Guerrillas hit Selfridges

Selfridges often have really cool art displays and this wasn't one of the best, however I couldn't help but be uplifted by the theme. Guerrilla activity seems to be publicised more and more - this is really amazing as it's often hard to hear about things as they rely on their network of supporters. I like the seed bomb vending machines -  this really relates to my 2A project - I can't believe I didn't know they existed until I started designing something similar - often the way for designers.

Derelict Mayfair

Whilst wandering around mayfair I found this derelict petrol station wedged between a lovely victorian building and a construction site - no doubt this will disappear soon, once it's 'released' from its' sleep.

Narrative development

I am developing the narrative through the introduction of characters, I have categorised the types of visitors to the installation. This links back to my initial interest following my thesis in trying to make an environment  which would heighten the experience of the pedestrian in the city. Thus one of the characters/ visitors is inspired by the urban wanderer, I am by no means the first person to project experience through a character - this is how the figure of the urban wanderer developed - he appears in a number of novels; Robinson Crusoe to name just one. 

The wanderer. 

Being an art gallery I needed another figure - those people who want to see the structure. Someone looking for something; this is where the 'seeker' originated from. I then built a further narrative around the seeker. If there were no formal advertising then there needs to be a way people hear about the instalation - yes word of mouth, but something more subtle would be seeing an element of it 'out of place' this fits with the dissolving. I produced this map - which indicates how the project infiltrates into the city and affects it on a wider scale but also acts as a trail for the seeker to follow. 

Drawing this map was a rather challenging exercise. 

The seeker - has planned his journey to be as direct as possible. 

Character + Design Tool.

As I have developed the character I can fully develop a narrative for him as an obsessive man (this is a good way to show my research through him, I can present all sorts of analysis and details abut the site and project, as as it's fragments of a mans workings they don't necessarily need to be all tied together - as the narrative can be the thread that binds them. 

I have chosen the style of an obsessive character as my site analysis was particularly detailed in some areas, take the prediction of visitors - something fundamental to describe the dissolving process in a larger sense. So I can use my research into both routes and visitor numbers to present a detailed fragment of the activist thoughts - thus the project can become graphical and include a layer of more technical information without loosing the delicacy that the structural form has. 

This sheet is all information about visitors, but now I have a narrative about over analysing it fits perfectly. Using pedestrian count results from site over a period of days I was able to extrapolate the data to predict the number of passers by in 24 months, and thus decide that of all total pedestrian passing 4% would enter and experience the installation. Each line represent 100 people. 

Similarly for cars I predicted that 0.2% would enter. The road has a huge volume of traffic, but I need to consider that many of these people are accessing central london, and therefore would not deviate from their planned journey. It is a lot more likely that when in a car you have a planned destination than a pedestrian necessarily would. 

The character/ activist

The scheme has evolved from analysis of the city and how people intact with it, the design reflects on the city in a larger scale. The activist has closely analysed use of the city and this analysis and research needs to form a vital part of my project, many elements of which link to my thesis. The project needs to reveal his thoughts and workings in order to reveal the depth behind the scheme. I need to consider how to present the intricate workings and testings of the activist. I think in this way my project almost needs to develop a dual personality in it's presentation.

How the space works

I am trying to express the spaces created by the instalation. From the plan I have tried to compose some of the interior views. These images will form a vital part of expressing the feeling and athmosphere inside my instaltaion. I will draw from the perspective of a pedestrian but also from inside the car, as these are the two ways the instalation can be experienced.

Time - the two year driving force

These sketches show the drawings I need to do to show how the structure is  effected by time. 

Depictions

I have done a series of drawings to depict how the structure is effected by time and the conditions that develop over time. Hopefully this graph shows how things fit together over the two year period, I have tried to consider the project at 5 main points: instillation, +6 months, +12 months, +18months and +24 months. 

Reference - Clare Twomey

Clare Twomey is a ceramic artist who makes large scale ceramic installations.  Images from consciousness/ Conscience, which was in the ceramic biennial in Korea.

This installation of 7000 hollow bone china tiles laid on the floor, forces you to become a participant immediately as you enter you become a part of the work as the floor breaks underfoot. Clare Twomey is described as being like a composer in this piece; she has made the work but it is up to the player in how it is 'played out'.

I love both the idea behind this piece but also the visuals, I am particularly drawn to work which requires interaction and even more so when it is delicate in form and done with such a sense of beauty.

Up until finding this work, a few people had been questioning my work in terms of the physability of my project and how the fallen fragments of shale would have to be collected. I felt this was bringing to much practicality to the project and the essence of this dissolving form which happens without human interaction yet provokes human interaction through its' changing form was being overlooked and almost forgotten by my tutors, to me this is the essence of the project and this angered me.

I had been trying to think about the practicalities of the dissolving/ crumbling form alongside the narrative of the project when I discovered this project, and this has solved my problem. This is beautiful and poetic yet also relatively practical and even more so in the fact that cars will be crushing the fragment (even better if some of them puncture the tyres thinks the activist).  I can now develop the narrative of the floor through time from tarmac to powder which will coat the tyres so that hopefully they leave a trail across the city when they depart.

Petrol Station Honfleur, France

I love this cool petrol station in france - it's like a greenhouse - yet it sells pollutants.
This design allowed me to see the structure within the roofs of these buildings - it allowed me to consider changing the roof without effecting the structural properties.

ROYAL ACADEMY Modern British Sculpture

I have decided that to support my final model I will also create a series of narrative drawings which describe what it's like to inhabit the space. These will mainly be perspective drawings and I will try to layer information about both their structure but also atmosphere to depict the environment. I am hoping that I can create a series of these drawings which describe the space and materials.

I am currently trying to establish the views that will be vital for the project to be understood, I am exploring these through sketching and referencing, and these will develop into drawings.