[ architecture | drawing | movement ]

Three working diagrams that underpin the working process of this collaborative project.


1. A M D
An illustration of the in-flux relationships between architecture, movement and drawing, operating in both constraining and generating modes.


2. Constraining to Generating
In the initial point of occurrence Architecture, Drawing and Movement are each present in a constrained relationship (each one is equivalent to the others). As information is lifted from this initial point the system moves from a constrained relationship to a generative relationship. The generative capacity of the system increases as detail is reduced.


3. A / B
Pay attention to the areas of overlap between two identities. There is a slippery futility to naming and an impossibility to clearly defined boundaries. Our neat labels will always shift and change gradually. Where are the edges of our own body?

A selection of documentation from Benjamin and Rhiannon’s three week residency at CIA studios in October 2011. Utilising their own disciplinary frameworks and expertise as initial starting points, they began to construct simple experiments in order deconstruct the boundaries between architecture, drawing and movement, and simultaneously learn about each other’s practice. The aim was to simultaneously develop multiple possible direction’s that can be selected from for future development. Everything is very much still in the stages of becoming, nothing is static.


Below are a selection of the experiments that occurred during this first stage of development.

A system or an identity may appear stable for a time, however nothing is ever still. There is always movement. Gradually dancing, small variations constantly shift the system until a threshold is reached. This is related to the idea of a critical point. It is the point, or the moment, that a stable system shifts and becomes another. Identities break, and in turn are reapplied, but for a moment the groundless ground is revealed. Two stable systems collide, each shifts dramatically, splintering off into multiple possible forms, or maybe only for a moment each returning to its own predictable stability in time.

Drawing is always slipping and fading. Light traces intensities on your retina –
flickering across a network of nerves, leaving a moments residue glowing.

TRANSCRIPTION PROCESS:

1. Use an entrance or exit as the starting point.

2. One person is the measuring device. Choose whatever
     body part is appropriate to the distance of the surface
     being measured (for example small distances can be mapped
     with finger lengths and larger distances with body lengths).

3. Measure the distance of each surface of the space, including
     permanent fixtures, sequentially in an anti-clockwise direction.

4. Record the distances as amounts of the chosen body part and
    notate the direction of the surface in relation to the previous
    measurement (for example 5 forearm lengths 90° left).

5. Record any opening on a vertical plane (for
     example window, vent or door) as a gap.

UNRAVELLING PROCESS:

1. In a new space mark a point spatially relative to the
     starting point of the first space.

2. Sequentially map out each of the listed distances and
     directions using another person as the measuring device.

3. Mark the lengths and joins with materials that work well
     in the new space (for example pegs and string for soil
     or masking tape for concrete).

4. Leave gaps where notated.

An experiment in reconstructing the mapped architecture through movement. Imagine forty bodies articulating the facades, establishing rhythm and form. Now imagine after a time they blindfold themselves, repeating the movement from memory. Slowly shifting until the accumulation of errors result in complete break down. Or imagine another group of bodies ignoring the implied architecture, walking straight lines through the established structure.

Thank you to the dancers from LINK dance company for helping sketch this idea.