marking shadows
architecture | surfaces by matthew woodruff
grafitti wal ls surfaces senses shadows
making marks
For the last ten years or so I have been taking photographs of graffiti. I’ve not really understood my interest beyond admiring the formal juxtaposition of smooth and rough, the sudden shock of colour and line animating the otherwise mute surface of the (almost always) forlorn urban wall. I haven’t had any expectation that this collection will lead anywhere, nor have I pondered the deeper meaning of the artists’ motives, if any motive indeed exists. In parallel with the development of this collection, I’ve been slowly formalising the use of photographs in my architectural practice, first as a record and filter of the world (see Onsite 20: museums and archives ), and secondly as a process of bringing closure to completed projects. While reviewing the first shortlist of images from a newly completed house, I found myself coming back again and again to one picture that showed sunlight coming through a plywood screen onto a heavily articulated concrete wall. A year before, while the house was in construction, this screen was changed from slatted timber to plywood on the advice of the contractor. As we developed it in plywood, much time went into abstracting the pattern of light through tree branches. Intellectually I knew that this would add another level of texture to the project, but what surprised me was the extent to which I was drawn to the effect (the display of light and shadow) rather than the fact of it (the screen itself). Until I was faced with the image I had failed to understand how profoundly important the creation of an effect really was to me. While there is an irony in needing the filter of the photograph to understand architectural experience, my real interest lies elsewhere. Studying these shortlisted images I realised that there was a direct formal connection between the projects’ shadows and my graffiti collection. The architectural result is stiffer, but my preoccupation with paint on the textured surfaces of walls had born fruit. Beyond this though, I wonder if I haven’t also stumbled upon something else? My belief is that there is a conceptual connection between the graffiti and the design of these shadows. As architects we are desperate to make our mark in time – modernist orthodoxy espoused by schools of architecture has taught us that this is done with monument building. However the more recent, weaker tradition championed by Juhani Pallasmaa among others, has challenged us to do this by other, more intangible means. The feel
of a door handle, the smell of beeswax, or in my case the effects of shadow and highlight on a wall also help us make a mark, even if it is mutable and fleeting. When I return to the motives of the graffiti artist, it strikes me now that through this shadow work, I’ve in fact tagged the building. I wonder if the lure of graffiti for the artist is to start a conversation with an unknown audience. Frustration, anger, humour or triumph can all be found there, but so too is the motive to speak and be heard, to challenge and tease, and finally to provoke and participate in a debate that is larger than oneself. These are basic human needs, and certainly echo some of the goals I myself have for my work. This is a small thing, but recognizing it is a part of a larger process that helps to frame the modest act of building in a noble way. v
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On Site review 23 Small Things
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