Tubes and Industrial Structures

Tubes and Industrial Structures

This project is an elaboration and tangent of all work and research thus far. We are asked to select a process, moment in history, a character, material and news story to formulate into a narrative sequence of images.

My chosen process is growth. Growth is a change and can be a very broad term. Its an obvious kind of process as the concept of growth is a constant in nature and history and will always manifest itself somewhere, some how. Even if it is quantitatively negative or negligibly noticeable on our human scale. 

As far as materials go, Im going to focus on structures and shapes first. I was interested in the arrangement and architecture of Berlin. Like the massive building in the background here.

Firstly, it looks quite industrial. Secondly, for 'THE CHAIR: Task II' alternative uses for my chair included a dual toilet-irrigation system, hamster-tropolis and submarine.

 I was reminded of these alternative uses when I found a book called 'Basic Forms of industrial Buildings', by Bernd & Hilla Becher. Here is a postcard. 

These buildings demonstrate some structural similarities to amusement parks/ flumes/ theme parks and crazy hamster cages , despite having polar purposes. Its obvious that tubes are both useful and fun. 

 

 

 

I like the buildings in Bernd & Hilla's book. I like the shapes, the angles and the fact that there is some thing amusing about them as well as the fact that they are ominous and impenetrability, like a fortress. You find yourself trying to imagine how people get inside. There is a connection between some of the tall, block-like buildings found in Eastern Europe, and that one in East Berlin  that look very hard to enter and authoritative. 

Speaking of tubes, I found a book called Play, in the LCC library. 

Need to go back and find out who it was by. I photocopied loads of the photographs in this book, which was an arial photography book of theme-parks/ parks/ play grounds. They are extraordinary. I used the photocopies in loads of collages in my book because they were so beautiful along with some spray paint and other found images. I will use them as reference when tube drawing.  I like how the literal concept of perspective is drawn in as well. As in looking from a height changes your idea on how things are constructed and used.