Katia's Methods Session One – Three things
PORTRAIT OF A BUILDING
What
“Portrait of a Building” is an installation which takes place in a room of a “bulding”. The space of the room is recreated and reconstructed of white walls which form an uneven architecturally walking path. The path directs you to a wall approximately 2,5 x 4 meters where a beamer projects a film of 10 minutes.
How
The film is a part of a scenario which I wrote in 2017 called “The Portrait of a Building”. I used a part of the text, re-edited it and recorded the voice over in the studio. Based on the text as well as the real existing references of the scenario, I collected footage from YouTube. In continuation, I made maquettes of building constructions using carton and plaster and miniature rooms from the same material. After filming the maquettes, I composed the music in the studio and finally arranged everything together in post-production.
Why
The film is an extension of my research on the different ways we can create and conceive space. From the delicate deconstructions and time based interventions of negative architecture by G.M. Clark, to the "life as art, art is life" assemblage of the Merzbau of Kurt Schwitters, all evoke sensations of the momentarily, fleeting magic of seizing the moment in order to create space. The argument being made is that over time art and architecture have produced inspiring and important creations of space, both mentally and physically that however they may have eroded or washed away of our memory, yet, serve as a plea to celebrate the idea that reality can "awake possibilities" (Musil) that help to facilitate an opening up, to new connections and new forms of understanding and experiencing life. A creation of a true space of possibilities, in lens-based reality, in art, in architecture, but most important in life.
PANOPTICAN-THE GAME
What
Panopticon – The Game is a mind game which is played by at least two players; one watchman and one or more prisoners. Panopticon – The Game consists of a ring of 24 cells surrounding a central watch tower. The prisoner that manages to complete a full circle without being caught (i.e. the watchman makes a correct guess on prisoner’s thought), becomes the watchman. At the beginning of the game, every prisoner has to randomly take two words from a given word list. Then, the prisoner throws the dice and steps according to it. If for example he moves to cell four, he is provided with one more word as every cell corresponds to a word. Possessing three words now the prisoner has to form a sentence using these words. If the watchman guesses the order of the words, then the prisoner is getting out of the game. If not, the prisoner stays in the game. During the next round, the prisoner will get one more word-card; Now, has to leave the previous sentence as it is and place the new word in between the previous words. If the watchman guesses the right order, then the prisoner loses. If not, the prisoner continues being in the game. And so on…
How
I used “Jeremy Bentham’s model of the ideal prison “panopticon” and turned it into a game. I used the exact design of Bentham’s model plan and I based the game on his prison’s drawing.
Foucault made an extensive analysis using Bentham’s prison as an example based on power and control.
SI.SI.SPEX CATALOGUE
What
Si.Si.Spex Catalogue was the official catalogue of the Si.Si.Spex Exhibition in 2015. The catalogue was a booklet which contained all the exhibited works photographed but with the intervention of an object found in the space.
How
A red demi-disk shape red wooden circle is placed in all exhibited works of the exhibition and then photographed.
Why
An exercise to perception change. A methodology which can be applied to greater chunks of reality and have an impact on the way we see, understand and utilize visible world around us. Appropriation. Allocation. Adapation. Interpretation. Inversion. Paraphrase. Piracy. Subversion. Variation.