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120 DAYS THE CARNIVALESQUE ISLAND OF CRABS Emma Lau Si Ying NUS Masters of Architecture Thesis: Appendix
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Research Summary / 6 Preliminary Explorations / 8
Archaeology and the Objects of Place
Multiple Faces of Christmas Island
Crabs / 12
Phosphate / 22
Colonial History / 26
Ecology / 28
People and Rituals / 30
Design Iterations / 34
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RESEARCH SUMMARY
TUTOR’S NOTES
A/P DR LILIAN CHEE, Thesis Supervisor
Emma’s interest in Christmas Island, a place she had not visited, results in 120 days, a thesis which explores the limits of architecture with remote sites and subjects. The distinctive spectacle of the island’s red crab is leveraged in a temporal and shape-shifting architecture – festivaland time-based – centred around the crabs’ mating and migratory schedules. The challenges of reading a site from afar, coupled with the balancing of fact, fiction and speculation, are intriguingly demonstrated in the weaving of the biological crab narrative with two island-specific mythical rituals. It advances significant ideas about remote research, while obliquely critiquing architecture’s relationship with its non-human others. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Many thanks to A/P Dr Lilian Chee, student mentors Wong Zi Hao and Ian Mun for their patient guidance; guest reviewers Erieta Attali, Stephen Cairns, Erik L’Heureux, Jiminez Lai, Constance Lau, CJ Lim, Victoria Marshall, Ong Ker-Shing, Peter Sim, and Tiah NanChyuan for their invaluable insights.
RESEARCH SUMMARY
RESEARCH SUMMARY The project begins with the topic of the archaeology and a fascination with both natural and man-made found objects and what they could tell you about the places they were found in. This led to an investigation into artists’ work that explored such topics, ranging from Susan Hiller and Mark Dion to local artists such as Robert Zhao and Debby Ding. Chancing upon Christmas Island on multiple occasions while conducting these investigations, I was intrigued by the island: the key points of interests were the famous red crab migration and the popular Singaporean lore that Christmas Island once belonged to Singapore and was sold to Australia. Christmas Island then became the key site of my own research. Christmas Island was studied from multiple perspectives throughout my body of research. Conducting research remotely and having never been to the island meant that my knowledge was learnt from a wide range of sources, from geologists and biologists to tourists and local islanders.
The second section of research covers the multiple facets of the island, ranging from the mainstay phosphate economy and the famous crab migration to the colonial history, ecology and the local rituals, practices and myths of the islanders. While the research attempted to draw parallels and oppositions between these different faces of Christmas Island, for example, by studying territorialisation through the methods that the crab, the phosphate mining industry and political detention exert power, the crab drew the richest findings and drawings due to its unusual scale, its co-existence with land, sea and built spaces that characterise Christmas Island, and the spatial and rhythmic effects of its iconic breeding migration. The remaining portion of the research attempts to design for the crab and the island in different situations and conditions that utilise the affect of the crab migration in a way that meaningfully engages with on-site situations. This research indicates that to design for a crab is to design for water and earth in the way they gather and move, but also to design for the weather, the ground (-plane) and the visual spectacle.
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PRELIMINARY EXPLORATIONS
My research positions archaeological objects as found/excavated objects or material that act as sitefor the production of meaning, either by a figure of authority (professional or institution) or by each individual that confronts these objects, through the construction, maintenance and reproduction of identities. The archaeological object’s value is found in its ability to materialise otherwise immaterial concepts that carry significance to us as humans – specifically the identity of self and of place in time. The (materiality of the?) object does not inherently tie itself to any specific location (esp. mass produced items that are present in all areas of the world). It is the location it was found in that gives it the ability to be the material of construction of identity. What the object represents is the void that was left behind when the object was removed. (or what gives the object its ability to represent is that it was at that place for a period of time). How can an object represent a place and/or an identity?
“Dissection of associations in .019 Sophia/wisdom, From the Freud Museum (1991-96), Hiller” Author’s own. Image: COLLECTION OF THE COAST EXPLORATION SOCIETY, 1978-1988, The Nature Museum (2017) Caption: Retrieved from https://www.tate.org.uk/research/publications/in-focus/from-the-freud-museum-susan-hiller/from-the-freud-museum/fifty-box-labels
Remote Practices - Emma Lau - 20200818 Archive: (Some) Archaelogical Excavation Sites in Singapore
Dissecting Susan Hiller’s From the Freud Museum (1991-96)
PRELIMINARY EXPLORATIONS
“Dissection of associations .001 Nama-ma/mother, From the Freud Museum (1991-96), Hiller” Author’s own.
“Dissection of associations in .012 Fatlad/fat lad, From the Freud Museum (1991-96), Hiller” Author’s own.
Image: COLLECTION OF THE COAST EXPLORATION SOCIETY, 1978-1988, The Nature Museum (2017) Caption: Retrieved from https://www.tate.org.uk/research/publications/in-focus/from-the-freud-museum-susan-hiller/from-the-freud-museum/fifty-box-labels
Image: COLLECTION OF THE COAST EXPLORATION SOCIETY, 1978-1988, The Nature Museum (2017) Caption: Retrieved from https://www.tate.org.uk/research/publications/in-focus/from-the-freud-museum-susan-hiller/from-the-freud-museum/fifty-box-labels
Remote Practices - Emma Lau - 20200818
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Remote Practices - Emma Lau - 20200818
Archaeology of Place
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PRELIMINARY EXPLORATIONS
“Associations in Susan Hiller’s head for the work of From the Freud Museum (1991-96)”
own. of From the Freud Museum (1991-96)” “Associations in Susan Hiller’s head forAuthor’s the work Author’s own. Selected boxes .001 Nama-ma/mother .012 Fatlad/fat lad
Remote Practices - Emma Lau - 20200818 Archive: Observations of a construction site (2020)
.019 Sophia/wisdom Selected boxes .027 Relequia/relic .028 Interior/in teer’ i or .001 .039 Nama-ma/mother Deora de/God’s tears .012 Fatlad/fat lad .019 Sophia/wisdom .027 Relequia/relic .028 Interior/in teer’ i or .039 Deora de/God’s tears
PRELIMINARY EXPLORATIONS
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Fragements composed. Author’s own. (Fragments, clockwise from top left) Gutta Percha and heritage Nyatoh Puteh in SG Botanic Gardens. Collected specimens of Pear-shaped Cowrie and Lamarck’s Cowrie, and accompanying labels. Image of satellite dishes on Christmas Island (2018) Bathmetry map of Christmas Island Province seamounts Sketch of the section of Christmas island Sketch of sea anemones, from “A history of the British sea-anemones and corals” by Philip Henry Gosse (1858) Cable and Wireless “Via Imperial” map. undated, but post-1935 Damaged 1866 cable, removed 1867.
Archaeology of Place
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MULTIPLE FACES OF CHRISTMAS ISLAND: CRABS
Crab Positions Crab Dimensions (opposite) Crab Migration Patterns
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Terrain of Surfaces
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MULTIPLE FACES OF CHRISTMAS ISLAND: CRABS
MULTIPLE FACES OF CHRISTMAS ISLAND: CRABS
An attempt to capture the crab’s perspective and occupation of space
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MULTIPLE FACES OF CHRISTMAS ISLAND: CRABS
0. Pre-Wet Season
1. First Rain of the Wet Season
2. Downwards Migration of male crabs
6. Dipping of crabs, Burrowing of crabs and Female Migration
5. Dipping of crabs, Burrowing of crabs and Female Migration
9. Female Fertilisation in Burrows and Return Male Migration
Mapping the distribution of crab bodies across the migration and breeding cycle.
MULTIPLE FACES OF CHRISTMAS ISLAND: CRABS
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3. Downwards Migration of male and female crabs
4. Dipping of crabs and continued migration
5. Dipping of crabs, Burrowing of crabs and Male Migration
9. Pre-Spawn (approx. 18 hours before)
10. Spawning (approx. 3-5am) (last quarter of the moon)
11. Female Return Migration, New migration cycle begins (2nd week)
Mapping the distribution of crab bodies across the migration and breeding cycle.
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MULTIPLE FACES OF CHRISTMAS ISLAND
MULTIPLE FACES OF CHRISTMAS ISLAND
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Phosphate Mining Economy
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MULTIPLE FACES OF CHRISTMAS ISLAND: PHOSPHATE
History of Phosphate Mining
MULTIPLE FACES OF CHRISTMAS ISLAND: PHOSPHATE
Textures of Phosphate Mining
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The Rehabilitation Process of an Ex-minefield
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MULTIPLE FACES OF CHRISTMAS ISLAND: COLONIAL HISTORY
A re-imagining of pages from a colonial explorer’s book, an exercise to capture Christmas Island remotely. The text comprise of excerpts found across multiple mediums (websites, journals, books,etc.), stitched together to form a coherent narrative.
MULTIPLE FACES OF CHRISTMAS ISLAND: COLONIAL HISTORY
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A re-imagining of pages from a colonial explorer’s book, an exercise to capture Christmas Island remotely. The text comprise of excerpts found across multiple mediums (websites, journals, books,etc.), stitched together to form a coherent narrative.
History of Colonial Exploration
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MULTIPLE FACES OF CHRISTMAS ISLAND: ECOLOGY
MULTIPLE FACES OF CHRISTMAS ISLAND: ECOLOGY
Understanding the ecology of Christmas island (From left to right) Distribution of the Yellow Crazy Ants and sea and air routes that cross Christmas Island. The invasive species is suspected to have been brought in by ship. It has caused a rapid decline of the crab population. Identifying stakeholders and their stake on the island. Mapping out the spatial relationships between the endangered endemic species, Abbott’s Booby, the mined forest and the legislation that mediates the two.
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MULTIPLE FACES OF CHRISTMAS ISLAND: PEOPLE AND RITUALS
(left) Mazu Procession (right) Tai Pak Gong Ancestral Worship
MULTIPLE FACES OF CHRISTMAS ISLAND: PEOPLE AND RITUALS
Sinking Tombs
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The Process of Sinking Tombs and Ancestral Worship
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DESIGN ITERATIONS
DESIGN ITERATIONS
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Designing for the spectacle of migrating crabs (this page) Iteration 1
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DESIGN ITERATIONS
DESIGN ITERATIONS
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Designing for the occupation of the crab Iteration 1
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DESIGN ITERATIONS
Iteration 2: Section
DESIGN ITERATIONS
Iteration 2: Plan
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Iteration 3
Crab Micro-Climates
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DESIGN ITERATIONS
Study of Erosion on Cemetery Site
DESIGN ITERATIONS
Study of Erosion on Cemetery Site
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DESIGN ITERATIONS
Iteration 1
DESIGN ITERATIONS
Iteration 1
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DESIGN ITERATIONS
Model for Iteration 1
DESIGN ITERATIONS
Exploratory Model of Congregrating crabs on a cliff
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DESIGN ITERATIONS
The body of a crab
DESIGN ITERATIONS
The body of a crab
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