Annotations

“How to Encounter A Puddle.” – Anny Li

Keywords: Daily commute, evidence, documentation, transition, environment, urban, afterthought.

Li’s written piece states that puddles are essentially a form of documentation of the environment, and they are more than just bodies of water that are inconveniences to your daily commute.

I interpret the text as a “food-for-thought” piece: it makes you stop and think about puddles, which are normally afterthoughts, and part of the urban environment as we are on our daily commute. Li’s piece has been an eye-opener for what puddles mean: their origins, their purpose, its effect on the environment, and those around it. Li points out that puddles, if lasted long enough, can be “biotic containers for precarious ecosystems” (para. 9). So they may be good for living organisms, or they can be a disturbance to humans. They also document, by reflecting their surroundings: being the aftermath of a rainstorm or a leak, sometimes literally reflecting the buildings in an inverted image.

I believe this point specifically is essential to our design practice, as we are often asked to design a space where it is not a disturbance to the surrounding area, but rather, an addition of what is already there. We are asked to invite people in, and to incorporate our surroundings into the space. Another point that stands out to me is how “puddles represent transitional states” (para. 5). This collaborates with another point: “if you step in a puddle, you will leave a trail of footsteps behind you” (para. 3). I see this as puddles are markers for whatever passes through them: a transition from one place to another (therefore our daily commute). The idea of transitioning is important for my studio work, as I need to consider the amount of transitioning in my site, whether it is the sun’s movement, the surroundings, or the foot traffic.

“Politics of Installation.” – Boris Groys

Keywords: exhibition vs installation, artist autonomy, comparison of art and politics, relationship between artist and the public.

Groys’ article compares the differences between exhibition and installation, and discusses the autonomy of artists between the two spaces. He also explains the relationship between the artist and their artwork to the public, to which the curator is often the middleman between this relationship. Groys briefly makes a parallel connection between the artist’s autonomy and politics, using the terms: sovereignty, laws, properties, legislation, and democracy.

Groys’ article is a useful source when understanding exhibition vs installation. It is interesting to read into the correlation between art and politics, as the two subjects I believe are underlyingly similar (though initially I felt that they were incomparable, as I felt they were on opposite ends). Art is subjective to every person, much like how people will support different political parties, though neither parties are necessarily “wrong”.

Reading Groys’ article about the difference between exhibition and installation helped me understand the two spaces, and how it affects the artist’s power: while an exhibition is merely a room that showcases the artist’s artwork handpicked by a curator, an installation is where the artist has full sovereign over the space, where the space itself has its own role in the artwork: “The installation transforms the empty, neutral, public space into an individual artwork – and it invites the visitor to experience this space as the holistic, totalising space of an artwork” (p. 3). Even as an aspiring designer, I am often confused when I am addressing a space: Is this an exhibition or an installation? I believe designers should act as if they are designing an installation, as it encourages us to consider all aspects, which is vital in our field. However, I can understand the necessity of a curator’s role: although the intention of the artwork is clear to the artist, it may be obscure to the public eye, to which the curator should advise the artist when this occurs.

“Unlearning by Taeyoon Choi: A letter to code societies students.” – Taeyoon Choi

Keywords: learning and unlearning, student, understanding and challenging traditional academia, systemic oppression.

Choi talks about the importance of consistently striving to learn, explaining that the desire to learn is a powerful weapon in society. Choosing to become a student and learn when you are no longer required to be one is “an act of humility and openness” (para. 5), which he states is to unlearn the knowledge you already possess, in order to relearn with a blank slate.

Throughout his blog, Choi is repetitive of the word “unlearn”: “Unlearning is questioning how we learn and what we learn. Unlearning is to resist the atrocities systemic oppression” (para. 1). Reading his blog is a loose expansion of the phrase: The pen is mightier than the sword. Choi addresses that by unlearning, we are challenging the existing infrastructures the education system has already laid out for society, and that we are creating our own community where we approach education equitably and with open-mindedness. His blog addresses the political and socio-cultural aspects of society from his standpoint as a minority in society, and the flaws of institutions being all the same, and having outdated information, which is normalised due to the whiteness (race) of the education system: “Academic whiteness is a sign of the institutions past and ongoing colonial ambitions and exploit” (para. 7).

What I take out of Choi’s blog is that it is sometimes necessary to put aside your preconceived ideas, to understand and challenge your mind with a new perspective. In the creative world, we sometimes limit ourselves from our own imagination due to our predetermination of certain concepts being unsuccessful, therefore we don’t bother to explore those concepts. With Choi’s recurring theme: “learning to unlearn,” I interpret this as us needing to stop, eliminate what we already believe, and start thinking from a different angle.

“Architecture and its ghosts.” – Xuan Liu

Keywords: architectural ruins creating nostalgia, emotion and psychology, parallels between a building and lives, documentation, nothing is permanent.

Liu’s article compares architectural ruins to everyday lives, and how there is a relationship between ruins, emotions, and psychology (para. 2). She states that like buildings, our lives will not last forever, so we try to create a mark to leave behind when we no longer exist, much like the ruins of a building.

I found that Liu’s article was similar to “How to encounter a puddle” by Anny Li, where both articles talk about documentation. Though puddles are temporary compared to ruins, they both document the time and place of their environment. Anny Li’s article encourages you to become curious of puddles, which are normally considered “afterthoughts,” and Liu states that ruins are an escape from our current lives into a place of possibilities: “The systems and structures that usually define, inhibit, or restrict have crumbled, leaving in their place a curious space that inspires exploration and discovery” (para. 6).

Reading Liu’s article has reminded me that all things have an expiration, whether it is materials, buildings, people, and impressions. Liu talks about the comparisons of art & architecture to human lives, which had a lasting impression on me: “Art and architecture are tied to how we define and measure our humanity and civilization. Human life is fleeting, and we are always trying to justify our value, mortality, and existence through the art that we leave behind” (para. 4). It is easier to make the correlation between this article and my design practice, as Liu consistently connects architecture to the human brain. As designers, we may have the mentality to create a lasting impression for our work to be remembered. I find this text to also be relevant to our studio site, as St James Theatre was once a site with historical significance, yet it is now inactive, with part of its structure demolished. I enjoyed and agreed with Liu’s article, in how we live our lives trying to leave our mark in this world, and that the structure of a building is parallel to the structure of our lives.