Singularity 2008.02.01
Perhaps the most ironic thing about fear is that fear in itself is a safety mechanism. It’s a condition created within our own mind that is used to protect ourselves from emotional or physical injury. Intriguing however, is the phenomenon where fears change over time. What was once something fearful may ultimately be something that you embrace willingly once you realize that your perception of what you fear was a misconstruction of an illogical subconscious. A pain that I face in dealing with a fear may be a type of weakness leaving my body. Nothing epitomizes this concept better in my life than the fear of abandonment and singularity. To be left alone, to be apart from known company brought on anxiety and loss of reference. Without their presence I felt lost even in the most familiar places. I may never be able to explain the fulcrum which flipped this perception of abandonment. But the more I became in tune with being left with only my own thoughts, the harder it became to be placed in a lost condition. Now I look for those moments where I feel at a loss, in order to create my own references. Though at one point in my life the fear was used to tether myself to only what I know, it has now become a moment of opportunity for me to discover new places and decisions.
Tokyo, Japan 2006.01.12
Compression A fabrication of a 1’x1’x1’ cube using paper, clay and string. 2008.02.29
The Drawing and The Image 2008.02.29
For a viewer to understand depth in a drawing, they must first trust the drawer. The task of the drawer is to construct an image that makes it easier for a viewer to trust them. This is more easily said than done; especially when one only has two dimensions to create an image. The full illusion of depth in a drawing is given when the Cartesian plane is allowed to become more than what it is. A viewer should not have to question whether a shape is a rhombus or a square laid flat in perspective. Though a drawing can be visually simple or complex, the conceptual depth of a drawing must still be visible. The drawing is much more than simply having the evidence of thought. It must be the thought. We must lay down all the necessary information for this task to be achieved and communicated properly. And though we are encouraged to use our drawings to change a viewer’s perception, we must first create recognizable boundaries in which we will be operating in. In contrast, capturing a three dimensional object into a two dimensional plane is drastically different. There will be so much information stored in an artifact that we can record only the most essential elements into an image. We must act as a filter, to siphon only the required information needed to show what want to reveal. We must express our perception accordingly to allow the thematic information, depth and details to bleed.
Prelude to Definition 2008.03.13
I am not simply the occupant of the house. The house is not made to simply cater to my wants. The house occupies me, and is a personification of my obsessions and actions. I am the house. It is at the root of my multiple identities. I am a son, grandson, nephew, cousin, friend, drinker, liar, snowboarder, black belt, gambler, writer, chef, comic relief, and when need be, an architect. Remarkably, I can be all these things at once, with the least bit of effort. There is no need to try. Who I am has given me the opportunity to do what I do. I eat, sleep, sit, write, clean, work, talk, drink, love, smoke, read, gamble, draw, listen, laugh, cook, hate, play, imagine, fall, and get back up. These things I do are observed by others, as if I made a decision to take those actions. But in fact, there were no choices. There are only imperative actions. But these are simply the things I do and identities categorized by typology. My occupation has almost no correlation with me as a person. There are cowardly generals and bold garbage men; Cheating doctors and honest mechanics. If a house could be designed based solely on a profession, then we would only need one type of architecture for each and every profession. If this were true, then the labor of the architect would have been completed long ago and builders alone would suffice. Fortunately, that is not the case. It is the description before the occupation where the self lies. If the occupation is the definition, then the redefinition lies in the prelude of the occupation.
Swakopmund, Namibia 2008.03.11
Longitudinal Folds A construction of shelter using a sheet of 3’ x 18’ of heavy bond paper. 2008.02.22
Timed Allowance A study on plastic bags and light. 2008.02.01
The Demise of an Ostrich 2008.02.22
The ostrich is an animal of irony. It’s a bird that cannot fly, but when needed, can run faster than a horse. And though it’s a cultural mythology that they bury their heads in sand to hide from enemies, they do lower their head and neck and leave the majority of their mass exposed. Hide your head, stay low, and if they see your body, make it look like something else. It’s quite a feeble attempt at camouflage when critiqued by the chameleon or octopus. "Don't be an ostrich and stick your head in the sand." Don't hide from your problems thinking they'll go away. It shouldn’t be often that I will have the categorical imperatives similar to the ones of an ostrich. The ostrich is lower in the food chain, and is an animal that is raised and harvested for nearly every attribute except intelligence. But there is something to learn from their methods of survival. It’s quite ironic to see one of the fastest land animals on this planet become immobile at the site of danger. Though there must be a logical reason for this behavior, it’s hard for me to avoid the thought that these animals are not using their greatest asset to their utmost advantage. Though survival is not the only goal that I hope to achieve in this life, the inadequacy of the ostrich to realize the advantage it has over its predators, brings about a greater awareness in what my advantageous capabilities really are in a particular scenario.
Tensiled Texture of Interiors A study on photography and object. 2008.02.15
Boundaries and Exclusion 2008.02.15
Both interior and exterior are constructs. Though, it is not until the interior is created, that an exterior is allowed to exist. As the outer limits of the interior ends, the threshold of the exterior begins. These lines that are drawn are not a means of blending the exterior and interior, but as a filtration from the exterior. Once you occupy one interior, there are many other thresholds of interiors and exteriors one will face as they progress further into the occupation. From the site to the entry, the entry to the workspace, the workspace to the home, the home to the living space, the living space to the kitchen, the kitchen to the study, the study to the bedroom, the bedroom to the closet. Each sequence is a series of spaces that go through barricades of exclusivity. Every line is a filter; every line defines where one cannot be. From the individual who owns the space, every space but the most secluded may be the exterior; to the guest every space they are welcomed to occupy is the interior. The guest is surrounded by lines that separate them from further interiors. Where is it that one decides one interior ends and another begins? By convention, it is at the walls, windows and doors, the simplest threshold between the known and the unknown. Clean lines broken by a flap. It’s an active threshold that we utilize for creating an interior space. But if there were no walls that bisect a space, no doors to actively delineate, it would be dependent on the passive condition alone to create this boundary. The responsibility would be to create a coincidence of the interior in both the physical and metaphysical.
Barcelona, Spain 2006.06.14
Soussevlei, Namibia 2008.03.13
Buried Scale A study of the desert and 30-gallon blue recycling bags. Soussevlei, Namibia 2008.03.13
Soussevlei, Namibia / New York, NY 2008.03.13 / 2006.11.21
Tokyo, Japan 2006.01.08
Urban Think Tank Studio SLUM Lab - Caracas, Venezuela A collage representing the City. 2007.09.10
A Quandry 2008.02.08
Balance is static perfection. It requires all variables in an equation to understand the leniency of the other. Balance implies that there is a state of equilibrium within any system. In a site, it refers to a condition between the existing and the introduced. Every up-hill is also a down-hill. The deepest depth of a trough is the shallowest point of the peak. The highest point of a peak is the shallowest depth of the trough. In physics, balance is referred to as statics, all forces when accounted for, equal zero. A considerable portion of my life has been spent trying to attain this equilibrium, but on many occasions, have had to let one variable go in order to keep the remaining. No variable is more important than the others, no amount of remaining variables will keep me from wanting to expunge the departed. As hard as I may try, some variables cannot fit into the equation. And with the existence of transient varibles, I am only left with the task of finding the constants. This life is one that has been more negotiated than balanced. The coincidental moments of balance are quite ephemeral. Repeated compromises are made in one aspect of my life in order to attain a stronger foothold of another. The niches of my persona are not static conditions but always need further negotiation after every definition. Nearly every action is a reaction to keep things from surpassing the angle of repose.
Negotiated Statics A study on structure utilizing 4’ x 4’ of medium-density fiberboard. 2008.02.08