Case Study: Thousands of Eyes in the Dark
I want to share a new study with you all, link at the bottom. I will be sharing projects at Substack first, as this is now my primary mode of communication. Since we are talking about exploration, I felt like this would be a good one to show.
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Every project starts differently with its own set of challenges. In the music realm, sometimes musicians have no idea what they want, some have a concept or a vibe, and others know exactly what they want. This project started with a “use it if you want” photo suggestion and the title “Thousands of Eyes in the Dark” by Sam Valenti IV. I didn't ask any questions about the photo or title, so to this day, I have no idea what the photo is or where it came from.
Source reference, found photo
I did a lot of reflecting about the title and how it related to the photo and began to see them as inseparable. What do they mean? I think the obvious conclusion would be to say - you are always being watched, you are never truly alone. The photo has a deeper theme of isolation. Someone who took a ladder from their world to another to escape. As an extreme introvert, I understood this sentiment well.
From the start, I had many preliminary ideas, but the one that I kept coming back to was a journey from one point to another. I explored the idea of mapping that journey, almost like an Eames “Power of Ten.” We start with the silhouetted person's body and end with the vast celestial bodies. I felt like this captured the title well, being alone in the universe.
A B E C D F
A grid is used to denote space. The cover starts with a grid that zooms out on the back cover to show the relation of the photo to the location of the photo on the planet. The inside front panel shows the solar system, and the back progresses to the universe. The labels pick up and show a tight grid and the b side is so finite that the grid disappears as if you zoomed into a molecule, starting the cycle once again.
https://cinaassociates.com/Thousands-of-Eyes-in-Dark
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Links: Cina Associates, Cina Art, Public Type