Hmmm... a very mixed bag this week.. the possibility of some much needed direction, but possibly at the expense of relevance..
As I saw it, the main problem with my project thus far has been the lack of a fundamental design question or driving force... I know what it is that I am looking at, and it interests me, but I feel that in order for the designs to develop past a basic exploratory conceptual daliance into something that can be interrogated, calibrated and valued, a more tangible direction or aim is needed.
Phil's suggestion from [last week] to look at crashing a fighter jet into the site was made in an attempt to prompt me into looking at the juxtaposition of different-paced technologies onto the site, and investigate how they might straddle the landscape in altering manners. At this stage I was considering the cockpit as a mapping or controlling device and the boat as more of a single molten material, similar to the air surrounding a living aeroplane.
What I was not considering was the space between 2 technologies; variable reactions to time and scale based on different calibrations to speeds and materials...
'Dances of Death'
Having yawned and ruffled his hair for a few minutes, Neil interjected with some sympathy for my need to understand what it was I am seeking to investigate at more basic umbrella level... His suggestion was to loosen up my theory or need to 'justify' my thread by taking a more sculptural approach, referencing Jean Tinguely's series of sculptures entitled 'Dances of Death', comprised of burnt out wreckages from a house immediately adjacent to the sculptor's studio.
Sounded good to begin with, but after doing a half day of research, mindlessly downloading pictures of crashed or decaying aircraft and Jean Tinguely scultptures, the questions returned once more; if I am to assemble a series of sculptures then I still have to come up with some kind of rationale for their assembly; thinking of them as sculptures or designs makes little difference to my immediate situaion - by looking at death I may have been steered in the direction of a framework with which to create a thesis or narrative, but it is still a blanket concept.. the search continued for a methodology which which to name, construct, and set in motion the elements of a design at a more detailed scale..
1 comment:
Yes, I know the feeling all too well right now of "What is the thing driving the project? What am I investigating?"--and i'm struggling a lot with it as are you.
What i realize more and more, is that you have to put yourself into it, what sorts of things are you interested in? that is too braod a topic, just as is "what are your ideas about space?"--to me that question is completely irrelevent, because it depends entirely on the conditions and situations of the space. But then it came to me..i'm much more interested in situations, specifically interesting and strange situations.
--waht sort of narrrative are you thinking about? what kinds of narratives interest you? is it a mystery, or greek mythology? a journey narrative, or perhaps a conflict of opposing forces?
what is the plot line for the narrative? do you borrow it and super-impose onto what you are doing, or are you constructing your own myths about the strange site conditions, a freak plane crash into a swamp? i don't have any of these answers, but it might be helpful to think about what type of narrative or what situation you want to have going on in your site..
hope that this comment doesn't stick you into more confusion. cheers
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