Site Exploration - Artstation 1 Ponsonby Road

In order to continue to critically investigate the sensory elements of memory and establish a relationship between built form and atmospheric qualities to invoke within my final design I have analysed my site by utilizing a similar criteria to the formation of the marquette.

The site that I have selected to stage my exhibition is the former Newton Police Barracks at number 1 Ponsonby Road. The site currently houses Artstation, a community orientated art ‘headquarters’, which runs classes, a gallery and public studio space for hire. 

Historical and current plans, locating where changes in the architectural fabric of the building have occurred. The coloured areas in the current plans identify where my installation will interfere with the existing interior.

The process of cooking shares similar spatial characteristics with my chosen site. The rising of a cake can be compared to the spatial configurations of staircases and lifts while particular mixing techniques can be linked to circulation through space.

At the moment I am working through a few different ways in which to demonstrate the atmospheric qualities and spatial expereince within the interior of the building. Including various drawing techniques, computer modelling and physical models. More images to come...

Development Stage 1

In order to follow on from the documentation of the Edmonds Cookbook I have been doing some research into the scientific side of memory. What triggers memory, and how the human body reacts to the experience of rememberance. As science is not something I am naturally drawn towards I have worked through a few ways in which to visually demonstrate memory. At the same time I am trying to establish a relationship between this next stage of my project and the last. I have made a series of 9 marquettes from watercolour paper which demonstrate the act of performing a recipe. The marquettes (or small models) are all named according to the action that they are created from. For example ' Whisk Until Stiff', 'Fold In Gently'. The current stage of work is aimed at developing the conceptual idea of trace and memory into a formal or spatial investigation.

Alex

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Documentation Stage 2

       
As a continuation from my initial documentation and analysis of the Cookbook, I have created a second document that explores ideas including form as signifier fro memory and recording the trace of experience as an attempt to critically investigate the collective significance of the Edmonds Cookbook. I have utilised casting techniques as well as trialing different ways in which i can archive the event of cooking. The fabric component of the document was developed while cooking afghans, at home in my kitchen, by covering the surface of the table with the cloth and proceeding through the recipe. What resulted was a record of the event demarcated in butter and folded to sit within the cast exterior of the book.

Documentation Stage 1

My initial documentation of the Cookbook comes from a personal analysis of my own copy. Handed down to me from my family, my cookbook contains memories of countless hours spent in the kitchen trying to master the art of the afghan, my Dad's pikelets and banana cake triumphs and a supposedly simple one egg chocolate sponge. The intangible memories are made tangible through the presence of stains upon the pages; my analysis included the recording of these stains (see Cornelia Parker 'Tarnish' series) in order to reveal the collective memory of the Cookbook through the realisation of form. Therefore recontextualising the Edmonds Cookbook from my own experience into a cultural artifact of New Zealand.