INTERIOR DESIGN STUDIO 2006

GRAVITAS

ross mcleod and jason parmington

The studio began with the students familiarizing themselves with the surrealist art techniques of collage, assemblage, montage and homage while they traced the evolution of twentieth century sculptural practices.

Using montage techniques, a short video clip was produced of a particular sculptors work that carried their concerns, character, emotive essence and sculptural intent. This presentation was accompanied by a small assemblage sculpture which played homage to the vision and techniques of the chosen artist. Concurrently the students employed the techniques of frottage to record the textures and traces of the fabric of the city. By the careful overlay and juxtaposition of textural elements in these works on paper they attempted to evoke essences and moments of the city, its history and culture.

These two separate studies were then brought together in a sculptural piece that interpreted the theme of memory of space - space of memory. The piece was to be in the form of an object/ assemblage/ sculpture/ spatial device that sets up a dynamic between object and space.

How does a work of art or design work simultaneously in personal, emotional, cultural and social ways? The aim of this project was to produce a piece of work that somehow communicated universally on an essentially human level to powerfully evoke memories and emotions in the viewer/ experiencer. The students were asked to carefully consider the language of objects and materials and the potentials that lie in their composition. The brief asked what associations do we connect with specific materials and objects and how may these associations be highlighted through the careful arrangement and assemblage of contrasting elements.

These themes were continued in the final project of the semester in which we moved from personal investigations of twentieth century sculpture to ideas and issues that address civic and community concerns. For this phase of the semester we turned our attentions to the idea of the Urban Void. The students chose a building or space form anywhere in the world and documented its physical structure, spatial dynamic, history and cultural context. They then developed a sculptural and spatial intervention for the chosen architectural void.

The design was to focus and amplify the sites spatial phenomena and expose specific issues and meanings inherent in the site and its typology. The concept of gravity was to be interwoven as both a metaphor and technical device in the design response.