SACES 2015 Workshop desolation dɛsəˈleɪʃ(ə)n/ 1. a state of complete emptiness or destruction. 2. great unhappiness or loneliness. ___ In a world where desolation is common but unseen, felt but ignored, mentioned but undefined, we struggle to end it. It can be found anywhere by anyone, sometimes intentionally and other times accidentally. Some say it is heaven, others say it is hell. We strive to fill the void, fix the broken, reach potentials, but the desolate remains desolate. We fail to understand what it is and hence, we fail to kill it. This year the aim is to explore desolation and its different facets through nine different workshops using various media and methods.
Our aim of the workshop’s theme was to produce a space (either physical or metaphorical) that represents a desolation order. Through which an empty space is filled with a possibility of sensory elements evoking reactions to and from emptiness and loneliness. We aimed to produce our design through a collaborative manner between tutors and participates and vice-versa, hoping for an end produce belonging to everyone participating.
Developed by Joseph Caruana Matthew Gatt Luke Sciberras Tutored by Alexandra Manche Stephanie Spiteri Maria Bilocca Mattea Ciantar Susannah Farrugia Genise Mifsud Thomas Mifsud Stephanie Mamo Dimitar Peykov Gerald Salerno Nicholas Said Lisa Spiteri Daniela Spiteri Binett Ralitsa Timeva Roberta Xuereb Thanks to SACES 2014/15
Twenty-four Bare Concrete Cubes
The way studying makes it hard for students to attain freedom is symbolized by the solid and permanent bond created between the concrete and school book in this cube.
“Perhaps this is what the stories meant when they called somebody heartsick. Your heart and your stomach and your whole insides felt empty and hollow and aching.” Gabriel García Márquez
“Man alone measures time. Man alone chimes the hour. And, because of this, man alone suffers a paralyzing fear that no other creature endures. A fear of time running out.� from The Timekeeper by Mitch Albom
“Ġieli xrobtlu tant li l-lejl toqtlu, igibek toqgħod taħseb f’ħajtek illi mgħandek xejn f’postu, dak inħossu kuljum le anzi d-doppju” from Din L-Art Ħelwa by Marmalja
Materialism embodied within a block of concrete. Material things don’t lead to true happiness and yet we still glorify them.
Beginning, middle and end, but not necessarily in that order.
Process