between@mindspring.com
http://mass-specific.blogspot.com/
As an architect I am interested in the intersection between art and architecture. Architecture, in reaching a final building/ solution, requires a series of makings referred to as architectural process. Architectural process is essentially drawings, models (sculptures), collages, writings, etc. that are made to explore social, political, natural, philosophical, etc. phenomenon. Architectural process informs and integrates to become the final architectural solution and can be thought of as part of an equation whose sum is the final building:
My interest in displaying my work as art is that, as objects / artifacts, which critique and explore our world, architectural process is art.
Artwork Title: ‘Groen Hoek Slip and Folie’
The artwork displayed here is a piece from my entry into the 2003 East River Community Boathouse Architectural Competition, calling for a boathouse design. The work, entitled ‘Groen Hoek Slip and Folie’, is a perspectival view of my design which was a circular pier with ‘fins’ i.e. walls radiating out from the center. The title ‘Groen Hoek Slip and Folie’ refers to the location, Groen Hoek, Brooklyn, a boat slip, and a folly which is a structure in the landscape for whimsy and pleasure.
This circular-pier-as-boathouse has and interior area for members of the boathouse and, as a pier/ folly, it serves a platform in the water available to the general public and providing 360-degree views of NYC and Brooklyn. The radiating fins contain letters that spell the name of the boathouse and are influenced by the artist Jacob Agam’s paintings and quote ‘the absence of motion negates the image’.
In working with computer formulated models I became aware and interested in an idea I call ‘transparent solid’. What is interesting is that the computer generates a ‘volume’, which is actually a mathematical formula of points in space. Each cut or subtraction from the ‘volume’ takes a certain amount of time due to the calculation necessary for the computer to locate the intersection between the ‘solid volume’ of the model and the ‘negative volume’ of the cut, both of which are equations to the computer and volumes to the eye. The notion of ‘transparent volume’ or ‘transparent matter’ is therefore a relatively modern concept introduced by the integration of computer processes into our natural abilities, i.e. this is an example of how digital systems open new territories in the ways in which we can see and understand space.
Each new methodology in creating form adds insight into our ability to explore the nature of space. Exploring the nature of space through form making is essentially what I, as an architect, see as my role and also what keeps me interested in my profession.
Art (that matters)
an artist's collective offering support through community, gallery exhibition and education while promoting the growth of arts and culture on Long Island.
