Paul Morley AD313 Creative Enquiry : Research Practices Sept 2015 May 2016

Transcription

1 Paul Morley AD313 Creative Enquiry : Research Practices Sept 2015 May 2016

2 Contents Publication (Photography Book) Page 3 11 Initiating the overall idea Page Literature Page 20 Visual Research (Architecture) Page Visual Research (Places and Objects) Page Process and Materials Page Models (maquette and digital) Page Making Process Page Visual Research (Context for pieces) Page Finished Work Page (All photography by Paul Morley unless otherwise stated website sources referenced where applicable)

3 Publication Photography Book (layout as printed)

4 Front Cover

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12 Initiating the overall idea

13 Initial visual research was prompted by a trip to Margate. On a cold, wet and windy October day it felt rather ironic that the first glimpse of the town was a large concrete tower block and a rather sad, weather beaten sign displaying the words Dreamland Welcomes You. I started to question why buildings such as palaces and stately homes bestow a grandiosity that is celebrated whilst buildings such as concrete brutalist tower blocks are considered hostile and uncommunicative. I then reflected on why other concrete spaces such as carparks and stairwells seem very isolated places and translate this feeling of loneliness to humans when using them. I felt I wanted to explore and celebrate the unconventional beauty of concrete spaces.

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16 Collage ideas for revealing what is beyond the facade of a brutal building; behold a beauty inside. Abstracting parts of buildings.

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18 sketchbook ideas thinking about staircases and repeat form (small photo taken from

19 ideas for trapped and disjointed objects and forms

20 Literature read to follow up initial ideas Literature that I found interesting and fitted with the theme of concrete places and isolation:- JG Ballard Concrete Island The fictional story of a man marooned below a motorway interchange after his car careered through a crash barrier and off the road, dropping to the isolated concrete area underneath. Marc Auge Non-Places A French Anthropologist who coined the phrase non-places. Supermodernist spaces of transience such as motorways, hotels, airport lounges and supermarkets; places that do not hold enough significance to be regarded as places.

21 Concrete Architecture

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24 Olivetti Building, Japan Palace of Justice, India /1952-le-corbusier-palace-of-justice Unité d Habitation, France

25 Soviet Bus Stops Raw aesthetic and stand alone objects. Cast concrete which seems simplistic in design but with additional over-engineered parts. These portray an essence of power. All photos from book Soviet Bus Stops by Christopher Herwig

26 Places and Objects The following images are a selection of my own photography taken throughout the project that provided me with initial ideas and thoughts. The majority of the research work has been informed through visiting various desolate places alone to experience feelings of isolation and separateness. Most visits have taken place early in the morning to limit interaction with other people. I have tried to capture the feeling of isolation and desertion. I was interested in taking photography of broken and abandoned objects that were no longer functioning, almost non-descript but still giving the viewer an inclination of former use. I was particularly careful to not have any people in the photography to portray an isolated and uncomfortable theme.

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35 New England House, Brighton Passing this building every day I became intrigued with the cantilevered stair layout. Visual Research video of staircase:-

36 Process and Materials

37 combining concrete with other materials foam

38 combining concrete with other materials perspex (chipped and rodded)

39 combining concrete with other materials perspex (sheet)

40 combining concrete with other materials polystyrene

41 combining concrete with other materials ceramics

42 combining concrete with other materials ceramics

43 combining concrete with foam and testing forms

44 joining objects to concrete and testing form

45 testing different textures for concrete surface wood polycarbonate sheet laminate sheet

46 selected concrete test pieces

47 plaster mould tests for slip-casting brutalist type objects (these failed as the cast slip ripped when releasing them)

48 Testing Oasis material trying to achieve rusted steel like textures (lightly burning surface was rather toxic so did not continue with tests)

49 glaze test to achieve mustard colour (line blend)

50 Model Making and Digital Models

51 rough sketches for models

52 basic models

53 foam board construction ideas for wall mounted piece

54 digital models designed in AutoCad solid digital models are drawn solid digital models are sliced up

55 digital model sliced and separated into chosen sheet material thickness digital slices flattened to two dimensional shapes for laser cutting

56 laser cut models passing a piece of dowel through holes cut centrally allows for different configurations of the same model

57 Making Process

58 plaster mould making

59 clay press mould from MDF

60 slip-cast stair pieces

61 joining slip-cast pieces

62 composition ideas for stair pieces

63 composition ideas for tower block pieces

64 constructing formwork for setting ceramic in concrete

65 some of the things that went wrong Trying to apply a stain first and then transparent glaze made the glaze peel and not adhere to the ceramic. Glazing these larger pieces proved difficult as the closed shape with small pour holes made the glaze inside very thick causing pieces to break. This was also consistent with the stair pieces that were closed pieces.

66 Visual Research (context and concluding work)

67 A visit to Dungeness in March 2016 provided me with context and a conclusion for the work. The disused and rusting objects on the beach had been left as a reminder of a previous time when fishing in the area was the main industry, overtaken now by the huge power station now occupying the beach area. The large industrial objects that had once been set in shuttered smooth concrete and more than likely to have been housed in some form of work hut were now left exposed to the natural elements that swept across the land from the sea. The concrete had kept its form but now had a rough aesthetic almost natural to the surroundings. After seeing these objects and the condition of the concrete I realised that this was how I could translate the environments that I had been photographing throughout the year and embrace the raw aesthetic, fragility and disquiet of these spaces. The forms would be abstract and non-functional objects that celebrated the unconventional beauty that these places hold.

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69 Finished Work

70 Ceramic Torque in Concrete (Size 600x500x300mm)

71 Ceramic Staircase with Concrete Base (Size 800x260x260mm)

72 Ceramic Tower Block in Concrete (Size 520x300x350mm)

73 Ceramic Torque into Concrete (Size 2150x400x400mm)