This week, I worked on Serra’s research material to study, and this is where the project became much more conceptually deep. The research transformed it from just an emotional aesthetic piece into a coherent investigation of objects and memory. Here’s what I was given and what I took from each piece:
THING THEORY
The key idea is that an object becomes a “thing” when it stops being invisible, we notice its materiality, and it confronts us physically.
What this means for my project: the teddy stopped being just symbolic nostalgia and became physical matter with history. So now I’m focusing on:
- Macro texture shots
- Visible seams
- Repairs
- Worn fabric
- Compression
- Physical presence
The camera is now focusing on fabric, stitching, weight, and tactile surfaces. The teddy needs to have real material presence, not just look like a cute prop.
MEMORY OF OBJECTS
The key idea here is that objects act as emotional archives, identity anchors, and biographical carriers.
What this means for my project: the teddy became an archive of accumulated affection. Its stains, repairs, imperfections, and seams became an emotional biography rather than just random details.
The shelf scene also changed. Originally, it was almost sad, but after this research, it became a suspended emotional space—like a personal museum, frozen time, a paused life. Much more interesting way to think about it.
HIDDEN MEMORY
The key idea is that objects retain traces, emotional residue, trapped light, and hidden presence. The “slow glass” metaphor became very important.
What this means for my project: I’m adding subtle internal glow, luminous seams, hidden warmth, and embedded light. But importantly, I’m avoiding making it horror or supernatural. Instead, the memory becomes warmth stored inside matter, which feels much more honest and grounded.
WHAT I WANT TO DO NOW
The project has evolved fully into painterly mixed-media, tactile abstraction, emotional materiality, atmospheric interiors, and stylised cinematic illustration. It’s about memory spaces now, NOT photorealism, narrative realism, or literal flashbacks.
This research gave me a theoretical foundation that I didn’t have before. Now every visual decision has a reason, not just “it looks nice.” I’m still waiting for Serra to send me those books so I can dig deeper, but this material has has has already changed how I’m approaching the whole project.
For evidence, I should include screenshots showing the shift from early clean renders to current textured shots with visible seams and material detail, plus any test renders showing the internal glow effect.