Opposite Upcycle Aesthetic: Gothic Aesthetic

Upcycling Project Aesthetic and Its Opposite Aesthetic

My upcycling project will have a floral aesthetic, in which I will carve out a melon into a floral pattern. Although there is no clear opposite of the floral aesthetic, I believe that gothic does a good job of contrasting the floral aesthetic.

The floral aesthetic is composed of mainly round, bright, colorful shapes which are meant to bring to mind thoughts of life and joy. In comparison, the gothic aesthetic has lots of jagged shapes with dull colors and heavy shading. The gothic aesthetic is supposed cause the viewer to feel pensive, and generally makes the viewer consider the concept of life and death, as opposed to celebrate the life within the world.

Creating the Opposite of My Upcycling Project

I believe that a melon would be too cheerful and floral for a gothic aesthetic, and so it would clash with any design I were to carve into it. Therefore, I believe that using a pumpkin would work much better, similar to what is done to celebrate Halloween. A melon has the brightest color inside, where the viewer’s attention will be, whereas a pumpkin’s brightest color is outside. By carving into a pumpkin, we are destroying the beautiful colorful exterior to expose the yellowish flesh, which I believe fits the gothic aesthetic much better than carving into a cantaloupe to expose the beautiful color inside.

In terms of design, I would carve a design similar to that of gothic architecture, with sharp jagged spires and quatrefoils. There would be a lot of straight lines, as opposed to the curves that will be present in the floral design I will actually create, Additionally, I would hollow out the pumpkin and insert a candle into the middle, in order to create the shading that is characteristic of the gothic style.

Sources:

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Remixing_Floral_Pants_from_H%26M_(16973987741).jpg

https://www.worldhistory.org/article/1649/gothic-cathedrals-architecture–divine-light/

https://www.pickpik.com/halloween-decorations-autumn-skull-horror-spooky-85981