Department. In addition to extensive collaboration, integrated design involves a “whole building design” approach. Learning various media of art work creating, Tian has gradually establish her own view of art and design. She started focusing on the content, the whole picture of the art work instead of thinking in one way of expression.

At college, Tian has already started working in different aspects - curator assistant, interior chief designer’s assistant, graphic designer, art intern in 4A advertising company, etc. In 2008, she was first intrduced by Dean DING Yi to Biljana Ciric to assist her with “History in Making Shanghai, 1979-2009”, Art Exhibit. She did all she could to have each job done perfectly, learnt from the experience, and moved on to find new chance which could insipre her on her creativity. Meanwhile, she was preparing her own art work.

In her employment, Tao Lee, the CEO of iTOPIA, said “CAI Tian is the most talented young woman I have ever seen, as if she was a senior artist working here for years.” Each piece of Tian's art work is unique, energetic and full of experimental ideas.

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Dimension / Size: 1550 x 400 x 400 mm

Material:9 stoves, lantern support, car oil filter, etc.

Brief:Design and make a piece of furniture with already-made objects in life.

Description:The Antique, The Abandoned, and all Nature. Using the abandoned,

waste stuff to create one new valuable furniture.

THAI Lamp2009* GROUP WORK BY CAI Tian, DING Yihong and LU Xinyu.

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1. The inspiration for the initial concept was the waste and abandoned objects in garbage dump.2-7. Process to pick out usable objects.We planned to combine some of them into a piece of new valuable furniture.8-9. Early sketch. I developed two rough concepts of the same product with the acquired objects. Finally, we chose to make the temple form(9). I personally prefer the first option because it seems to be more exciting to look at, like a catapillar.

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10. Thai Temples and censers are my source of reference. 11-14. We tried diffierent tops for the lamp. We chose the fourth one in the end because of the upward shape, indicated certain energy release.15-20. We fastened the nine stoves together on the car filter. First using copper pipe, but it didn't look too good. So instead we used the three points of each surface to joint. The electric welder helping us with the welding work.

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Dimension / Size: L 450 x W 400 x H 100 mm

Material:Plaster

Brief:To design and make anything in plaster, given the theme of "organism".

Description:Skate, a kind of cartilaginous fish. The Skate Compote is from skate's

wing moving up-and-down. Key workds: Vivid, Liquid, Abstract.

Skate Compote2010

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1. The inspiration for the distinctive compote was the interesting fish, skate, which is in the picture moving freely in the ocean.2. Once I had an idea of putting the skate shape into some of my work, I started on a series of hand-drawn sketches to work out a way of making the structure visually lighter, like liquid.3. From the early sketches, I came to the final piece of the compote. It has four parts that could contain the things like fruits or candies.4-8. I decided to make the model in clay. It turned out as expected.9-12. The plaster cavity block of Skate Compote.13. After the plaster went dry, I started make an extra cover on the second bowl.

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Dimension / Size: 1000 x 1000 x1000 mm

Material:Card board, crackers, adhesive tape

Brief:To make anything creatively by a cubic meter cardboard box.

Description:Research on the character of the cardboard box by exploring, cutting, etc.

One Cubic Meter Cardboard Box 2008

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Here are five different ideas for the project.1. The first one is to design a revolving storage box.2. Second one is about creating a floor lamp with the whole piece of the cardboard. Cut and refold it into a new lamp shade, use rest of slices to build the shape of pole.3.This one is more like a landscape model. Cut the card board into pieces and make them in different order and shapes.4. It is the extension of 3. The idea refers to the vision from High Speed Camera. 5. My fifth idea was based on the type of a cardboard sculpture. Having the shape by cutting and pull apart the material.

But somehow the five concepts on previous page didn't satisfy my curiosity. I decided to have my last try on project before deadline. So here's the plan - 20 fire crackers and a small cardboard box for the first experiment.6-40. The process of final experiment. Unfolding the cardboard (6). In order not to have the cardboard burnt, I had tape all over the box (7-13). To make sure the crackers would explode at once, I connected them with each other in one lead wire (14-16). Put a match to the lead wire, wait for the explosion. The garden was reverberated with the sounds of the firecrackers, for several seconds. Meanwhile, smoke was all around at once (17-24). The appearance of the box after the explosion (25-33). Cutting cardboard into pieces to preserve the only piece that was most damaged by the crackers (34-40).

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Dimension / Size: 500 x 700 mm x 5 (Print)

Brief:To create an image for Hong Village based on a trip there.

Material:Silk, Card board

Description:Flowing/Still, Balance, Full of vitality. As to the inverted reflection in water, etc.

Shadow2008

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The inspiration of "Shadow" was from the class trip in Hong Village. During the 3-days-trip, I found that "shadow and people" in Hong were the most impressive things for me. 1.The inverted images in Hong’s river seem to be the perfect balance between two opposite powers-reality and fiction. It’s stable but frail, and also easy to break. 2. Villagers in Hong are a little bit loud when selling goods but so kind as well. 3. Travelers are always busy taking pictures. I tried to combine the elements of noise, frail and vivid together to create the piece in an emotional way. Here came some sketches of my initial concept. This is making an installment to show the work of reflection in nature. But it turns out to be less to the point, in the brief. So instead I made the work in experimental video, to show my point of view.

Dimension / Size: 400 x 300 mm

Material:Galvanized wire, plastic pipes, etc.

Brief:Design a bridge crossing over the river of our campus.

Description:Spider web, Multiple Choices.

Choices2008

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Getting the brief, I was wondering whether to make it a simple, direct design or a fun one? While thinking about it, I happened to watch the movie "Trainspotting". Life is all about choices. Choices in life could be easy or hard, simple or complicated, and maybe not a matter of right or wrong. How interesting it would be if you pass a certain path with no idea what might occur to you while knowing exactly where you are heading to! So I tried to sketch the form of it and also done the job in materials of galvanized wire, plastic pipes, etc.

Dimension / Size: 1600 x 800 mm

Material:Preservative Film, Adhesive Paper, Thumb Pin, CD Disc, Stone, etc.

Brief:To design and make a piece of fashion costume under the theme of "Nature".

Description:The initial concept of "Bling" was from iceberg.

Bling 2008

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Visual Identity System Design (VIS)

Brief:To design the Visual Identity System for your virtuel corporation or

organization that you mostly want to establish.

Description:" 圈 " is a music restaurant for young people where plays LP with classical

design of 1930's. The pictures on Page 36-37 show the LOGO applied on

different designed products.

圈 (Juan)LP Music Restuarant2009

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Dimension / Size: 250 x 145 mm

Material:Water colour painting

Description:Salutes to Stanely Kubrick

2010 Space Odyssey2008

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The initial concept of this series of illustrations were based on "2001 Space Odyssey" by Stanely Kubrick. In that period of time, I was drawn to the movie and and had a long lasting impression. The reality in nature and the fantasy of future Kubrick had shown deeply touched my soul. There is a time frame referenced in each picture as a foundation.

Some Skectches of the series.

Dimension / Size: 1000 x 1000 mm

Material:Water-colour painting

Description:In 2009's summer, I spent a month living at my uncle's home in Hang Zhou.

There's the splendid view of the West Lake from windows of our living room.

I started experimenting wash painting with different objects like glue, plastic

board, branches, mud.

Growth2009

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Growth VOL.21000 x 1000 mm

1-3. From sketch to the final piece-"Anger". Hearing the horrible news about fake milk powder in China, I felt extremely frustrated and angry. I couldn't believe how could anyone do this, especially to babies. I wanted to express the feeling that somewhat I cannot trust the society and design to stand for my emotions of distrust, angry and frustrated.(3)

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There's an old saying in Chinese," 大海不让细流 ", as expressing what a man of great breadth of mind like ocean. Here are two images of the same theme I created with different materials.Left, 400 x 350 mmRight, 1000 x 655 mm

1. Human VOL.1 1000 x 730 mmThe inspiration of this painting was the death of beauty in Tunhuang Mogao Grottoes, in Sichuan Province, China. 2. Another Kiss - Human VOL.2 150 x 150 mmIt's initial concept was from "the Kiss" from Klimt.3. Human VOL.3 600 x 800 mm

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