Project1-Interesting map

Firstly about the map I thought of its various elements such as shapes, scale, etc. Secondly about myself, I thought of many aspects like interests, studies, pets, real travel. I wrote down all the aspects that came to mind and then tried to link them together.

Next I tried to express my various ideas.Here are some sketches of ideas.

In the first picture , I thought of viruses and the human body. Each cell has a central system that controls that cell. Just like a human being is controlled by the brain. The person is moving around in various places forming a web of activity like a complex nervous system and blood vessels.
The second picture is a circuit diagram. It is a similar idea, with complex electronic components resembling a miniature city. The different parts of the mainboard, the circuit board, etc. have different functions, just as the different things I have learned can form my body of knowledge.

The third picture is a night view of the city as seen from the plane. As I used to study in different places, I often had to fly back and forth. Since I always took evening flights almost all I saw on the plane was the night view. So I wanted to link the night scenes of Dalian, Datong and Beijing, three places that have special meaning to me, to commemorate my past study life.
The forth picture. It occurred to me that each side of the hexagon could represent an aspect of life: family, friends, pets, studies, health, dreams. These are all things that are important to me. The countless hexagons combined together make a beehive. It symbolises that everyone who has many things dear to their hearts meets each other to form a world of love.

Then I thought of my favourite animal – the cat. I have met many cats in my life. Many of them were stray cats, homeless but very close to me. I have picked up white cats twice and they were lying on my doorstep. We lived on the fourth floor of our flat at the time and I can’t even imagine how they managed to climb up there. Since then I have felt a connection with cats. So I wanted to use this map to remember the cats I’ve met.

In the end I decided to combine the flight map, the night view and my real travel experiences for the first version.

I experimented with collage to try to show the style I wanted. But the end result is not a bright style but more like a painting.

First I made abstract shapes of the city outlines of three cities that have special meaning to me: Dalian Beijing and Datong. Combining them together to represent the universe of my life. Then the places I have visited in these three cities are represented as hexagons. Also the hexagons can be seen as planets, which are scattered throughout my universe. The hexagons are coloured and each colour can represent something different and important in life that I mentioned before. The hexagons come in different sizes and they can both represent the spatiality of the universe and the importance of the different things represented in my life. The orbits represent the fact that I often travel to these places by plane. And the star studded houses and lights represent the city at night. A record of the life I once lived. The blue canvas in the background symbolises that my life is like a beautiful painting being painted on bit by bit.