ARCH1142 - Round 3 - Architecture in Motion

Architecture in Motion Workshop

chalk on black paper.

charcoal and chalk on photos.

pen with boxboard in relief.

I made this film during the midsession break, initially as 3 separate parts - the setting up of the drawing, the addition of reliefs and light beams, and the cracking and peeling back to reveal the model.

For the setting up of the drawing I utilised the graphic style that I had gained confidence in working with in the Drawing workshop. Only the light beam section appears in the final submission as I felt this was the most successful part of this film - the process for the rest of the film was important because I learned other relief techniques which I could use in future stop-motion projects.

This was my 'official' submission for the 2nd week of this workshop. I wanted to create the feel of rapid movement and the way light is perceived when doing so.

While the technique didn't work well with the concept, the drawn frames were the highlights and I eventually used the same technique on my final submission - charcoal and chalk worked onto photos of a model (the green colouring was not intentional in the beginning of this project, but it was effective in conveying the atmosphere and mood for the architecture so I continued to use this.

FINAL SUBMISSION.

While I had the techniques and styles of drawing set from the beginning of the workshop, I had to re-develop my spatial narrative, which resulted in having to redraw a lot of similar material.

Although the contents of this film could not occur in the real physical world, the greatest benefit from this workshop is that it has given me a platform to think of architecture and its experience in a more spatial manner, especially for design projects.

SPATIAL NARRATIVE:

The INTERACTION OF DIFFERENT ELEMENTS OF ARCHITECTURE and their inherently cyclical influence (the film has been made to be able to loop constantly), and LIGHT as a dynamic material, as creator of ambience, and as a suggestion of flow and direction.

The water ripples before forging a vortex; a growing light signals the end (or perhaps the beginning). Dumped into a freefall high above 4 columns, darkness envelopes you as you move towards them, yet as you round a column, a lamp has compromised the optimism of the architecture, offering instead an eeriness and a superficial refuge from the darkness. The failing light marks the end of an architectural element, yet this element gives rise to another.

OVERALL:

While I was intending on signing up for the Fluid... workshop, having now completed the Architecture in Motion workshop, I felt there was enough drawing and model-making to make up for missing out on both the Fluid... and the Model-making workshop. I definitely do not regret doing Architecture in Motion because I could use different mediums (cf. solely charcoal on white paper for example) as well as being able to digitally manipulate images. The nature of the film medium is that it constantly gets chopped and changed and I think this process is important to me because then I can't get 'attached' to ideas or images that simply do not work. Also, because a single picture may only last 1/4 of a second, it has helped me get around my tendencies to 'perfect' everything.