inkxplorations - an inky tribute

[namrehsnoom]

Inkxplorations – an inky tribute
“capturing university history with an ink drawing”

The drawing below was done with a combination of Sailor Manyo yamabuki, TAG Kyoto kyo-no-oto yurushiiro and Diamine Blood Orange. 

 

 
At KU Leuven university, we recently completed a multi-year project – Fiber 2.0 – where we upgraded the old fiber network, installed in the 1990’s in the cities of Leuven and Heverlee (Belgium). This involved replacing the old 20-fiber network with a next generation, using a 6-tube design with up to 144 fibers per tube. And at the same time we introduced extra redundancy for all connected sites. A substantial effort, requiring lots of preparation, coordination and field work. A leading figure in the project is Prof. emeritus Van de Capelle, who spent huge amounts of time in design-work, and financial follow-up. 

We just celebrated the end of the project with a thank-you dinner for the key players. For this occasion, I wanted to present Prof. Van de Capelle with a small physical token of our gratitude: an inkxperiment drawing capturing this moment in our university’s history.

For the background, I used Sailor Manyo yamabuki, applied to HP photo paper through a kitchen towel. I then used kyo-no-oto yurushiiro and Diamine Blood Orange for the ring structure, that represents our redundant fiber backbone. The bits flowing along the fiber spell the words “Fiber 2.0” in ASCII code. The fiber connects multiple campus sites, represented by the building clusters on the drawing. And of course, we have our little workers, putting the actual fibers into the ground. I also added some decoration in pigpen code, spelling out the one-liner motto’s of our IT department.

I had a lot of fun coming up with the concept and implementation of this drawing. Inks are definitely not limited to writing only, you can also use them creatively in contexts that are not immediately obvious – such as a personalized thank-you present for a job well done.

[LizEF]

3 hours ago, namrehsnoom said:

Prof. Van de Capelle

Is most fortunate!  What a fabulous drawing and gift.  Congrats on the completion of your project!

[knarflj]

What a thoughtful--and beautifully executed--gift!  Thanks for sharing with us.

[ArtfullyInked]

What an amazing and thoughtful piece!  The symbolism, the colors, the design…it’s obvious that much thought and work went into this.  Thanks for sharing it.