THE PRACTICE OF BEING Spatial approaches to discovering, disrupting and encountering the interior
SHARON SCLARR
THE PRACTICE OF BEING
Sharon Sclarr
THE PRACTICE OF BEING Spatial approaches to discovering, disrupting and encountering the interior
Thesis Research Book 2016 Bachelor of Interior Design (Honours) RMIT University
“FEELING PRESENT IS BECOMING AWARE THAT YOU STAND IN THIS SPACE AT THIS TIME, THAT YOU ARE ALIVE.”1
THE PRACTICE OF BEING
CONTENTS
PROJECT
00
PAGE CHAPTER Research Question
02
Abstract
02
Glossary
03
Preface
06
Introduction
08
ONE NOTICING 01 02 03
Eclipse
12
Body and Space
16
Reflection
20
TWO QUESTIONING 01 02 03 04 05 06
Personal Networks
26
Personal Networks Expansion
30
Subtle Displacements
36
What is Boundary?
40
What is an Encounter?
46
What is Participation?
54
THREE ANSWERING 01 02 03
Fragments
60
Site Quest
68
Echo
76
Conclusion
94
Appendix and References
95
Bibliography
97
THE PRACTICE OF BEING
ABSTRACT
02
HOW CAN DISRUPTIONS TO INTERIOR EXPERIENCE PRODUCE A NEW AWARENESS OF THE SELF IN SITE?
This research project began by investigating how a physical encounter can disrupt habitual ways of being. Through performance I developed an interest in the interrelation between the human body and its surroundings. My focus is on exploring ways to instigate change in the way people inhabit spaces. Using an iterative process, these ideas developed through a series of drawings, models, installations and photographic documentation. I explored personal networks diagrammatically to understand how people perceive and connect with others. I translated the diagrams into installations that employed light, objects and the human body as interrelated
devices. These installations attempted to engage the body in order to provoke a sense of delight that shifts habitual experience to a more heightened awareness. The way people perceive space can contribute to uncritical processes of inhabitation. Spaces that offer a plenitude of possibility for interpretation can create a much less circumscribed experience, however disruptions to habitual modes of experience are often used commercially as a way of capturing attention. This research proposes ways in which disruptions to interior experience can become a tool for producing new awareness.
03
GLOSSARY
THE PRACTICE OF BEING
The terms summarised in this glossary refer to critical ideas I explore in my work and their meaning in this context.
OPENNESS The intention and reception of the work as a continually responsive experience. Avoiding didactic techniques, open work allows room for ambiguity, imagination, emergence and discovery.
HUMAN BODY A mediator between consciousness, physical being and the space and time that both inhabit.
LIMINALITY The condition of multiple spatial and temporal thresholds generated by the fluctuations in our dynamic world. Liminal alludes to these conditions and an emerging border between sensation and thought, which emphasises noticing and questioning, rather than knowing and answering.
THE PRACTICE OF BEING
GLOSSARY
DISRUPTION Referring to disrupting habitual ways of inhabiting space: deconstructing or fracturing something that is familiar ruptures habitual subjectivities and assumptions, which forces a person to question their surrounds, and initiates a process of discovery rather than recognition.
RHYTHM The rhythm and repetitious nature of everyday life, and the ability to shift perception of this by disrupting chronological time and movement. Also, the contrast between cyclical and linear notions of time and how the disparity between the two can generate new awareness.
ENCOUNTER Combining the notions of presence, engagement and awareness, the encounter is highly subjective and participatory resulting in an experience that is often unexpected or surprising.
04
THE PRACTICE OF BEING
PREFACE
06
“TO BE ENCHANTED IS TO BE STRUCK AND SHAKEN BY THE EXTRAORDINARY THAT LIVES AMID THE FAMILIAR AND THE EVERYDAY.”2
One May morning I awake to discover a small rainbow on the floor outside my bedroom. An unexpected encounter, this rupture to my habitual morning routine stops me for a moment: ‘Why is there a rainbow on the floor? How did it come to be? Why I have I not seen this before?’ From this liminal experience of noticing something different, arises a question, and subsequently, an answer: ‘Well of course, the sun is at a certain angle at this time of the year, it is a particular time of the day, the blinds in the bedroom next to mine are open, the bevelled mirror on the wardrobe is tilted at a particular angle to form a rainbow on the floor precisely in front of my door.’
Later, in conversing with a friend about liminal encounters, she recalls an unusual experience she had while cycling along the Yarra River. She was riding at night and vision was low, but she noticed a light source moving along the river. In these conditions, a light on the river usually signified a boat. But, the light she encountered was hovering close to the surface of the water; there was something different, something unfamiliar about it. As she looked more intently, she noticed the light source was a headlamp worn by a person paddling a Stand-Up Paddleboard along the Yarra River in the darkness of night. This was a completely unexpected encounter which instinctively prompted her curiosity and deeper enquiry.
I shower and return to find the rainbow gone. The unanticipated, and sudden, arrival and departure of this rare encounter produces a moment of delight, which leaves me enchanted, curious and hopeful.
These moments of liminality have the potential to produce great shifts in culturally conditioned thinking habits. The particular moment between noticing, questioning and answering is what I explore through my practice.
“PHYSICS HAS FOUND NO STRAIGHT LINES – HAS FOUND ONLY WAVES – PHYSICS HAS FOUND NO SOLIDS – ONLY HIGH-FREQUENCY EVENT FIELDS. THE UNIVERSE IS NOT CONFORMING TO A THREEDIMENSIONAL PERPENDICULARPARALLEL FRAME OF REFERENCE. THE UNIVERSE OF PHYSICAL ENERGY IS ALWAYS DIVERGENTLY EXPANDING (RADIANTLY) OR CONVERGENTLY CONTRACTING (GRAVITATIONALLY).”3 - RICHARD BUCKMINSTER FULLER
THE PRACTICE OF BEING
INTRODUCTION
08
NOTHING IS A GIVEN, AND PERCEPTION IS RELATIVE.
Our experience of the everyday is coloured by culturally conditioned thought and behavioural habits. This encourages unconscious practices and modes of inhabiting space. Coupled with prescribed spatial programming, the experience of the everyday becomes passive and restrained. Through subtle intervention, consumer culture has shifted from one of need, to one of desire. When we place value on having rather than being, the major dilemma is that we start “measuring quality of life through possession rather than authentic experience.”4 Habitual modes of being become passive, rather than active. Instead of acting, we watch. Instead of questioning reality, appearance is often taken as a given. My research has found that interactive and experiential encounters that engage the body engender a more active way of inhabiting space. Through an iterative process, I have explored encounters that invite physical engagement and multiple viewpoints. A continuous process of discovery, the work has allowed the evolution of my practice and a deeper understanding of the potential in the liminal encounter.
I installed each project at full-scale to ensure subtleties in the experiences were noticeable. In taking each project from the beginning to the end of the design process, I was able to empirically answer nearly all preceding questions but found – without fail – new questions then unfolded from each project. My thesis focuses on the self-evaluative quality of an experience; when there is space for human agency, I believe there is opportunity for a person to reposition themself in society. In constructing liminal encounters that raise questions about what is and what is not, we can draw attention to the ordinary through the extraordinary. A delightful encounter, the unexpected discovery of something new, or an invitation to see the world a little differently, encourages reflection on the everyday conditions we inhabit. Nothing is a given, and perception is relative. Personal accountability is amplified when these implications are clear. By encouraging individual experience, self-awareness and personal accountability through spatial encounter, interior design can have a significant impact not only on the way an individual orients themself spatially, but also in society.
CHAPTER ONE
NOTICING
THE PRACTICE OF BEING
PROJECT 01
NOTICING
12
ECLIPSE There are multiple ways to process information and experience in daily life. There is no singular perspective, thought or interpretation. The complexity of the mind, and its infinite capacity to expand, learn and see anew, has enormous potential to alter everyday experiences. In Eclipse, I attempt to heighten the experience of surroundings as both a composition of elements and a whole. An exploration of relational and shifting perspectives, the work invites the viewer to move around and through the piece so they gain a range of perspectives. This shifting image endeavours to expose the impossibility of a complete and uninterrupted view. This video installation employs film, projection, a hanging cardboard disc and a wall to emphasise the engagement between user, work, and the time and space that both inhabit. Installed in various rooms and corridors at RMIT University, the installation invites viewers to participate in the relational experience between multiple surfaces and perspectives. Using video footage of an anonymous human shadow moving along a path, the imagery engages with the motion of the
everyday as the arrangement of projected surfaces fragments and ruptures actions. This project sprung from a deep curiosity about what might happen during a physical encounter between human, object and the space surrounding it. This type of encounter is fundamental to the work of Olafur Eliasson, who says that “every time the viewers change physical position, they not only change their viewpoints but also disrupt and reorder the artwork’s narrative structure, provoking new cognitive situations.”5 These cognitive shifts have the potential to alter the way we inhabit space as well as how we see and experience the world around us. As designer, I constructed this encounter, but the user ultimately negotiates it. This was a deliberate approach offering the viewer an opportunity for chance encounter and discovery. I began this project intending to learn more about the potential of a physical encounter. However, I found that the dialogue between multiple surfaces in the piece, whether experienced physically or not, was instrumental in creating the experience of a perpetually shifting perspective.
THE PRACTICE OF BEING
PROJECT 02
NOTICING
16
BODY AND SPACE
There is enormous potential in the dynamism of body in site. The body is the mediator between sensation, thought and physical environment, whether through haptic, optic or aural engagement. Body and Space investigates how and what the body can experience in relation to external stimuli. Through performance and engaging the human body, an investigation into physical interaction with surface, light and projection began. Testing these ideas with a projector, a white wall and the adornment of everyday attire, chance encounters with reflective accessories became a dynamic part of the performance. The performance artist, Vito Acconci, uses his own body as the subject in his artistic practice. He explores ideas and social issues through various mediums including photography, film, video and performance. Acconci’s work is highly
experimental and the work’s outcome is often unknown. I applied a similar method of experimenting with the body as a medium, in order to understand more deeply how the physical self can be exercised both as a design tool and an outcome. Through the process it becomes clear there are different levels of immersion, based on the type of engagement the inhabitant has. The encounter differs depending on whether the viewer faces the wall, faces the projector, touches the wall’s surface or focuses on a chance encounter with an accessory that interacts with light, such as the watch and necklace. But, the most intriguing discovery is the sense of presence this type of interaction creates. There is a moment of wonder in the surprise discovery of something new and unexpected. My experience with this project led to a rupture in time and space as the encounter became fully immersive.
THE PRACTICE OF BEING
PROJECT 03
NOTICING
20
REFLECTION
The viewer’s role is often to observe with some passivity and physical detachment. The participant plays a far more active role. Participation invites negotiation, individual experience and an openness to multiple outcomes. In everyday life, there is little opportunity to participate in the activity of seeing oneself seeing. From my observation, the mirror is a binary object of intrigue or repulsion. I notice people are either mildly curious when looking at themselves looking, or incredibly uncomfortable in seeing their own reflection. With Reflection, I set out to draw attention to the physical self as a way of inviting presence and active engagement. I intended to create a platform for social engagement, dialogue and human interaction. The work aims to create an open experience with multiple viewpoints as the participants negotiate facing surfaces, images of themselves, and other people around them. On one plinth stands an aluminium sheet and a webcam. On another, a projector and computer. An experience
of multiplicity occurs: the live closedcircuit television system (CCTV) on a perpetual loop plays the projection onto the aluminium surface, which refracts the footage in pixelated form onto the opposite wall. The viewers not only engage as actors on the screen, but they begin to interact with themselves on a slight time-delay as they turn to face their pixelated projection. This project builds on the practice of relational aesthetics, which focuses on “art taking as its theoretical horizon the realm of human interactions and its social context, rather than the assertion of an independent and private symbolic space.”6 Performative in nature, these artworks create different time spans and free areas, which oppose the structure of everyday life. Relational works enable a state of alert presence, by dynamising the relationship between objects, self and others. This art form encourages active participation, inviting the viewer to inhabit a shared world, giving rise to multiple series of relations and establishing a constant exchange as the viewer’s participation perpetuates the piece itself.
21
NOTICING
I adopted a similar approach, but my work focuses more on human interaction with a spatial, rather than social context. I avoided allowing the interaction and exchange among participants to become the work, which is a common tactic in relational aesthetics. Instead I focus on the chance encounters present in this type of work, and attempt to facilitate a similar opportunity for viewers to engage communally. With the specific intention to create an arena of social and spatial exchange, I
PROJECT 03
THE PRACTICE OF BEING
was quite surprised this project actually yielded a highly didactic and closed experience. I found the arrangement of technologies and objects instructed people about how they should experience the piece. The camera footage projecting onto multiple surfaces notified each person that they were a participant. Though the work produced some level of negotiation, I found the outcome was the opposite of what I had intended. As a sort of happy failure, this allowed me to reflect on instructional versus open experience.
“THE MORE OPEN AND MULTIPLE THE GIVEN VISUAL PHENOMENA, THE GREATER THE RANGE OF POSSIBLE OBSERVER POSITIONS, AND THE LESS CIRCUMSCRIBED AND POSSIBLY DEBASED OUR EXPERIENCE OF THE WORLD.”7
CHAPTER TWO
QUESTIONING
THE PRACTICE OF BEING
PROJECT 01
QUESTIONING
26
PERSONAL NETWORKS
I was intrigued by the concept of social constructs and its relationship to physical space. I had many questions about the individual versus collective experience, and whether the inconsistency between the number of people to whom we are connected online versus physical reality could be bridged through spatial design. Reflecting on the disparity between online and offline social networks, I began investigating how individuals visually perceive their social networks. In an attempt to understand how these virtual concepts might translate spatially, I chose drawing as a medium that could provide an open and tangible way for people to communicate their ideas. I asked a number of people to visually communicate their social network using paper and pen in any way they like. This manifested in a number of ways, depending on the individual.
The anthropologist Robin Dunbar suggests there is tension and flux in the disparity between online and offline social networks. As human beings, there are psychological constraints to the number of people we can include in our social network, whether online or offline. Human beings have a natural group size of about 150; the brain simply does not have the capacity to maintain more than this. Though it may seem we are more connected than this and that – thanks to social media – we are able to keep up with friends without seeing them face-toface, in reality this is an ineffective tool for fostering community and intimacy. As a number of people engaged with the activity, the resulting collection provided rich territory for analysis and discovery. From this analysis, I found that everyone involved placed themself at the centre of the network. This finding suggests to me that we live in a systemised and egocentric world.
MELBOURNE SOCIAL NETWORK
THE PRACTICE OF BEING
PROJECT 02
QUESTIONING
30
PERSONAL NETWORKS EXPANSION
This project’s intention was to deepen my understanding of what I found from the personal network drawings. This series explores the various ways boundary and connections converge. I investigated how points connect, how layers of information can be overlayed, and what might happen when parts are pulled away.
into the communicated relationships. I created additional versions of the network based on where I have lived and found the network manifested in very different ways depending on the city. In exploring the connections in a two-dimensional capacity, I hoped to understand how these concepts might translate three-dimensionally.
This drawing exercise allowed a more complex investigation into the layers of the personal networks. Using pen and paper, I explored connections, boundaries and relationships diagrammatically.
I found that boundary and connection are fluid and in a constant state of flux. My network constantly shifts and changes depending on where I live. My loved ones that are far away suddenly move to the outside of the network, while those physically close come to the centre. In synthesising the notion of disparity between online and offline networks and the role of physical engagement, this was an important discovery.
Working iteratively, this expansion was the next step in a process of exploratory research. I created a series of diagrammatic overlays on my own drawing to delve more deeply
BERLIN SOCIAL NETWORK
PARIS SOCIAL NETWORK
LONDON SOCIAL NETWORK
OVERLAPPING BOUNDARIES
PLACE IN SPACE
BOUNDARY EXPLORATION 1
SHIFTING FOCAL POINT
BOUNDARY EXPLORATION 2
THE PRACTICE OF BEING
PROJECT 03
QUESTIONING
36
SUBTLE DISPLACEMENTS
Subtle Displacements investigates ways of generating a spatial configuration from a two-dimensional social network drawing. The intention was to marry the overarching ideas of encounter and social connection, and to create a communicative spatial diagram. I used prototyping methods in this project to test whether a spatial configuration was even possible. This small-scale model is made from a timber sheet, timber poles and mirror acrylic, and the vertical surfaces of the model are activated by video projection. A series of circular voids are projected through the mirror acrylic onto the opposite wall with the video footage, marking out the converging points of the social network, and the mirror acrylic refracts these circular voids to the opposite wall. I was interested in exploring how a two-dimensional diagram could unfold
three-dimensionally, and what kind of effect this object might have on the space around it. In order to further explore ideas about the human body and participation, I employed light as a tool. The ephemeral and interactive nature of light and its ability to permeate larger spaces makes it the perfect tool to explore dynamics between object, body and site through its ability to highlight, shade, immerse, and expose. This project progressed my thesis from an investigation into concepts of social connection, to an exploration of spatial relationships. The model enabled me to experiment with how these relationships might manifest on a larger scale. By attempting to create a visceral encounter and an opportunity to physically connect to the work, I was able to develop my tools, techniques and approaches to the notion of body and openness.
THE PRACTICE OF BEING
PROJECT 04
QUESTIONING
40
WHAT IS BOUNDARY?
In an attempt to understand the relationship between boundary and encounter, this photographic series investigates the subjective nature of boundary and how a person might come to negotiate its spatial qualities.
Three different types of boundary emerged: the perceived (shadow), the material (surface) and the physical (a wall). I found that, except for physical boundary, the experience is fundamentally subjective.
With a digital camera, I took ten photographs, at various times, on different days and in multiple locations. My parameters were to document visceral experiences of boundary and to complete this within one week.
Understanding that boundary can be experienced in a number of different ways allowed me to progress with the knowledge that all relational experiences are open to interpretation. The shadow on a surface might define a boundary for one person, however for someone else it might mean something different, or nothing at all; boundaries move and disappear, and are often in a state of flux.
Boundary became an important part of my investigation. But, I realised my knowledge of its meaning in this context was limited and I needed a deeper understanding of the terminology I was using. I wondered how boundary might be defined or blurred, and subsequently set out with a camera to explore the urban landscape in order to gain a better understanding of this.
If the perception of boundary can be shifted, I propose that through subtle intervention, the experience of boundary can become one of heightened awareness and thoughtprovocation.
THE PRACTICE OF BEING
PROJECT 05
QUESTIONING
46
WHAT IS AN ENCOUNTER?
I used this photographic series to explore the various ways in which an encounter takes place, so I could move forward with a solid understanding of the type of encounter I am striving to create with my work. I took photographs at various times, on different days and in multiple locations. Interactions with natural light in both interior and exterior spaces produced the majority of these moments of encounter. Philosopher’s Delueze and Guattari believe that an encounter has the power to disrupt systems of knowledge, rupture habitual modes, and affirm a new world and a new way of thinking and seeing. They believe that “an object of encounter is fundamentally different from an object of recognition.”8 Though fundamentally invaluable to the conceptual development of my thesis, these philosophical explorations of encounter did not feel sufficient to the development of my work. My practice is highly physical in its engagement, so it became vital for me to physically
understand and document experiences of encounter. Throughout this project it became evident that an encounter is highly subjective. I personally am preoccupied with light. I revel in the fact that it is intrinsic to life, that it allows us to see, that it has the ability to interact with any type of material, often in unexpected ways. It is by nature in a perpetual state of flux. I found that encounters are the meeting point of the expected and the unexpected; it is impossible to predict how or when any of these materialisations may occur. What ensues are moments of wonder and delight at the appearance of light dancing on an ordinary surface, engaging the imagination and the senses. An ordinary object is metamorphosed into one of enchantment. Surprising and unexpected, this is what creates an encounter. There is enormous potential in facilitating the discovery of something new and different. An encounter of this kind disrupts everyday rhythms and routines. This is what I intend to create through my work.
THE PRACTICE OF BEING
PROJECT 06
QUESTIONING
54
WHAT IS PARTICIPATION?
Participation can mean many things. Taking part of something, sharing, giving, supporting, encouraging. I used this project to explore what participation means to me, as human engagement has been a fundamental element throughout the development of my work. Reflecting on previous projects Eclipse and Reflection, I found that participation cannot be manufactured. Regardless of my intentions, participation never occurred when or how I had intended. It manifested unintentionally through unprompted invitation rather than instruction. Through these projects I realised that in everyday life, participation tends to happen spontaneously and instantaneously. This deeper exploration into participation occurred through everyday chance encounters. Because of this, I could not employ immediate documentation methods such as photography, so drawing and
storyboarding became essential to the subsequent communication of these experiences. I felt my attempts to transform viewers into participants had been unsuccessful thus far. I wanted viewers to feel physically engaged and enchanted, but I was not able to define what that means and why it is important. Participation could also be described as a mode of connecting and being an active participant in one’s own life. There is pain and despair in the world, but somehow, people still find meaning in life and a reason to live. There is potential for enchantment in the simple act of being. Being alive, being together, being cared for, and being in nature. “An enchantment tale disrupts the apocalyptic tenor of the news and the despair or cynicism that it breeds. Because the news media cultivate a crisis mentality, it is important to heighten awareness of our profound and empowering - attachment to life. For
55
QUESTIONING
such attentiveness can help to transform shock at tragedy into a political will to reform painful social structures.�9 In this exploration I experienced many moments of wonder and delight at the capacity of human empathy. The majority of my participatory encounters happened on public transport. It always strikes me as an odd situation in which many of us find ourselves daily. We stand or sit in a moving carriage with little or no acknowledgement of the people surrounding us, indulging moments of frustration as someone bumps or enters our personal space. Here I discovered something very interesting about the human condition. I was on the tram, holding far too many materials and objects, and struggling
PROJECT 06
THE PRACTICE OF BEING
to stay standing, when the people surrounding me suddenly awoke. It was as though people suddenly became active and empathetic when they noticed someone was in need. One woman held my arm to stop me falling over, another began asking about my armful of objects, and another few people offered to hold things for me. It was a moment of wonder and delight, which gave me a new regard for humanity. It illuminated to me what I value and what connection means to me. This deeper understanding of participation allowed me to approach my work in a new light. I realised that my practice is more about facilitating moments of delight than compelling the viewer to be an active participant in the work.
THERE IS POTENTIAL FOR ENCHANTMENT IN THE SIMPLE ACT OF BEING.
CHAPTER THREE
ANSWERING
ALUMINIUM FRAME
MIRROR ACRYLIC
ALUMINIUM ROD
WINTERSTONE BASE
THE PRACTICE OF BEING
PROJECT 01
ANSWERING
60
FRAGMENTS
I intended to unify all the overarching ideas in my thesis through this project. A full-scale installation, there are four types of encounters in the work: The encounter with the body of work from a distance, the encounter from in-between, caught between two or more images, and the encounter when focused in on a detail in the work. These spatial relationships offer the element of chance and surprise, as one type of encounter leads to another. The work intends to disrupt the interior experience and encourage autonomy, self-reflection and accountability in the way it is inhabited. This installation consists of eight individual objects, with cast winterstone bases, aluminium rods and mirror acrylic. Though each object is fundamentally the same, the mirror acrylic within each object is uniquely
warped and inserted at a slightly different angle. With the incorporation of video projection, the warped surfaces refract the footage in unpredictable ways. The video footage engages with the conflicting nature of cyclical versus linear notions of time. With escalator steps moving repetitively on a continuous loop and sound accompanying on stereo speakers, the repetitive and mechanical nature of the rhythm creates a stark contrast between clock time and the human experience of time. After realising it is not participation I was attempting to create, but a certain type of encounter that encourages awareness and self-reflection, I asked myself, “what is this type of encounter?.� Having explored encounter, boundary and participation, the most important discovery was that liminal conditions
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ANSWERING
were present in every experience. There is always a moment of pure unknowing, which challenges our typical way of being in the world. A disruption to the familiar experience of that thing occurs. Something different; something new. My perception often shifted after one of these encounters. Accordingly, for this project, I produced objects that reflect, rather than absorb your gaze. “Objects that are only liminally what they seem to be may lead to some measure of open reflection. And in this reflective retention of ‘looking energy’, the objects invite inquiry into their very nature - a process of inquiry that, the truer it is, the more nearly ‘endless’ is its state. Liminality could be described as the state in which
PROJECT 01
THE PRACTICE OF BEING
reality questions itself, inquires into what it is to itself.”10 In watching this piece materialise, I realised that exploration and experimentation through prototyping are fundamental parts of my process. This was a surprising revelation, coming from a practice of working in highly conceptual and theoretical ways. I had assumed that all the circular forms would reflect the same shape and height of circle. This was the intended outcome. I did not expect the mirrored surfaces would warp. From this I found the process of discovery is paramount not only in the encounter of the work, but in the making of the work.
THE PROCESS OF DISCOVERY IS PARAMOUNT NOT ONLY IN THE ENCOUNTER OF THE WORK, BUT IN THE MAKING OF THE WORK.
SITE 1
RMIT Design Hub
1
SITE 2
2
Queen Vic Market
Victoria St
reet
t
tree lin S
k Fran
3
SITE 3
6
5
4
108 Franklin St
7 8
t ree tt St
e eck A’B
t
e Stre
SITE 5
abe Eliz
e rob La T
SITE 4
97 Therry St
Que
t ree
n St
nsto
t ree
Swa
t th S
RMIT Building 80
SITE 6
t
tree en S
Old Melbourne Gaol
SITE 7
rke
Bou
RMIT Building 4
t
e Stre
SITE 8
RMIT Building 8 Alley
9
SITE 9
10 11 e lind
F
t
tree rs S
Lingham Ln
SITE 10
Campbell Arcade
SITE 11
Flinders St Station
THE PRACTICE OF BEING
PROJECT 02
ANSWERING
68
SITE QUEST With light as my tool and disruption as my approach, I stepped away from the studio and into the city. I wandered around, spending time in various spaces, attempting to find a site that would enable me to engage with a more direct and focused design exploration. I commenced two modes of practice. Site analysis coupled with schematic design, and material testing with light. I photographed eleven different sites, drew schematic designs for three, and installed mirror acrylic at one site to test its capacities with natural light. In the studio, I used different forms of mirror acrylic with artificial light, to speculate on how arrangement and material might behave when engaged with the motion of the sun. In an attempt to develop my understanding of natural light, I observed the same sites over three weeks. While searching for a site, I reflected on what had emerged from previous projects. I understood that I had been working with full-scale installations employing artificial light in a studio environment. The next step, and a big challenge, would be to work with natural light and all of its potentials and limitations. I approached this chal-
lenge with the same methodology I used previously: making, testing, analysing and working iteratively. Many sites I looked at initially would not allow me to go beyond speculation, and the scale of the project was too large to test in a studio space. Similarly, a couple of sites that had access to direct natural daylight at the beginning of May did not by the end of the month, as the sun had moved too far to the north, and the space was cast in pure shadow. I found this both frustrating and challenging, until I realised I had missed the point. What becomes so intriguing about working into site is not the work as its own entity, but the work as a part of a larger composition that engages with multiple temporal conditions. Activities change, the sun changes, materials alter under different conditions, the random nature of life means that site and situations will unfold in infinite and unknown ways. I realised the fact that my project may only be activated at a certain time of the year does not mean that it is an unsuccessful project. On the contrary, it offers the surprising and delightful encounter that I have been striving to create.
FLINDERS ST STATION CONCEPT 1
FLINDERS ST STATION CONCEPT 2
FLINDERS ST STATION CONCEPT 3
FLINDERS ST STATION CONCEPT 4
CAMPBELL ARCADE CONCEPT 1
CAMPBELL ARCADE CONCEPT 2
RMIT BUILDING 8 ALLEY CONCEPT 1
RMIT BUILDING 8 ALLEY CONCEPT 2
RMIT BUILDING 8 ALLEY CONCEPT 3
RMIT BUILDING 8 ALLEY CONCEPT 4
RMIT BUILDING 8 ALLEY MATERIAL TEST
RMIT BUILDING 8 ALLEY MATERIAL TEST
THE PRACTICE OF BEING
PROJECT 03
ANSWERING
76
ECHO
This project required a site providing not only transition and activity, but also access to natural daylight and a complex interrelationship between light and shadow. Though challenging to find, I eventually discovered a site that would allow me to work with natural light in an effective way. I examined the context of the site, how it is occupied, the materiality that is present and how the sun motion interacts with the various surfaces and spaces. I intended to create a disruption on multiple levels by designing a system that would allow light refraction to activate surfaces and create different perspectives of the site. Ultimately, my agenda was to create a liminal encounter for the occupants. Once I had attained a deeper understanding of the site, I conducted a series of tests to identify what my design project would be. Siteworks at 33 Saxon Street, Brunswick is a large property containing a heritage house (ca. 1888), a school and a stable house. My installation is located on the north-facing facade of the heritage house. With an ornate frontage, I noticed there was only one surface that was unadorned: a flat metal panel running
across the entire facade between the ground and first floor that seemed to disappear and go unnoticed. I saw it as an opportunity for engagement. Using thirty-two mirror acrylic panels that are adhered to the metal surface, this project also engages the surrounding courtyard through the refraction of light on a sunny day. Due to the nature of the acrylic, the mirrored surfaces of each panel are slightly warped. This not only creates a fragmented effect when refracted onto the ground, but offers different perspectives when moving through the site and looking at the image that is reflected in the mirror panels. I approached this project intending to observe, understand, and reflect upon how it might behave depending on temporal conditions. I was interested in how these conditions might contribute to an open and unexpected experience of the work. The philosopher Umberto Eco, talks about the notion of ‘the open work’, an autonomous and open approach to creative practice. According to Eco, acts of conscious freedom are encouraged in the open work, as the piece exists in a perpetual state of
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ANSWERING
transformation. The imaginative capacities of the viewer are engaged, as a plenitude of outcomes and perspectives is facilitated. Amongst a network of relationships between object, space and other beings, the viewer programs his own approach and awareness. Allowing the experience to be in a continuous process of development. I took these ideas and applied them to this project in an attempt to create a visceral experience that sits on the verge of sensation and thought. I focused on creating a sense of ambiguity in the work, which offers free space for interpretation for the viewer. The viewer notices the reflective panels, perceives that the image they see is out of place, they question it and then an answer presents itself. At the same time the unexpected image held in the mirror refracts light onto the space below. There is potential for an experience of wonder and a physically engaging encounter. Like many of my previous projects, the unfolding of this piece gave rise to a whole series of unexpected outcomes and discoveries. I had anticipated flat mirror panels that would create straight lines of light refracted below. I did
PROJECT 03
THE PRACTICE OF BEING
not expect the panels to be warped, and I did not anticipate the light fragmentation that ensued. But, it was a joyous experience to discover the refracted shards of light from each panel overlapping below. I began this project with little understanding of natural light, and by the end I realised the enormous potential in designing in collaboration with nature’s cycles. I recognised that the effect produced by my installation would only occur for a limited period of time surrounding winter solstice. During the summer, as the sun moves further overhead, the light refractions will no longer sit in the shadow of the school building; they will become imperceptible, as those shadows will no longer be present. While observing my work, it was out of my control whether the sun hid behind clouds or rain inhibited my ability to document. What became so enchanting about this experience was that, regardless of my intentions, the work will only present itself when nature abides. Rather than becoming unremarkable due to everyday exposure, this installation remains surprising and delightful in its engagement with the numinous.
WHAT BECAME SO ENCHANTING ABOUT THIS EXPERIENCE WAS THAT, REGARDLESS OF MY INTENTIONS, THE WORK WILL ONLY PRESENT ITSELF WHEN NATURE ABIDES.
SITEWORKS
33 Saxon Street Brunswick
BRUNSWICK EAST
BRUNSWICK
PRINCES HILL
CARLTON NORTH
PARKVILLE
SITE LOCATION
SCHOOL HOUSE Built in 1960
PROJECT SITE
HERITAGE HOUSE Built in 1888
MASTER PLAN
Entrance to Schoolhouse
Overhead Passage
Entrance to House
Entrance/Exit to Site SITE PLAN AND TRAJECTORIES
32 x M
irror A
crylic
Panels
(L400
x H15
0mm)
MIRROR ACRYLIC SYSTEM
Summer
W
S
SUN MOVEMENT
N
E
Winter
8am
8.30am
9am
11am
11.30am
12pm
2pm
2.30pm
3pm
OBSERVATION - 13TH JUNE 2016
9.30am
10am
10.30am
12.30pm
1pm
1.30pm
3.30pm
4pm
4.30pm
CONCLUSION “ENVISION PERCEPTION AS AN ACTION: PURPOSEFUL, VOLUNTARY, AND EXPRESSIVE OF AN INDIVIDUAL’S AUTONOMY. TO THE DEGREE THAT THE SELF UNDERTAKES A WILFUL AND CREATIVE APPERCEPTION OF THE WORLD.”11
THE PRACTICE OF BEING
MY PRACTICE This research project was an equal exploration of my practice alongside my thesis. The projects, mediums, methods and tools allowed me to engage with multiple ways of working. I very quickly realised that testing and discovering are the most important parts of my practice. Through experimentation and prototyping I am able to push the boundaries of my knowledge and capabilities, and evolve constantly. I am interested in a continuous and iterative exploration of the multi-layered coexistence of space and time, and the role that human consciousness plays within that.
THE INTERIOR I propose that there are opportunities for disruption within interior spaces that encourage autonomy, self-reflection and accountability in the ways they are inhabited. My research suggests that liminal conditions are fundamental to this type of engagement. At the threshold of intellect and sensation lies a wondrous rupturing point that encourages new perspective. Breaking the everyday sense of rhythm and thought pattern, a liminal encounter is the place of beginnings. It is the threshold of reality, possibility and enquiry. An encounter with the liminal has the potential to generate human agency, and for a
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94
person to see themself as part of a larger totality. Everyday life is circumscribed by societal conformities, which make up the fabric of our daily lives. How we come to exist and operate within this fabric depends on how we choose to negotiate our way through it. The less circumscribed encounter offers a moment-to-moment experience in which negotiation becomes crucial. This negotiation leads to action: “purposeful, voluntary, and expressive of an individual’s autonomy. To the degree that the self undertakes a wilful and creative apperception of the world.”12 This provocation of self-awareness has the ability to “counter the diminishment of self in our technologically advanced age.”13 I feel an ethical responsibility as a designer in today’s world to consider ways in which design can instigate positive change. There are many issues that demand immediate attention, such as the state of the environment and the human condition. As a designer I am not attempting to fix these issues, nor draw specific attention to them. Instead, through my practice, I intend to sharpen our ability to perceive ourselves as autonomous creatures, able to fully acknowledge our own agency and capabilities. In nurturing a more independent mode of perceiving, I hope this will be an impetus for people to go a step further and actively engage with meaningful practices of their own.
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APPENDIX
THE PRACTICE OF BEING
OLAFUR ELIASSON Beauty, 1993
Olafur Eliasson’s ethical framework aligns very closely with mine. Focused on creating experiences and encounters for people, his work encourages active and present engagement through the body. I have been influenced by his methods of practice and prototyping. Image Credit: http://olafureliasson.net
VITO ACCONCI
Three Relationship Studies, 1970
Vito Acconci’s method of using his own body as the subject in his experimental art practice influenced my personal method of experimention with the body as a medium. Image Credit: http://www.eai.org
THE PRACTICE OF BEING
REFERENCES
1. Kate Goodwin et al., Sensing Spaces : Architecture Reimagined (London: Royal Academy of Arts, 2014), 87. 2. Jane Bennett, The Enchantment of Modern Life (New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 2001), 4. 3. Olafur Eliasson, Your Engagement Has Consequences (London: Koenig Books, 2009), 1. 4. Christian Borch, Architectural Atmospheres (Basel: Birkhäuser, 2014), 102. 5. Madeleine Grynsztejn, Take Your Time: Olafur Eliasson (London: Thames and Hudson, 2007), 190. 6. Nicolas Bourriaud, From Relational Aesthetics (Dijon: Les Presse Du Reel, 1998), 4. 7. Madeleine Grynsztejn, Take Your Time: Olafur Eliasson (London: Thames and Hudson, 2007), 16. 8. Simon O’Sullivan. Art Encounters Deleuze and Guattari : Thought Beyond Representation (Hampshire: Palgrave MacMillan, 2006), 1. 9. Jane Bennett, The Enchantment of Modern Life (New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 2001), 160. 10. Simon Morley, The Sublime (Cambridge: The MIT Press, 2010), 215. 11. Madeleine Grynsztejn, Take Your Time: Olafur Eliasson (London: Thames and Hudson, 2007), 20. 12. ibid., 20. 13. ibid.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
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Bennett, Jane. The Enchantment of Modern Life. New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 2001. Bishop, Claire. “Antagonism and Relational Aesthetics.” October Magazine 110, no. 1 (2004): 51-79. Blesser, Barry and Salter, Linda-Ruth. “Aural Architecture: The Invisible Experience of Space.” OASE 78, no. 1 (2009): 50-63. Borch, Christian, Böhme, Gernot and Olafur Eliasson. “On the Experience and Politics of Architecture.” In Architectural Atmospheres, ed. Christian Borch. Basel: Birkhäuser, 2014. http://www.degruyter.com/view/product/212648 (accessed 1 May, 2016). Bourriaud, Nicolas. From Relational Aesthetics. Dijon: Les Presse Du Reel, 1998. Brislin, Paul. “Identity, Place and Human Experience.” Architectural Design 82, no. 6 (2012): 8-13. Curtis, Adam. The Century of the Self. Documentary. Directed by Adam Curtis. London: BBC, 2002. De Certeau, Michel. The Practice of Everyday Life. Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1988. Dunbar, Robin. “Social Networks: Electronic Networking.” New Scientist 214, no. 2859 (7 April 2012): vi – vii. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/ S0262407912608574/. Dunbar, Robin. “Social Networks: Getting Connected.” New Scientist 214, no. 2859 (7 April 2012): ii – iii. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/ S0262407912608550/. Dunbar, Robin. “Social Networks: Human Social Networks.” New Scientist 214, no. 2859 (7 April 2012): iv – v. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/ S0262407912608562/.
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Eco, Umberto. The Open Work. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1989. Eliasson, Olafur. “Books and arts: Spinning tops and frozen cars; Olafur Eliasson.” The Economist 385, no. 8549 (2007): 114. Eliasson, Olafur. Your Engagement Has Consequences. London: Koenig Books, 2009. Fisher, Philip. Wonder, The Rainbow, and the Aesthetics of Rare Experiences. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1998. Gillick, Liam. “Letters and Responses.” October Magazine 115, no. 1 (2006): 95-107. Goodwin, Kate and Lee, Sarah. Sensing Spaces : Architecture Reimagined. London: Royal Academy of Arts, 2014. Grosz, Elizabeth. Chaos, Territory, Art : Deleuze and the Framing of the Earth. New York: Columbia University Press, 2008. Grynsztejn, Madeleine. Take Your Time: Olafur Eliasson. London: Thames and Hudson, 2007. Holl, Steven. Color Light Time. Zurich: Lars Müller Publishers, 2012. Koch, Andreas and Eggel, Caroline. Olafur Eliasson, Your Chance Encounter. Zurich: Lars Müller Publishers, 2010. Lefebvre, Henri. Rhythmanalysis. London: Continuum, 2004. Morley, Simon. The Sublime. Cambridge: The MIT Press, 2010. O’Sullivan, Simon. Art Encounters Deleuze and Guattari : Thought Beyond Representation. Hampshire: Palgrave MacMillan, 2006. Pallasmaa, Juhani. "Empathic Imagination: Formal and Experiential Projection.” Architectural Design 84, no. 5 (2014): 80-85.
THANK YOU TO Olivia Pintos-Lopez, Anthony Fryatt, Millie Cattlin, Joseph Norster, Michael Trudgeon, Anna Conrick, Kate Jenkin and Astrid Leslie