AESTHETICS OF THE OBSCURE

Aesthetic: noun

/iːsˈθetɪk/,  /esˈθetɪk/

1. the qualities and ideas in a work of art or literature that relate to beauty and the nature of art

2. aesthetics the branch of philosophy that studies the principles of beauty, especially in art

Aesthetic: adjective

/iːsˈθetɪk/,  /esˈθetɪk/

1. connected with beauty and art and the understanding of beautiful things

2. made in an artistic way and beautiful to look at

Define Beauty?

The definitions of Aesthetic(s) as defined by many dictionaries are all related to beauty. On the other hand, in an artistic sense, beauty is often defined by what is not. But ultimately, it is rather meaningless to define beauty or ugliness. It is as unquantifiable as it is ever transforming. Nevertheless, there are also other kinds of beautycontrasting to the beauty in the apparent sense. It is the beauty in the idea of something, in the thought and effort behind its creation and function, in the stories and time it has stored, in its imperfection and faults, in its unrefined and raw truth, in its potential of becoming something else.

This piece of work looks into these genres of beauty - The Obscure Aesthetics; hidden within the urban spaces of Glasgow City Centre’ s laneways - ignored and not necessarily deemed desirable or paid attention to at all.

Through the lens of different eyes, photography is used to investigate this alternative way of seeing. It has the ability to present an unprocessed set of information that allows each audience’s attention to independently observe and interpret freely. Photography is a more truthful and less guided way of presenting - especially in the highly curated world of architecture.

The photographic analysis is juxtaposed in parallel to the selected works of three photographers and artists; Thomas Annan, Jonathan Miller, and Chris Leslie.

Thomas Annan: The Old Closes and Street of Glasgow (1868-1900) Commissioned by The Glasgow City Improvement Trust in 1866, Thomas Annan recorded the old Glasgow before most of it was demolished due to the congested and poor living condition. In the series, the images not only capture the spatial quality of the narrow and dim-lit closes and streets, but also manage to illustrate life within the slum and how the space was used and occupied, reflecting social quality at the time.

Jonathan Miller: Nowhere in Particular (1999) For over 30 years Jonathan Miller has produced photographs of fragments and details of negligible objects in everyday life, bits and pieces of the unusual and overlooked things in the street that caught his eye. The images are closely framed, making it impossible to perceive its context - or meaning. The works attempt no intellectual interests, but represent an opportunity to see ordinary things that might escape our attention in a new intriguing way.

Chris Leslie: Disappearing Glasgow: A Photographic Journey (2016) The works document the infamous demolition of Glasgow’ s tower blocks - once a utopian housing solution to mass demolition between 1960s70s. Behind a desolate and haunting photographic series of ruins and abandoned rooms, the now disappeared legacy and community of the people who once lived there was depicted. Despite the issues of a housing solution gone wrong, the nostalgia of a happy home and memories of the residents was expressed and reminisced, along with the hopeful talk and promise for what is to come.

All three works by these photographers are not of what society deems beautiful, but from them - their true condition, their histories - we learn to appreciate the city, the architecture, the community, and its livelihood, particularly the ones that are negligible and precarious or have now disappeared. From them, we are prompted to discern the mirage of the emerging future.

Leading the same thought process in parallel to the above photographic works, the produced photographs of laneways are analysed and curated into three series to highlight the beautiful liminality of the neglected urban space.

1. What it is: Urban Reality

2. What it is not: Abstract Negligibles

3. What it could be: Tracing Future

Urban Reality

In the first instance, the true condition of laneways needs to be depicted and understood as is, revealing what is normally unseen from the public. The spatial quality and the raw experiential aesthetics are captured and presented as unprocessed truth.

Abstract Negligible

In order to develop closer understanding, the negative preconceptions need to be disassociated. By framing the existing mundane, negligible objects into an abstract composition, the produced scenes are detached from its context, along with the negative associations embedded within, enabling the aesthetic quality to be clearer appreciated.

Tracing Future

To accelerate the train of thought into the possible future of laneways, this series tries to shine lights onto traces and marks as the evidence of life and storage of time, in an attempt to unveil the existing connections between its past stories and future potential.

Candidness

The true nature of its aesthetics. The same allure as seeing a person being at ease in the comfort of their own home - unguarded, with no pretence and free of any expectationunseen and hidden but laid bare.

This exploration initially aims to reveal its unseen aesthetics and advocate for its sustainable potential for future urban development. In spite of this, the work remains as subjective as the idea of beauty and ugliness itself.

However, these series of photographs have captured moments that ultimately exhibit architecture in a way that other forms of representation might not be able to - candidly. Throughout the photographic process as a photographer, an archivist, an urban planner or an architectural artist - layers of life and urban interactions are witnessed as palimpsest in the weathered bricks, cracked walls or marks on the ground. The obscure aesthetics of laneways are, hence, revealed. Neither positive nor negative, but it takes the audience in and sparks sensibility that puts in motion the fantasy of beautiful possibilities.