4.4 - Asignifying rupture

intervention

Fig 4.4.1 Preliminary Design sketch systems, exploring rhizomatic attributes for Asignifying Rupture through nodes and the intensities that connect them.

4.4.1 ASIGNIFYING RUPTURE CONTEXT

The principle of Asignifying Rupture may be summarised by the rule:

A rhizome may be broken, shattered at a given spot, but it will start up again on one of its old lines, or on new lines. (Deleuze and Guattari 9)

Asignifying Rupture looks at the principle of division as a precursor to the principle of collection (Adkins 7). Deleuze and Guattari refuse to create distinct divisions between entities, instead, they opt to make rhizomes. Wasp and orchid, cat and baboon, book and world — in each case it would be easy to divide these pairs into discrete entities (Adkins 7). Yet it is their intersection, in the context of their division, that will create new lines of flight (or new concepts).

In his essay “More on the Model: Building on the Ruins of Representation”, Christian Hubert advocates for model making as a method of ‘worldmaking’. He reflects on models’ ‘anticipatory’ nature to contribute towards ‘world making’. He proposes:

In the Anthropocene era [models] describe the world that humans are in the process of making by extrapolating from current trends in environmental degradation.

Hubert concludes his essay by reflecting:

Whether the Anthropocene will turn out to be a moment of creativity or a catastrophic one remains very much an open question. Performative models will serve as signposts along the way.

4.4.2 ASIGNIFYING RUPTURE FRAMEWORK

This section will explore characteristics of the three previous rhizomatic characteristics of Connection and Heterogeneity, Cartography/ Decalcomania and Multiplicity. Originally three divided characteristics, this section will re-collect them into one concept.

It will iteratively build upon ‘deterritorialised experimentation’ initially explored in sections 4.2.

This section will explore the medium of physical model making. It will re-engage the multiplicitous attribute of ‘making a rhizome out of the same material’, which was absent from the ‘multiplicity’ section. The construction will explore ‘tools of modernity’ (see section 4.0.2) ”to make visible the other worlds it has ignored and damaged” (Tsing 7).

As an important assessment of the outcomes of the Preliminary Design Stage, the physical model was designed to be exhibited in a public gallery setting, where critical reflection from onlookers could be considered in relation to Rolf Hughes’ theories of “evaluating ‘unconventional’ research outcomes” (Hughes 44).

Fig 4.4.2 Conceptual drawing exploring lines of flight along a continuity. At any points, the continuity may rupture into new lines of flight, deterritorialising, before retteritorialising itself into a new assemblage.

deterritorialization

stable continuity

plateau

4.4.3 - DETERRITORIALISATION SKETCH EXPERIMENTS

G02 G01

G03 G04

E01 - Robotic agent from 4.1 and 4.3 E02 - Grid used to create striation from 4.2 E03 - Concept from 4.1 E04 - EO3, re-orientated and including robotic agent

4.4.4 - DIGITAL CONCEPTS

H01

H02 H03

H05 H06

H08

H09 H04

H07

H10

Fig 4.4.4 Digital Concepts, iteratively designed

4.4.4 - DIGITAL CONCEPTS + COLLECTION BAY RELICS

Digital concepts were developed at scale, with consideration as to how they would be experienced by onlookers. Initial experimentation began with an adaptation of the final concept in ‘connection/heterogeneity’ (see H01). Erosion lines were introduced in H03 to imply that the artefact had an influence over the physical conditions of its surrounding landscape. These lines were constructed through erosion simulations within SideFX Houdini. It was not until experiment H06, when multiple layers were introduced to the model. The secondary layer below was introduced to help communicate ‘continuity’ and the artefacts’ ability to transform.

H07 first introduced artefacts that were embedded into the landscape. This effect was achieved by projecting a heightfield map over digital models of artefacts. This heightfield was voxelised, then converted into a primitive, blending the artefacts into the landscape. Another erosion simulation was run again, simulating debris and erosion around the artefacts H08 introduced an artefact that was both submerged, and above the landscape. By extending its tendril into the top section, it implies a connection between the two sections through a common continuity.

H09 introduced ‘relics’, built into the landscape. The components directly reflect the collection bays in the top section of the model. These collection bays were developed in H10. The ends were staggered, reflecting a disproportional and staggered timeline, as a visual motif used through-out this thesis investigation as a symbol for a fluid continuity.

4.4.5 - TOOLS OF MODERNITY - 3D PRINTING + CNC MACHINE

“re-purpose the tools of modernity against the terrors of Progress to make visible the other worlds it has ignored and damaged”

-(Tsing 7)

Fig 4.4.5 CNC Machine carving the detailing pass on GoldFoam

PIECES EXPLODED

PRINT TRAYS

1 2 3 4 5

6 7 8 9 10

PIECES EXPLODED PIECES ASSEMBLED

PRINT TRAYS

1 2 3 4 5

Fig 4.4.6 3D printing pieces

PIECES ASSEMBLED

9 LAYERS OF GESSO AND WHITE ACRYLIC PAINT

3D PRINTING WASTE USED TO REPRESENT THE ANTHROPOGENIC WASTE DEFINITIVE OF THE ANTHROPOCENE

17 TOTAL HOURS CNC ROUTING GOLD FOAM

GOLD FOAM BOUND WITH ADHESIVE TO 12MM MDF SHEET TO PREVENT BUCKLING

4.4.6 - MODEL CONSTRUCTION

Fig 4.4.7 (Top) Author painting thick gesso onto model, creating synthetic strata on the model Fig 4.4.8 CNC routing machine applying finishing pass over a piece of the mode

M12 GALVANIZED THREAD ROD INSERTED INTO PRE-DRILLED HOLES. EPOXY BINDING AGENT.

BOTTOM SECTION INCLUDES 2 12MM MDF SHEET GLUED AND BRACED TOGETHER

STEEL WIRE

PLASTER OF PARIS.

29 TOTAL INDIVIDUAL ABS 3D PRINTED PARTS, PRINTED AND REASSEMBLED INTO ARTEFACTS

LASER CUT CINDER BLOCKS AND PALLET PROVIDE SCALE

Fig 4.4.9 (Top) The top section being lowered onto the bottom section Fig 4.4.10 (Bottom) Author throwing plaster across the model

4.4.7 - MODEL DESCRIPTION

All three Research Objectives are explored throughout the design, fabrication, and testing of the analogue model.

The Philosophical Approach is further explored through the dialectic of the artisan and the sorcerer. Correspondingly, smooth and striated space is also explored in this section.

The Ecological Approach is addressed through the artefact’s tangential relationship with waste. It is further explored through Barry Wark’s theory of temporal ambiguity. Underdeveloped in the previous three sections, temporal ambiguity will have a more prominent role.

The Systematic Approach is explored through Deleuze and Guattari’s theory of continuity. This model explores the continuum and temporality in which all systems are scalable.

This piece has two distinct sections; the top section, and the bottom section below it. Both pieces are of identical scale, situated on the same site. They are intended to examine two artefacts, captured at different points on the continuum.

The artefact on the top section is a physical model of the artefact explored in the ‘Connection /Heterogeneity’ section of the preliminary design. It shares the same design language as the artefacts in the bottom section. However, the top sections artefact (see I03 overleaf) has finer details and thinner rhizomatic tendrils, which imply a different stage of life. It is either yet to grow or withered away.

The bottom section is a version of the conceptual artefact explored in ‘Multiplicity’, section 4.3.3. This artefact also plays with temporal ambiguity. The artefact embedded in the earth have a dual meaning. They could be seen as an embryological parasite waiting to be birthed from the earth. Simultaneously, they could be ancient artefacts, collapsed in ruination and consumed by the earth.

The piece was assembled through the layering of artists’ mull, white acrylic, gesso, plaster, and various plastic debris. As layers of gesso, plaster and other material were applied, the piece took on a geological characteristic. This stratification was manipulated, with sections stripped (see section I02, overleaf) and sections layered upon. After each layer was ripped and manipulated, more gesso was painted on to unify and embed the strata. The stratification of the model represents the geological origin of the Anthropocene and the Anthropogenic waste strata that defines it.

The model is intentionally presented all white. This was in consideration of Deleuze and Guattari’s definition of the rhizomatic characteristic of a ‘Multiplicity’. They proposed a multiplicitous rhizome should be made out of the same material so there is no discernibility between subject or object (Adkins 25).

H05 I02

I03 I01

I04 I03

I11 I06

I10 I08 I07

I09

4.4.8 - MODEL ANALYSIS

01 - Waste bays aligned vertically imply a timeline, alluding to the investigation of time scales

02 - Anthropocentric striation intervention into waste pile.

03 - Artefact cantilevering over a landscape plateau

04 - Dug in waste bays align to the opposite axis as the waste bays in I01. Being dug into the ground, these bays imply a more permanent anthropogenic intervention comparable to the concrete bays placed in I01. This examines temporal ambiguity.

05 - The foundations of ruined buildings mis-align with the waste bays, implying a distortion of time scales between the top section and the bottom section. This also implies temporal ambiguity.

06 - Novel artefact, deterritorialised from the other artefact system.

07 - The artefacts posturing towards the center of the erosion lines imply an influence over its surrounding landscape and ecology.

08 - The artefact homogenises with the anthropogenic waste bays. Their appearance of ‘plugging into’ the bays is a nod to visual scripting, an important computational workflow in this thesis.

09 - The artefact from the bottom section encroaches onto the top section. This implies a break and overlap in the continuum.

10 - Artefacts embedded into the earth, simultaneously yet to be born and ruined away.

12 - Robotic agent, taken from ‘Connection and heterogeneity

13 - Robotic agent, taken from ‘Multiplicity’

Fig 4.4.13 (Top) Artefact emerging and/or falling beneath the earth Fig 4.4.14 (Middle) 3D printed robotic agent, manipulating waste Fig 4.4.15 (Left) Artefact cantilevers over the landscape

4.4.9 - ADAM ART GALLERY EXHIBITION

In chapter 4 of the book The Art of Experiment: Post-pandemic Knowledge Practices for 21st Century Architecture and Design, under the subheading “The challenge of evaluating ‘unconventional’ research outcomes” Rolf Hughes reflects upon the importance of staging experimental architectures, like exhibitions, for public consumption:

Staged or mediated forms may be the most appropriate means of presenting the research to critical and public audiences. As a result, the conditions for interpreting and evaluating the research exposition become part of the challenge of assessment, as does the expression of the research in multifaceted research objects or performances, demanding from evaluators sophisticated literacies across a range of practices, materials and sites.

The model was exhibited in a public gallery in Wellington, the Adam Art Gallery, as part of the exhibition titled “The Machine Stops: The Allegorical Architectural Project”. It was on display from 20 November 2021 through 27 March 2022. On opening night, members of the public were informally queried as to the success of the model, in relation to the wall label that explained its theoretical intentions.

Fig 4.4.20 Author next to Preliminary Design physical model

This section examined a physical outcome that addressed all three Research Objectives. As the final stage of Preliminary Design II, it iteratively built on the three previous concepts, while introducing new attributes from ‘asignifying rupture’ to the experimentation process. Consequently, this section had a strong examination of all three RO’s. RO1, the Philosophical Approach, was explored through the dialectic of the artisan and the sorcerer. The final concepts use of defined, striated relic that emphasised anthropogenic characteristics. The varied temporal states of ruination examined by the relics reinforced temporal ambiguity, explored through R02, the Ecological Approach. The aggregation of waste into bays implied a manipulation, but there

Fig 4.4.21 Robotic Agent, who creates systematic connection intensities, gazing upon an artefact

was no explicit manipulation by the ecocentric artefact. RO2 was also explored through the characteristic of ‘temporal ambiguity’ and ‘ruination’. Normally reflected in the lichen and grime on the artefacts, section 4.4 explored it through relics by at different stages of aging.

R03, the Systematic Approach, was explored through the theory of ‘continuity’. By placing multiple artefacts on the same plane of existence, the final concept was able to communicate a similarity between the artefacts, and simultaneously communicate a temporal difference. Having multiple artefacts of different sizes is a viable method to communicate a systematic continuity, as well as an adaptable system that can exist at various scales.