Portfolio synopsis

Fallow Occupation; Evidence of Decay has developed as a project from numerous origins. Significantly my personal interest in local scale activist activities and architecture. Looking to the Situationist International for reference, alongside modern day approaches for change, my blog http://emmaharrisondesign.blogspot.com/ refers to a number of these interests. 

Across every city there are countless oppourtunities for design, my project is based in one of these ‘wasted’ spaces often targeted by activists. A derelict petrol station on Wandsworth Road; when a petrol station ceases to work it must stand fallow for a two year period. My instalation will occupy the space for this time period and at the end the space can be further transformed. 

My project is a piece of design which addresses questions raised in my 

thesis, how city inhabitants can claim land. I have developed a charachter who creates this project, he is an artist/ activist/ anti -developer who spends his time wandering the city streets analysing them, much like Patrick Keiller. Therefore the projects he works on tend to be well considered intractley planned ‘guerilla’ projects that grow/ develop alongside the city but at a different pace. 

The instalation has developed through his interest with intervening with the balanisation of the city. The instalation I have created inverts preconceptions; from manipulating the typical routes one follows in a petrol station, to the beautifully carved ‘anti’ gallery walls responding to the typical galley layout. Questioning the art gallery as a frame for art much like the Situationists, here the gallery becomes the piece siting within the city context. 

The two year fallow period is one of the crucial elements that my design responds to. A structure which dissapears speaks not only about time but also sustainability. Could a waste material gain a new use but also be reused at the end? After numerous experiments i found luto (a waste material from the local Chelsea foundry) can have this circular life. It acts as a stimulant in the breakdown of the plaster and can be crushed into a fine powder. Hence as visitor numbers increase a ‘blanket’ of powder will signify the existance of ‘something’ in the space, leaving a sign to the city.