Paul Morley AD313 Creative Enquiry : Research Practices

Sept 2015 – May 2016

Publication (Photography Book) Page 3 – 11 Initiating the overall idea Page 12 – 19 Literature Page 20 Visual Research (Architecture) Page 21 – 25 Visual Research (Places and Objects) Page 26 – 35 Process and Materials Page 36 – 49 Models (maquette and digital) Page 50 –56 Making Process Page 57 – 65 Visual Research (Context for pieces) Page 66 – 68 Finished Work Page 69 – 73

(All photography by Paul Morley unless otherwise stated – website sources referenced where applicable)

Contents

Publication – Photography Book (layout as printed)

Front Cover

Initiating the overall idea

Initial visual research was prompted by a trip to Margate . On a cold, wet and windy October day it felt rather ironic that the first glimpse of the town was a large concrete tower block and a rather sad, weather beaten sign displaying the words ‘Dreamland Welcomes You’.

I started to question why buildings such as palaces and stately homes bestow a grandiosity that is celebrated whilst buildings such as concrete brutalist tower blocks are considered hostile and uncommunicative. I then reflected on why other concrete spaces such as carparks and stairwells seem very isolated places and translate this feeling of loneliness to humans when using them. I felt I wanted to explore and celebrate the unconventional beauty of concrete spaces.

Collage ideas for revealing what is beyond the facade of a brutal building; behold a beauty inside. Abstracting parts of buildings.

sketchbook ideas thinking about staircases and repeat form (small photo taken from https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/493847915360149359/)

ideas for trapped and disjointed objects and forms

Literature that I found interesting and fitted with the theme of concrete places and isolation:- JG Ballard – Concrete Island The fictional story of a man marooned below a motorway interchange after his car careered through a crash barrier and off the road, dropping to the isolated concrete area underneath. Marc Auge – Non-Places A French Anthropologist who coined the phrase ‘non-places’. Super-modernist spaces of transience such as motorways, hotels, airport lounges and supermarkets; places that do not hold enough significance to be regarded as ‘places’.

Literature read to follow up initial ideas

Concrete Architecture

https://bingbangpouf.com/2013/01/09/fuck-yeah-brutalism/ http://postdigital-formalisms.org/?/Week01/HongYeolIn/

http://paradisebackyard.blogspot.co.uk/

http://www.archdaily.com/432418/housing-complex-niigata-takuyahosokai-hirose-architects

http://www.truelithuania.com/topics/cities-of-lithuania/vilnius

http://www.dezeen.com/tag/concrete/

Olivetti Building, Japan http://architectuul.com/architecture/olivetti-complex

Palace of Justice, India http://acidadebranca.tumblr.com/post/10484919

9958/1952-le-corbusier-palace-of-justice

Unité d’Habitation, France http://www.uncubemagazine.com/blog/10272227

Soviet Bus Stops Raw aesthetic and stand alone objects. Cast concrete which seems simplistic in design but with additional over-engineered parts. These portray an essence of power.

All photos from book ‘Soviet Bus Stops by Christopher Herwig http://herwigphoto.com/project/soviet-bus-stops/

Places and Objects

The following images are a selection of my own photography taken throughout the project that provided me with initial ideas and thoughts. The majority of the research work has been informed through visiting various desolate places alone to experience feelings of isolation and separateness. Most visits have taken place early in the morning to limit interaction with other people. I have tried to capture the feeling of isolation and desertion. I was interested in taking photography of broken and abandoned objects that were no longer functioning, almost non-descript but still giving the viewer an inclination of former use. I was particularly careful to not have any people in the photography to portray an isolated and uncomfortable theme.

New England House, Brighton

Passing this building every day I became intrigued with the cantilevered stair layout.

Visual Research video of staircase:-

https://youtu.be/87_tG-CR5cg

Process and Materials

combining concrete with other materials…foam

combining concrete with other materials…perspex (chipped and rodded)

combining concrete with other materials…perspex (sheet)

combining concrete with other materials…polystyrene

combining concrete with other materials…ceramics

combining concrete with other materials…ceramics

combining concrete with foam and testing forms

joining objects to concrete and testing form

wood

testing different textures for concrete surface

polycarbonate sheet

laminate sheet

selected concrete test pieces

plaster mould tests for slip-casting brutalist type objects (these failed as the cast slip ripped when releasing them)

Testing ‘Oasis’ material trying to achieve rusted steel like textures (lightly burning surface was rather toxic so did not continue with tests)

glaze test to achieve mustard colour (line blend)

Model Making and Digital Models

rough sketches for models

basic models

foam board construction ideas for wall mounted piece

digital models designed in AutoCad

solid digital models are sliced up

solid digital models are drawn

digital slices flattened to two dimensional shapes for laser cutting

digital model sliced and separated into chosen sheet material thickness

laser cut models passing a piece of dowel through holes cut centrally allows for different

configurations of the same model

Making Process

plaster mould making

clay press mould from MDF

slip-cast stair pieces

joining slip-cast pieces

composition ideas for stair pieces

composition ideas for tower block pieces

constructing formwork for setting ceramic in concrete

some of the things that went wrong

Trying to apply a stain first and then transparent glaze made the glaze peel and not adhere to the ceramic.

Glazing these larger pieces proved difficult as the closed shape with small pour holes made the glaze inside very thick causing pieces to break. This was also consistent with the stair pieces that were closed pieces.

Visual Research (context and concluding work)

A visit to Dungeness in March 2016 provided me with context and a conclusion for the work. The disused and rusting objects on the beach had been left as a reminder of a previous time when fishing in the area was the main industry, overtaken now by the huge power station now occupying the beach area. The large industrial objects that had once been set in shuttered smooth concrete and more than likely to have been housed in some form of work hut were now left exposed to the natural elements that swept across the land from the sea. The concrete had kept its form but now had a rough aesthetic almost natural to the surroundings.

After seeing these objects and the condition of the concrete I realised that this was how I could translate the environments that I had been photographing throughout the year and embrace the raw aesthetic, fragility and disquiet of these spaces. The forms would be abstract and non-functional objects that celebrated the unconventional beauty that these places hold.

Finished Work

Ceramic Torque in Concrete (Size 600x500x300mm)

Ceramic Staircase with Concrete Base (Size 800x260x260mm)

Ceramic Tower Block in Concrete (Size 520x300x350mm)

Ceramic Torque into Concrete (Size 2150x400x400mm)