I have recently been looking at old maps and aerial photos of the city, with a view to finding interesting architecture or locations for practice 3. I have also been thinking about the street maps, the spaces around buildings, following a comment in my feedback about negative space. With this in mind I looked at one of the more complex forms I made for practice 2, and tried to work out how the space around it would look. I started to make drawings in my sketchbook of this form. I started to 'break up' the practice 2 piece and attach bits of it to the edges of a cylindrical form, still leaving a hole at the centre of the piece. I liked the look of this from above and decided to make a maquette.
This was too small and so didn't quite work out as I wanted, so I decided to throw it away when Kath Stevens said she liked it (and threatened to tell Micaela). There was something about it I quite liked too, I think it was either the incursions into the geometric shape, or the pathways in and around the separate lobes. It was like a somewhat underdeveloped labyrinth, it needed a marble inside it, like a bagatelle game. It brought back memories of navigating through the city centre, using short cuts and quieter routes to get from A to B. It was like the small streets and walkways between the tall buildings at the top of King Street and Spring Gardens, that I used to take as a child, and later as a student when I had a summer job there.
I want to retain this possibility of space inside and around the buildings, linked to my memories of the city.
I have been reading about Rachel Whiteread and negative space, following a suggestion during my feedback assessment. I have a number of books on Whiteread, and will continue my reading in this area. I like the idea that her work shows traces of the past, for example wallpaper imprints in her work 'House'. This reminds me of the weathering by water and metal salts that I looked at in Practice 2.
Her work emphasises what is missing, the living space, the people. I am not sure that solid forms are right for me, or whether I can physically manage large ceramic pieces. I also see urban spaces as teeming with generations of people and energy and possibilities, fast moving, and a bit chaotic, so I want space inside and around to the forms. But I will continue my reading, and thinking about these themes, as there are no doubt some interesting ideas that I may be able to relate to my own work.
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