Along with my photonarrative, I created an illustration in design class to supplement my other projects in the narrative unit. I enhanced my knowledge on Adobe Illustrator by learning how to use advanced techniques such as the gradient mesh and the clipping mask tool. I stayed away from the infamous "Live Trace" tool, and I drew everything by hand, including the clocks. You can view a large version of my illustration by clicking on the thumbnail below.

Artist Statement

My illustration "The Deconstruction of the Curious Paradigm" tells the story of two freelance hackers who love the thrill of snooping around and messing things up on the internet. They discover not only how to hack into the servers of the government and scientific laboratories, but they also discover how to tamper with the laws of time and physics as well. Although they are aware of the dangers and the implications they are causing, they decide to go for it anyways, and they thus have the power to bend and transform the world to their heart's content.

The various clocks floating in the background represent the world around them being torn apart, as the two characters precariously jump from one to another. The people are made of text, shown in the form of digital code in order to convey how their existence and identities are slowly becoming meaningless as they become the controllers of their world. The man in blue is made out of hacker security warning text, inspired by various security warnings found on the internet. The woman in green is a quote from the online story "Homestuck", discussing the consequences of time travel in a forensics incident. They are both running through a fractured world, realizing that they only have each other to rely on as they have ruined the rest of the world for themselves.

© 2012 Stephen Song. All Rights Reserved.