thick history

By Graham on February 21, 2012 5:31 AM |
Sorry Sorry Sorry for the late post... fell asleep printing...


Thick History

1940 Berlin will comprise the base layer of the drawing.  Time will increase as the layers are built up.  The top layer will be the present or 2010 Berlin.  Folding will be used for subjective readings of the city.


1940 Berlin
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1953 Berlin
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1989 Berlin
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2010 Berlin
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Collecting History

By Graham on February 16, 2012 8:49 PM |

The location of mirror is in yellow. (unsure of the shape (currently oval), I would like it to enclose the Friedrichstrasse region, yet at the same time, if I follow its geography to closely, the mirror will become jagged - and I think it needs to be pure from the start, need to find a critical hybrid..)  

I will upload much more soon, I am in the process of collecting and scanning monuments and internal architectures.

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drawing the internal image (model drawing)

By Graham on February 13, 2012 6:07 PM |
Preparing the drawings for the folding paper model have taken much longer than anticipated.  I have been drawing by hand today to try to speed up the process, at least for exploration..

Also, after our talk on Friday about the accuracy of the geography of the city I critique, I have decided to work with Berlin.  This decision was based for one on my knowledge and research acquired with researching the Friedrichstrasse Passage, but also in the clear distinction between the commercial/tourist draw to Friedrichstrasse and its isolation within its historical context.  I will draw the metaphorical mirror around the Friedrichstrasse and Mitte area - alienating both the internal and external images...


Below are images of the prints.  The content so far is of architecture within the internal image..

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Each one is different...

Below are the two drawings that the folding models are based on.

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gestalt to hint at duality

By Graham on February 9, 2012 7:56 PM |
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In this drawing I have used gestalt to imply the continuation of the buildings through the negative space.  The content of the drawing is just for testing different techniques.



Argument Framed

By Graham on February 6, 2012 7:35 PM |
Over the last few days I have developed a structure/story for framing my argument.  To avoid misunderstandings, I have reviewed my text daily with an external correspondent to ensure simplification/clarity.

The premise of this move in my work is to advance from the recon.

The story below, outlines my critique on the identity of a city and ends in a proposition for the function of the passage.

_____________________________________________________________________________ 

Two Identities of the City

 

 

The identity of the city is divided between an external image of the city and an internal image of the city.

 

The external image is the image perceived by individuals on the exterior of the city, and is predicated around its history and its monuments.

 

The internal image is the image perceived by individuals on the interior of the city, and is created through consumption and communication.

 

 

Identification

 

 

"The mirror is a virtual plane between the real and the representation of the real."

 

 

The external image of the city is divided from the internal image of the city through a metaphorical mirror.  Both the external and internal images are reflected against themselves, alienating them amongst the identity of the city as a whole.  The duplication of the image through reflection creates a continuity of the image, stripping down its sense of reality.

 

-

 

As the city expands and intensifies, the perpetual duplication of the images within the mirror causes the identities to become suffocating.

 

-

 

The individuals of the interior become conscious of the represented image through the intensity of exhaustion and suffocation, and begin to fight against the mirror for relief.

 

The individuals of the exterior become conscious of the represented image through the intensity of exhaustion and suffocation, and begin to fight against the mirror for relief.

 

-

 

As the mirror is attacked from either side, it becomes scratched and distorted.  The image of the city becomes disrupted and confused.  The once perceived continuity becomes deceptive and begins to reveal the superficiality of its representation, and reality becomes questioned. 

 

-

 

Inhabitation within the distorted image of the interior becomes threatening and delusional, as consumption and communication are repeated beyond control, and space becomes evasively liminal.

 

Inhabitation within the distorted image of the exterior becomes threatening and delusional, as historicity becomes fractured and skewed, and space becomes symbolically offensive.

 

 

The Exchange of Identity

 

 

The madness created by the distortion of the mirror motivates the individuals of either side to fight harder, forcing the mirror to rupture and fracture. 

 

Fragments of the mirror fall and shatter, reflecting new views of the city and reveal passages to the image beyond.

 

-

 

The creation of passages opens the closed relationship between the internal and external image of the city, allowing for an informal and more comprehensive understanding of the city's identity as a whole.

 

-

 

The passages become a space of exchange, where perspectives on the new image of the city can be placed in comparison and individual interpretations can be made.

 

 

The collapse of representation poses new questions and interpretations about the image of the city. 




_____________________________________________________________________________


I have drawn a storyboard for the story, which I will present tomorrow.


Below is a preview of one of the boards.

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In tomorrow's tutorial, I hope to discuss representation for the story and my plans for developing the proposition of the passage.








Composition Study 01

By Graham on February 2, 2012 1:41 AM |
Composition study of active passage in perspective.

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detail of overlap
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question of time reference

By Graham on February 1, 2012 2:10 PM |
I am questioning how the image could change qualitatively along a constant scale of time, or how time could change across a constant measure of activity. In the clip referenced below, from Tout va bien, time is first questioned against the repetitive quality and action of the registers. When the camera pans back upon itself, the gestures of the customers are the same yet reversed, and the question arises of whether or not this reflects a past time or is a repetition of the current. In addition to this question, is the affirmation of the progress of time, which advances in the background of the shot - as the activity is constant, yet different. If the image is understood as a whole, two functions of the composition are revealed; the unity of the foreground through regulation and the individual background subjected to the freedom of shopping. I think it is more interesting at the moment to focus on the portrayal of the question of time (past, present, future), and the affirming image beyond.


 

animation drawing

By Graham on February 1, 2012 2:05 PM |
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thick drawing reference

By Graham on January 31, 2012 11:13 PM |
Today Alex introduced me to the work of Francisca Prieto, an artist who composes compositions through the layering and folding of paper.  I would like to use my collage isometric drawing as the base image of the grid of the paper before it is unfolded.  The unfolding of the base could then introduce new or juxtaposed scales, changing the relationship between the initial architecture and the shift of context around.  Although i would hope to develop beyond a grid, drawing in isometric will allow for interchangable axes and scales, remaining consistency through the grid structure of the paper - and depending on my research, I could then hope to move out side of the grid..  (all of this is hypothetical at the moment) -- This technique could also tie back to Benjamin through multiple readings of the same piece... and the ability to compose individual passages within...

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composition1.jpg

collage base - montage trace

By Graham on January 30, 2012 1:03 AM |
This is perhaps a bit too still at the moment.  This is the beginning of an axonometric collage drawing I am making in order to plan out the inversions/slippages/indications/etc for my montage passage.  This of course will need to be larger, and I am quite determined for this to be critical.  (I spent Saturday beginning an axo of Friedrichstrasse Berlin)  I also need to ensure that this passage collage stays in line with my objective,,

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inversion references

By Graham on January 28, 2012 11:49 AM |
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Johanna Schoenberger - Wall of Clouds
Johanna Schoenberger - Wallpaper with Landscape
Karl-Ernst Hermann - "Come on in, so you can look out."
Maren Heyne - Photographic Object

scale reference

By Graham on January 25, 2012 2:31 PM |
I questioned Stefano's reference to Nostalghia by Tarkovsky for a change in scale, but after seeing this clip, it gives me several ideas.  It could be very interesting to work in a miniature world, or define reality within a miniature world, only to end by zooming out into another reality,  or to use the change of scale as a way of moving between different realities.  Literally, if one thinks of the beginning of the film as a perceived reality, the zooming out could begin to represent the very distance need to understand the whole of the picture.  The distance is of course literal in this sense, but also eludes to a greater understanding. (Also a good reference for representation..


(Below is a sequence of zooming-in into a larger scale, juxtaposed inside the room.  This sequence is opposite to the zooming-out of the clip below.)
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embedding reference

By Graham on January 25, 2012 2:04 PM |
This is the induction video into the Parallax Corporation.  The video consists of a series of nationalistic phrases and images, which are paired and then confused - defining a perverse image.

(This reference is to represent an act of immersion into a false reality)

The Parallax View - Alan J. Pakula

unexplained image

By Graham on January 25, 2012 1:37 PM |
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Proposition Statement Revised

By Graham on January 23, 2012 7:46 PM |

Proposition:

The Passage strips the collective identity of the individual through contextual redundancy and hyper stimulation, allowing for an individualized perspective on the city.


(If anyone has thoughts or comments on this, please email me, Thank you)


Also, a word I am considering to describe this is blasé - (used by Simmel)

Comparison (wip)

By Graham on January 22, 2012 1:27 PM |
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This is the second collage that is meant to accompany the collage I made earlier of the passage within a passage.  The first collage illustrated the 'crowd', while this is meant to illustrate the 'individual' apart, but in comparison with the 'crowd'.  At the back of the image is the Friedrichstrasse Skyscraper Project by Mies, which is for now a place holder, but which represents a sort of repressed consciousness of the metropolis... The back of the image still needs a bit more thought... What is the infantile image of the city?

Becoming Conscious (WIP)

By Graham on January 19, 2012 8:54 PM |
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Collage of exhausted passage and encounter with city.  (still a lot missing, planning to finish tonight..)



The Last of the Grid

By Graham on January 16, 2012 8:14 PM |
I need to escape the grid.

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Sign/Indication/Trigger/Fragment??? wip

By Graham on January 16, 2012 7:47 PM |
For illustrating how the signs/etc... work; I am considering to photoshop people, furniture, and objects onto this image, and then framing details of the transitions.  I will try to blog a more complete image soon..

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Possible Details..

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Folding the Passage WB wip

By Graham on January 16, 2012 7:37 PM |
Here are the WB pages for 'Folding the Passage' and 'The Process of Unfolding'.  I need to work on body text now..  Also I am considering annotating on the last page of 'The Process of Folding'.

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