Remix Culture: Selection and Refinement

Remix Culture: Fini

I finally got my computer back! Yes! So now I had to select (which I already did) and refine (partially did that too) one of the mesh mashup pieces that I've presented on week 2. 

And the one I chose was my Tzaravak piece.

I actually went and re-fixed some areas that I didn't like, like the fact that the wings were in a super wonky position in my original screenshot, and the positioning of the body managed to confuse the hell out of some of my fellow students.

 I've attached a top view of the mesh in case people are still confused about it's anatomical structure, since that was the overriding concern my group had for this mesh in group reviews. Again, that is to be expected, because the mesh is supposed to look queer.

Actually, originally my group decided to vouch for my Cubone     T-rex mesh, but I really didn't like the balance of that piece and I didn't feel like I could make many adjustments to it so I decided to go with this mesh instead.

But What is Tzaravak anyways?

Tzaravak is the name I gave to the main antagonist in the story I'm writing, It's my favourite character (and I actually pay homage to it in a large portion of my major art pieces) because of the philosophy revolving around the concept and name of the character. Tzaravak is derived from the latin word "tzaravash", which roughly translates to "evil" in english. Hence the creature refers to itself as the "God of Evil" throughout the story. 

Original renditions of Tzaravak that I've made

This name is actually dramatically ironic, (and here's the spoilers to my nonexistent book) since there really can't be a definitive method to measuring what "evil" is throughout the story. The entire lore confronts the concept of what true justice is, and how there really isn't a correct side when it comes to conflict. What's more ironic is when your so called heroes finally do kill Tzaravak, the action of the killing ends up triggering the destruction of the universe. 

(spoilers for my nonexistent book end here)

So I actually originally designed Tzaravak with the "remix" concept in mind, except instead of mixing other people's artwork, I was remixing creature parts. Because I wanted the creepy/unknown effect (people fear the unknown and as such view it as a threat to themselves) I mixed a Ram skull onto a dragon body, with a centipede's body from the waist down, and mantid-like forearms. I figured the centipede body would have given a creepy feeling while the dragon and mantis parts would make it look menacing. The ram skull is predominantly a symbol of death, so that is what I chose for the head. That was the concept I came up with four                         years ago.

Therefore, I thought it would be greatly interesting if I ran it for my mesh mashup project because I still remember me mixing and remixing ideas and concepts around to create the character when I first began the piece, because back then I had inadvertently dipped into remix culture already.