Week 2 Studio: Intuitive Mapping + Maquette Excersise

Tuesday:

Streamside day – eutopia / distopia

What are my interests and how does that affect what i’m paying attention to?

I enjoy surf and surf culture, which leads me to look at what the weather is doing, wind patterns, swell patterns and tides. This also draws my eye to anything thats on the water like boats, other water sports and animals in the water.

Being a dog owner I take note of other peoples dogs, the breed, size, their behaviour and age.

I love kids and will often observe the madness that is a young child on the beach as it is pure entertainment.

I often notice what people are wearing as a result of my love of clothes. Seeing what their beach attire is, if they are in their work clothes, gym clothes, swimwear or casual wear.

Why that space and not another?

Even though there are plenty of other beaches around the hibiscus coast, Orewa is the one that sits centrally within the region and is more of a ‘hub’ for cafes, restaurants, facilities, playgrounds and the beach itself is quite long allowing for more people to claim their ‘space’.

Jenny Odell – How to do Nothing

My take from Odells book is that a list can act as a doorway into greater understanding of a space. That initial bird checklist gave direction to Odells new hobby. Once she had that direction on where to look, over time she was then able to notice the wider context that would surround the different species of birds which then lead to noticing an even wider context and so on and so on.

Start with the obvious and overtime you will notice and understand the whys, wheres, whos and hows.

Intuitive mapping

Whats meaningful to me about my chosen space:

the quiet from the world – gets drowned out by the ocean noise
space to move without hitting something or someone
neutral ground anyone can come
multiple uses for both beach and water
its free no expectation
unpredictable constantly changing environment
mutual respect
anonymity
sense of community
brings a broader sense of life

related contexts: (research-based, conceptual, etc.) how do they sit

surf life saving
sealife

Task for Thursday’s Class:
– Write 150 words to locate yourself in relation to your social space, with your map as a guide. Where are you and your practice sitting in relation to your site and the contexts/ideas you’ve identified within it?

The aspects that I find most attractive within my site are its unpredictable nature, the freedom of bodily movement as a result of the expansive space and the sense of anonymous community. When I enter into the site I create my own pod with my dog or a friend and become part of this anonymous community where you observe and be observed as you move through the space, up and down the beach. I only engage with other pods if an object like a ball crosses into someone else’s pod causing a brief conversation to ensue. I might also head into the water to surf becoming something of a performer to the people on the sand. Being observed more than I am observing. This environment provides a lot more unpredictability to the movements of others around me as well as my own movements. The motion of the ocean is somewhat dictating how we must act/react.

Thursday:

Extract 12 words from your intuitive map, or your short pieces of writing. Choose the words which feel like they might be key for this site.
Write the words in the boxes the sheet provided, one word per box.
Cut up sheet into ‘cards’
Deal yourself all your ‘cards’ into 6 pairs. This will create two-word relationships

Use these two-word relationships to make small maquettes/ drawings/ collages/ images/ sculptures that think through the pairing materially, in relation to what you’ve observed in your site. Give yourself a time limit: 4mins/6mins/8mins per ‘sketch’.