MANUAL for proper conduction of FIELDWORK

M A N U A L FOR PROPER CONDUCTION OF

F I E L D W O R K N E W YO R K - G R A N D C A N YO N

Mathias Skafte Andersen Studio Constructing an Archive F15

Mathias Skafte Andersen stud.cand.arch maa Studio Constructing an Archive F15 The Aarhus School of Architecture +4540946648 matskafte@gmail.com w w w. m a t s k a f t e . t u m b l r. c o m w w w. m a t s k a f t e . c o m

M A N U A L FOR PROPER CONDUCTION OF

F I E L D W O R K N E W YO R K - G R A N D C A N YO N

PAGE SIX

”(...) notational diagrams are not ”decoded” according to linguistic conventions, but rather their internal relationships are transposed: moved part by part into the new organizational context. Each notational system articulates a specific interpretive community, a loosely bounded collective domain. The abstraction of notation is instrumental and not an end in itself.”

Stan Allen ”Practice – Architecture, Technique and Representation” Routledge, London, 2003.

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INTRODUCTION ON PAGE TEN PROJECT DESCRIPTION ON PAGE TWELVE INVENTORY ON PAGE TWENTY-SIX METHOD OF APPROACH ON PAGE THIRTY WORKSHEETS ON PAGE FIFTY-TWO NOTES ON PAGE FIFTY-EIGHT

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This manual is made with the purpose of ensuring a proper conduction of fieldwork during visits to New York City (NY) and The Grand Canyon (AZ) in October of 2015. The aim of the fieldwork is to collect a series of 8 second films focusing on urban and rural symbolism.

The manual contains a project description, a list of inventory, a walkthrough of the method of approach during the fieldwork and a worksheet for notations.

The outcome of the fieldwork is to be used to develop an architectural project. Please save this book.

Happy hunting.

msa.

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”Behind the yard, shut off by a fence and gate, secluded, lying in front of the garden enclosed by a high wall, the house comes together within its walls (...) It is inside that the space of language takes on form” Michel Serres, ”Visit to a House” Daidalos, September Issue 1991

The project to be dealt with in this manual has its point of departure in an interest in the feeling of ownership in architecture. The project has examined different ways of claiming ownership in the city and in the landscape and bewteen different cultures and kinds of people.

What is it that makes one man manifest his ownership over a piece of land by erecting a monumental skyscraper while others simply inhabit pieces of land by naming them or including them in their culturural narratives. The project intents to superimpose the two opposites - represented by the Native American society and the architecture of New York City - in order to examine new ways of urban inhabitation and cultural narration.

PAGE THIRTEEN

“If we were the first to land on the moon (…) we would hoist not out banner and claim it for ourselves, but claim it for all the world as a new achievement of earthmen” US Representative Victor Anfuso, 1959 Ten years later when the United States did land on the moon, Neil Armstrong claimed it for the world; then he planted an American flag to prove it.

PAGE FOURTEEN

”It is language that tells us about the nature of a thing, provided that we respect language’s own nature. in the meantime, to be sure, there rages round the earth an unbridled yet clever talking, writing and broadcasting of spoken words. Man acts as though he were the shaper and master of language, while in fact language remains the master of man” Martin Heidegger, ”Poetry, Language, Thought” Harper & Row, New York, 1971

PAGE FIFTEEN

“Only one more does the Dutch instinct for order assert itself: when the settlers carve, out of the bedrock, a canal that runs to the center of the city. On either side is a collection of traditional dutch houses with gabled roofs that maintains the illusion that the transplantation of Amsterdam into the New World has been a success.”

Rem Koolhaas, ”Delirious New York” The Monacelli Press, New York, 1994

PAGE SIXTEEN

”A feather that inclined 30º - 40º indicated a Scalper and the wearer had taken one or more scalps. Feathers set low in the head indicated Leaders in battle. The headdress feathers worn

by Native American Indians all had specific meanings. A feather could have a piece of horsehair attached, a feather could be painted red or have a red spot, a feather could be split into two, cut at the top or have a serrated edge. Each type of feather had a different meaning and would convey the history and deeds of the wearer.” www.Legends of America.com PAGE SEVENTEEN

TOT E M POLES PAGE EIGHTEEN

The Totem Pole is a way in which the Native Americans pass along stories. Stacked on top of eachother, symbols and figures represent characters, places, actions and feelings and alltogether conduct cultural narratives. They are not religious, however the stories told through the Totem Poles are often encouraging certain kinds of behaviors or rituals; for example how to treat nature, animals and the people around you. It is a way of inhabiting space with narratives.

If you are not familiar with the narrative of a certain Totem Pole and do not know the symbols it contains, it will be near to impossible to read the story without a storyteller guiding you through. If you only know the symbols but not the story, you may be able to piece together your own version of the story. This is often how stories would spread throughout the Native American tribes, creating both likenesses and differences between the stories on which they base their culture.

Two quite common Totem Pole narratives are ”The Raven and the Sun” and ”The woman who Married a Bear”

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T H E R AV E N A N D T H E S U N

The Raven flies around in the dark because there is no Sun. It hits the trees and the rocks. It annoys the Raven. One day it discovers that the Sun is being kept in a box in a box in a box by a Man in a house.

It devices a plan.

One day the Daughter of the Man goes to the river to have a drink of water. The Raven flies over the river, transforms into a Hemlock Needle and drops into the water. The Daughter of the Man drinks the water and swallows the Hemlock Needle. It goes down into her warm belly. It transform into the fetus of a baby Boy. Nine months pass as the Daugther of the Man becomes pregnant and finally gives birth.

The Boy grows up and as a he begins to speak he asks the Man, his grandfather, to see what is inside the box in the box in the box.

The Man answers a firm �NO�. Years go by as the Boy continues to beg. One day, as the Boy is coming of age, the man succombs to the begging and allows the Boy to look inside the box in the box in the box. The Boy sees the Sun. He grabs it and quickly transforms back into the Raven. The Raven flies past the Man, his Daughter, out of the door and into the sky where he places the Sun.

This is how light came to the world and seized to be the property of one Man.

Now you know.

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THE WOMAN WHO MARRIED A BEAR

The Chief’s Daughter who believes that she is the most beautiful woman in the world goes into the forrest with her friends to pick berries. As it is getting dark and the women begin to head home, the Chief’s Daughter slips in the poop of a bear, loosing all her berries.

She curses the bear that put his poop there and starts to pick up her berries while her friends disapear between the trees. A handsome man comes to her and offers her to stay with his tripe until the next morning. She agrees because he is handsome.

As she is sleeping in a tent in the strange tribe, she is awakened by a sound from outside. She looks out and discovers the men of the tribe transforming into bears. She realizes that she is being kept by the bear tribe. In the morning, as a punishment for her cursing of the pooping bear, she is married to the handsome man who is a bear.

In time she falls in love with her captor and they have half bear half human children (Stockholm Syndrome).

Years pass until the Chief’s Daugthers brothers discover the bear tribe. The intent to kill her handsome bear husband. She agrees but asks them to kill him in as nice a way as possible and give him a proper funeral. They agree and go forth with the killing. Nicely. The Chief’s Daugther slowly turns into a bear.

That is why we need to treat bears with respect.

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PAGE TWENTY-FOUR

What would a Totem Pole telling New York narratives look like?

What symbols, actions and characters can be extracted from the urban landscape?

How can these be collected?

In an attempt to produce New York narratives from which new cultures and attitudes can derive, this manual will guide you through the necessary fieldwork to be conducted.

The fieldwork will be a hunt for symbols on the street, in the buildings, on the buildings, below the ground. Symbols that are made with intent and symbols that have been created by accidents. Symbols that ambigous or specific, litteral or metaphorical. The city will be treated as a landscape, and as such the same method of approach will be applied to fieldwork in The Grand Canyon and later superimposed.

The symbols will be recorded in small films using a set of devices.

The films are later to be joined in projected totem poles. From these, new narratives will be created and foundations for new cultures will appear; quite possibly calling for architectural interventions in the existing cityscape.

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The following pages contain a list of inventory to be brought on the fieldwork. It is important to gather and familiarize yourself with the equiment before departure.

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A CAMERA

A TRIPOD

A CLAPPERBOARD

A MAP

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THIS MANUAL

A PEN

SOMEWHERE TO KEEP SAID THINGS

SELF

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The following is a step by step guide of how to utilize the before mentioned tools in the inventory to properly conduct the fieldwork. Each step must by carried out in the order in which they are arranged in this manual. Do try to memorize the sequence in advance. Consult the manual if in doubt.

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STROLL DOWN STREET*

*OR CANYON PAGE THIRTY-TWO

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IDENTIFY SUBJECT OF INTEREST

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IDENTIFY L O C AT I O N ON MAP

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A5 ( FOR EXAMPLE )

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IDENTIFY VERTICAL POSITION AND TIME OF D AY PAGE THIRTY-EIGHT

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Like on top of the Empire State Building

Like inside an apartment or an office

Like a street sign or an advertisement

Like a person or a dog or a trash bin on the street

Like in the metro or at the bottom of a canyon PAGE THIRTY-NINE

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NOTE L O C AT I O N — CODE ON CLAPPER — BOARD PAGE FOURTY

RECORDING

A5 — 0 — 15 — 16

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M O U N T C A M E R A O N T R I P O D

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R E C O R D C L A P P E R — BOARD FOR 3 SECONDS PAGE FOURTY-SIX

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R E C O R D S U B J E C T FOR 6 SECONDS PAGE FOURTY-EIGHT

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NOTE L O C AT I O N — CODE ON WORK — SHEET PAGE FIFTY

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