Support Structures

Readings:

“Too Close to See: Notes on Friendship, A Conversation with Johan Frederik Hartle” (2013) by Celine Condorelli

“Support Structures: An Interview with Mark Cousins” (2010) by Celine Condorelli

Questions:

What are some examples of ‘support structures’? Physical, political,
conceptual, etc
Physical: beams, scaffolding, stakes
Political: votes, money (charities)
Conceptual: supplements, vitamins, family, friends

What are some conditions or requirements for a structure to be considered a
support?
To care for, to help, assisting. Something that doesn’t fall in nor out.

What is the relationship between the supporter and the supported?
Integral to each other (co-existing).
Always close to each other but not consuming one another (they are autonomus).

How might we connected the format of the texts (as conversations) to her
notions of support?
In conversation, another person’s input is part of a conversation; its not a conversation if you’re conversing with yourself. Co-existing with one another.

What is Condorelli’s creative practice?
Celine Condorelli is an artist, researcher, and a professor in Architecture and Spatial Design. Her work is mainly, but not limited to: architecture, art, mechanisms, and structures.

Can you identify the threads of connection between her writing and her
making? What are they?
Condorelli sees the similarities between her practice, and creating friendships: “My practice, like that of many others, often involves putting fragments in relationship to each other, so that the cumulative sum of these things – words, ideas – somehow proposes something that each part alone could not” (p. 64). She states that with only one individual voice, her arguments are not as strong, as opposed to having multiple voices that share the same statement. She is selective with the pieces she works with, taking the pieces that agree with her. She finds there is a correlation to that and creating connections with others. She spends time with her pieces, and they are part of the process of developing work.

She identifies ‘friendship’ as having a political dimension. What does she
mean by this? How does she discuss this in the text?
Condorelli states that “friendship, like support, is considered here as an essentially political relationship of allegiance and responsibility,” (p. 63) meaning we have to establish relationships, and working together to create a friendship, leading to pursuing with condition and intent. The end goal in working together is that you develop a solidarity between two parties.

How would you define ‘friendship’? What about ‘solidarity’?
Friendship: a relationship between two individuals who choose to bond and build a foundation of trust within one another; the initial link between the two individuals normally would be due to similar interests, or happen to be in the same place at the right time. For example, this could be when both parties are going through the same experience, and find comfort in sharing the experience together (this could be applied in a scenario such as the first day of university, when two students come together to look for the new classroom together, or sit together in a lecture).

Solidarity: When multiple parties come together to form a union, based on shared mutual opinions about a certain subject etc. Often used in a political sense, where those may share the same political view, and come together to express this view (e.g. protests).