GM Proposal (before PowerPoint)...

CONCEPT

BLANKS

‘WE START WITH A BLANK: A WORLD OF POSSIBILITY’ [i]

I PROPOSE TO EMBELLISH AND DRAW ATTENTION TO THE EVERYDAY. GEOFFREY MANTON IS MANY PEOPLES EVERYDAY.

I WANT TO EMBELLISH AND WORK WITH THE STRUCTURE AND NATURE OF THE BUILDING; A WHITE BLANK SPACE ‘FULL OF MEANING, A WIDE LANDSCAPE OF SNOWS’.[ii]

I WANTED TO THINK ABOUT THIS IDEA OF BLANKS AND ‘OUR AMBITIONS TO IMPROVE UPON IT’ [iii], A DESIRE TO MAKE A MARK, BE ORIGINAL AND MEANINGFUL.

THERE ARE BLANKS IN LITERATURE, THE IDEA OF BLANK SPACES, AND BLANKS IN MAPS LINK TO AN IDEA I DESCRIBE AS A 'QUEST FOR KNOWLEDGE', WHICH I BELIEVE TO BE A RATHER FITTING CONCEPT FOR A BUILDING FULL OF WHITE SPACE, WHICH PROVIDES A CONSTANT INFLUX AND FLOW OF KNOWLEDGE AND DISCOVERY TO MANY STUDENTS.

MY PROPOSAL IS A CORRESPONDING SERIES OF PIECES SITUATED ON THE FIRST FLOOR ON THE BUILDING.

BLANK MINIMAL AND SIMPLISTIC, THEY RELATE TO A QUOTE FROM WALTER BENJAMIN, ILLUMINATIONS[iv]: ‘INFORMATION LEAVES NOTHING TO THE IMAGINATION FOR WE HAVE GIVEN IT ALL’ AND SO WE NEED TO ‘AROUSE A THOUGHTFULNESS’:

BLANK POUCHES

BLANK POCKETS

BLANK PHOTOS

CONTAINERS AND PIECES: BLANK SPACES ON WHICH WE CAN REFLECT ABOUT MAKING OUR OWN MARK.

MATERIALS

‘ART PROVIDES A THINKING POINT’ 

I BELIEVE IN MAKING PIECES THAT ARE CONCEPTUALLY, AS WELL AS AESTHETICALLY INTERESTING WHICH IS WHY I WANTED TO EXPLORE THE SHAPES OF THE BUILDING AND REFLECT THE ODD-BEAUTY OF THE WALLS, CORRIDORS AND SPACES.

TO ADD AND BLANK HAS BEEN A PROCESS OF MY EXPLORATION AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE BUILDING, I HAVE PHOTOGRAPHED AND ANALYSED THE SPACE AND ENGAGED WITH THE BUILDING AND STUDENTS ADDING TEMPORARY PIECES AND ASKING FOR EVERYDAY EXPERIENCE S IN PHOTOGRAPHIC FORM..

BLANK ‘PHOTOS’ MADE OUT OF PLASTER, LIGHTLY ENGRAVED REPRESENTATIONS OF BLANKS AROUND THE BUILDING. TEXTILE POUCHES- TEXTILES AS CONTAINERS-CONTAINING AND DISTRIBUTING OUR IDEAS. USING FABRICS; WOOL, COTTON AND SILK AS NATURAL, FAMILIAR MATERIALS, BUT ALSO EXPERIMENTING : ADDING DIFFERENT MATERIALS AND METHODS (MOULDING PASTE AND LAZER CUTTING) EXPLORING IDEAS OF FUSING THE NEW AND OLD IDEAS.

MATERIALS

SILK ORGANZA

MONKS WOOL

NATURAL COTTON

PLASTER OF PARIS

MOUDLING PASTE

COTTON THREAD

LOCATION

THE PIECES WILL BE INSTALLED ON THE FIRST FLOOR.

POUCHES AND POCKETS/PICTURES ARE LOCATED ON OPPOSITE WALLS, DISTRIBUTING THEMSELVES AS ACROSS THE WIDE SPACE. CREATING A COMFORTING CONNECTION AND FEELING.

THE QUIETNESS AND ECHOEY-NATURE OF THE BUILDING IS SOMETHING I FOUND INTRIGUING ON MY OBSERVATIONS AND RECORDINGS OF MY TRIPS TO THE BUILDING.

I WANTED TO THINK A LITTLE ABOUT A RECONFIGURATION OF  THE SPACE AND ITS IMAGE.THE IDEA IS TO PROVIDE A QUITE CONNECTION ACROSS THE SPACE, PIECES OPPOSITE EACH OTHER TO CREATE A REFLECTIVE SILENT DIALOGUE BETWEEN THE TWO PARTS, EACH SIDE ECHOES THE OTHER.

EACH PIECE WILL BE PINNED OR RESTING ON THE WALLS (BY NAILS) OF THE BUILDING, REFLECTING A CONNECTION TO THE BUILDING ITSELF.

 ‘A MUTE MEMORIAL TO THE EVERYDAY’ [i] RACHEL WHITEREAD.

PLASTER PIECES ARRANGED AND FIXED IN GRID-LIKE ARRANGEMENTS AND THE LARGER FABRIC PIECES FACING OUT INTO THE ATRIUM MAY REQUIRE SCAFFOLDING AND MODERATELY STRENGTHY NAILS, WALL HOOKS AND ATTACHMENTS.

LARGE POUCHES x2 – H2mxW1.5m approx..

SMALL POCKETS x2 – H0.55mxW0.30m approx..

PLASTER GRIDS  x3- H0.7mxW1.0m approx

After discussions with Kate, I am going to transfer everything onto a PowerPoint, a more professional way of presenting my work! Something new and a little scary; they were a little shaky and I was thinking they look a little 70s style (which could actually be quite interesting)... 

But I am going to use my boards anyway, as they still demonstrate the development of my project and helped me glue it all together...

Nearly finished!