I think my aesthetic is best described by a mix of surf / skate / outdoor aesthetics. Surf aesthetic fashion is best marked by comfortable clothing, shaggy hair, graphic T-shirts, shorts, sunglasses, and flip flops or barefoot. Surf music has a light, summery feel with subgenres of rock and features artists including The Growlers, The Beach Boys, and Summer Salt. The skate aesthetic features fashion with montons/muted colors, baggy clothing, denim pants, Vans, or similar skate shoes, and graphic/band T-shirts. Music is marked by artists such as MF Doom, Tyler the Creator, Earl Sweatshirt, and various punk/grunge artists. The skateboard was first created in 1940 but the sport rose to popularity in the 1950s, so much of the skate aesthetic draws from punk/grunge aesthetics of that time. The outdoor aesthetic is marked by puffy jackets, warm wear, flannel, muted colors, and denim. Activities include hiking and camping, and prevalent movies circle the adventure genre, such as Into The Wild and The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.

[1] Surfer Aesthetic – Mitch King, Urban Outfitters

[2] Skate Aesthetic – Domno Vintage

[3] Outdoor Aesthetic – Azimuth Circle

I think that my personal aesthetic draws from these influences for varying reasons, much of which results from location. I was raised in San Diego, where I was a frequent surfer and spent much of my free time by the beach. Most of my friends there skated, and much of my fashion came from emulating them. Once I moved to Colorado, I found myself leaning into the outdoor aesthetic that is prevalent here due to cold weather and the dominant fashion sense. My aesthetic is not something I consider often, but I think this is the most accurate representation of the styles I draw my own from.

My main project will most likely not draw much from my personal aesthetic, and I think I want to create something in a kind of futuristic/technological aesthetic. I want to create a wall piece, something I can put up and interact with like a working piece of art. I plan to 3D print my project to take advantage of my resources here before I graduate, and I want to do something with gears that can be turned with one crank to do various things. I want these gears to overlap and look complex, and either reveal interesting features when turned or make other things move for a cool effect. I’m hoping to make it modular so that things can be moved around and rearranged for different effects but that may extend past my desired complexity.

[4] 3D Printed Gears – Jakk, Additive X

One of the features I want to involve is a kind of aperture opening, something that I have experimented with in the past but have not yet perfected. I think it could be a good feature to reveal something underneath when the gears are turned. Maybe I could feature some things that match my personal aesthetic that are uncovered when gears are moved but I am unsure at this point.

[5] Aperture Model – Turbosquid

https://aesthetics.fandom.com/wiki/Skater