I chose to recreate a small piece of the Baths of Neptune mosaic from the ancient Roman city of Ostia Antica. To achieve this, I cut out pieces of black construction paper and glued it to a larger sheet of white paper that I drew an outline of the design on. The purpose of this work is to not only display a fish, but to inform the audience of the important and relevance of the sea in the lives of the ancient Romans living in Ostia Antica. The town was a port city, and had a high traffic of merchants, travelers, and naval ships. This brought prosperity to the town, as shown by the mosaics that were created. The themes surrounding this artistic piece are water and simplicity. The water is not directly shown, but is implied in the background of the tessellation, and relates to the previous mentioned significance of the ocean. The simplicity of the art is another strong theme, as it demonstrates how things do not have to be complicated or exceedingly sophisticated to be enjoyed.

Connection to the Van Gogh Immersive Experience Mosaic:

The mosaics from the Van Gogh Experience had one massive distinction from my mosaic; they were entirely digital and projected. The point of the Van Gogh Experience was to allow the audience to see and learn about Van Gogh’s artwork in a different way, a digital setting. It was projected all over the walls, ceiling, and floors, and brought a newer and deeper meaning to his masterpieces.

Extra Audio Clip; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1RPi2MYptM

These sounds and songs add to the experience of my piece by putting the audience’s mind at rest while listening to sounds that relate to water. As I have stated, that’s pretty much what this entire mosaic is about. Giving the audience a way to really understand the piece using more than one sense adds to the overall quality and enduring of the process. It allows for the mind to wander and think about what else could be in mosaic, what could be added, and initiate new ideas and thoughts they may not have come without having that extra outside force (the music) acting upon you.

Questions

I had to improvise when troubles arose surrounding how I was actually going to create my mosaic, did anyone else have a similar experience?

What caused you to use the materials that you did?

Would you ever do something like this again given the chance?