celia draws & designs

The following is a list of things that I believed to be true when I was 5:

1. Reincarnation

2. Non-linear time

- Yes, this was before I knew what theoretical physics was. No, I don’t know where I got the idea. In my 5-year-old mind “time” was more akin to a different plane of existence, and all of human history had all “happened” in a way, and all had been happening simultaneously.

3. All fictions are alternate universes where the characters are real

- This of course does not preclude the possibility that we were characters in a book from another dimension!

All of the above resulted in me concluding that it’s possible for me to have been a space-faring robot-driving badass warrior from the future in a past life. It’s also equally possible for me to reincarnate in my next life as Cleopatra. And the beautiful thing is, it’s possible for everyone to be Cleopatra at least once because in this world time loops.

Why have I decided to share this? I think because I’ve started to realize that, the more we age, the more we actually stay the same. I was an old old soul at 5, pondering about reincarnation, universes and life-after-death in between colouring books and paper dolls. More than 20 years later things haven’t changed much, I ponder about the same things, I still play with coloured markers and papercrafts. A funny thing, life is, eh?

I watched Inception today. My thoughts:

1. Whoa.

2. Huh??

Seriously though – what a ride. From start to finish my eyes were glued to the screen and I think I didn’t exhale fully until half way through the end credit. Even though all the little twists and turns of plot are becoming somewhat of a Christopher Nolan signature, and together they tumble through the not-so-tangled web towards a not-entirely-unexpected outcome, they were executed with such artistry that I was thoroughly enthralled.

One minor thing I found a little strange/weak: (SPOILER ALERT!!!) the most important reveals – Cobb’s motivation, and the entire reason behind why he does what he does – were mostly done with exposition. It just felt a little unnatural for a character to suddenly break out into long narratives about their own life like that, in front of a girl he barely knew.

Although, now that I’ve thought about it more, that could also have been a deliberate choice because if Cobb’s words are the only information given to us, they may very well be skewed. Classic example of unreliable narrator. Considering how intricate the plot is, and how almost every character is given a name that has some symbolic meaning, I’m starting to lean toward this theory more and more. It has to be deliberate…right? If so…what does that mean?? Now I really don’t know what to think and will probably watch it again to see if I missed anything. But, in the end of the day, it *is* an amazing film and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it – so hats off to you, Mr. Nolan. You make great movies.

–another Project Space Squid update. This time with more pictures!

The core concept is that the users will embark on a journey through nightmares, hellish visions, and disturbing memories of the main character in the story. Each interactive interface has secrets to be unlocked in order to reach the ultimate “reward” — although, in true Lovecraftian fashion, the “reward” probably won’t be what you’d expect.

Random thought: this project will eventually be launched in a mobile/tablet market place, which is arguably the newest digital media type. And I’ve designed these scenes according to the way users interact with them, so they are really digital interfaces through which users can experience this narrative that we built. Isn’t it ironic, then, that I barely used any digital tools at all to create these images? The majority of the images are hand-drawn, with “special effects” such as fire and liquid added in digitally. So, in short, I created drawings on paper, which I digitized with a scanner, and then reassembled them in a form that will later be published on what is touted to be the digital replacement of paper…hmmm….. there’s something very interesting going on here. The replacement of paper? Not really, more like an extension…that doesn’t really fully eliminate the old, but changes its purpose just a little bit.

Maybe I’m reaching for some deeper meaning here, I just found this to be a fun little mental exercise. Who says new tech would always replace old anyway? I never cease to be fascinated by how many “old” media forms not only survive, but are indeed rejuvenated by the invention of new technology because they can now be used in more different and creative ways. I wonder what’s to come next, when the iPad is considered old school?