I need to focus on form and architecture
Form is more important to me than colour and texture. I have accepted, with some reservations, that for this module I will use slab building, as I am researching a place that happens to be an area of a city. I have also accepted that I might end up producing something quite complex rather than minimalist. The place I am researching has undergone extensive change and regeneration, it is also at the heart of a Victorian city, and Victorian architects had no qualms about employing a variety of architectural styles. I have researched this area thoroughly in terms of architecture and history, and I am finding it difficult to find a focus, as there are many directions that I could choose. I need to narrow down my focus, so I have decided to focus on the architecture and architectural details in order to find a form that I am interested in.
People are not my main focus
I have thought a lot about how I might also represent the people who lived and worked in the area, by movement, or by using proportion.
In terms of movement I was influenced by Nadir Afonso's paintings and Damien Hirst's spin paintings, and I liked this as an idea, and because it was a pleasant contrast to the straight lines of the architecture. However in the end I could not see a way of combining the two in a way that I would find aesthetically pleasing.
A second possibility I explored was using data about the residents and businesses in the area to say something about the place. I summarised the data, from my 1911 research, by occupation, at the time when the corn exchange was the busiest building in the area. This led me to thinking about proportion. However this made me a little uneasy, I had chosen this area as it showed the passage of time, but by choosing a data set from one particular year, I had lost an important idea, that buildings bear witness to the passage of time. I was also concerned that by using data and proportions, the forms that I was drawing, and making were simple forms associated with data, not necessarily people, and definitely not place.
I also considered including symbols for occupations, and I made a pocket-watch and a cotton reel, with the intention of filling a layered 'building' form with representations of the occupations performed in the area. I was influenced by Tony Marsh who made bowls with elements inside. I am not sure about this very literal representation, and also feel that this would be going off on a tangent.
Architecture is my focus for this module
This brings me back to my initial concern, I need and want to focus on form, and want this to be architectural and/or sculptural in nature. If I can move forward on this then, in the future, I can think how, and whether, I want to represent the people who occupied the area in some way. I am going to look at the architecture and architectural details in current and former buildings on the site, and try to represent the architectural history of the place, and how various buildings have either remained or declined over time. Once I get an idea of form, and improve my slab building, I will experiment with colour and or texture to show change over time, using either the architectural details or some means of showing how some buildings become more or less prominent.
I had a chat with both Micaela and Rob about this, and they agreed that I need to narrow down my focus. My conversation with Rob reminded me of an earlier conversation with him in practice module 1, when he had advised me to narrow my focus. He was right then, so this time I am going to listen and just focus on my primary interest of the architecture. He told me to change my first draft learning agreement, and I have done that. Micaela was also concerned that there were too many options which were stopping me making and going forward, and I know that this is true. I have sketched some complex 'Maximalist' pots, combining architectural forms and details, and made a cardboard maquette of a potential vessel. I will start from this and see whether I can produce a form that I am happy with. This week I intend to start two architectural forms, related to this maquette, one with colour but no texture, and one with texture but no colour, both made using slabs. This should help my making skills, and help me decide whether to focus on colour or texture, or both.
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