Exercise Seven: Claudia Kwon

Guillermo Kuitca

Acoustic Mass III (Covent Garden), 2005 mixed media on paper

(For more information of Guillermo Kuitca and his work, click here)

The title of book: Cartographies & Contemporary Voices

" Kuitca's speciality is maps, maps in the broadest sense of the term, maps as diagrams of both spatial and temporal relationships. He has painted family trees, the floor plans of stadiums, apartments and prisons, the seating arrangements of theaters, the street plans of cities (in one case creating a grid of city blocks composed of hypodermic syringes). He has transposed the topography of countries onto the hollow-pocked surfaces of mattresses and has tackled his theme with the broad-est possible range of painterly techniques. The results are often extremely handsome abstract paintings with a referential twist. Critics have insisted on discovering all manner of angst in these works- everything from elliptical references to the terror instituted by the military junta that ruled Argentina in the 70s, to suggestions of the anoymity and free-floating anxiety that attend modern urban existence."

(ArtScene, 1999, by Mario Cutajar)

Project Two, Part Two

Click here to download a larger version of the full panorama (10MB).

Those of you submitting this Project late are responsible for posting an image of your final drawing the blog, using the label 2.2.2 Project Two (Part Two) Submissions. I will re-document the entire panorama at the final review.

Exercise Seven: Eve

MARTIN PURYEAR
You can find more works by the artist here.




















Old Mole, 1985
Red Cedar - 154.9 x 154.9 x 86.4 cm


"Made from a variety of natural materials — including wood, tar, rawhide, and stone — Martin Puryear's distinctive sculptures combine modernist geometry with international craft traditions. Influenced by woodworking, basketry, and construction techniques, the pieces at times resemble familiar objects. By blending cultural references, however, Puryear avoids fixed associations of time and place."

- San Fransisco Museum of Modern Art, 2008

Exercise Seven: One Book, One Site, One Image, One Quote

You have been assigned an artist as part of Project Three. Research your artist, and post the following to the blog.

• The title of one book on this artist that is available at the Dorothy H. Hoover Library. Bring this book to class next week.
• A working link to a website that features the artist's work.
• One image of one piece of the artist's work, annotated with the name of the piece.
• One quote from writing either by the artist or on the artist that is emblematic of the artist's body of work.

During the process of completing this Exercise, you may discover that one or more of the above requirements are impossible to achieve. If this is the case, it is up to you to contact me right away, and I will assign you another artist. You must contact me at least 48 hours prior to the Exercise deadline.

Note also that any changes to your artist must be completed and confirmed by me prior to completing this Exercise.

Exercise Seven is due at 8:30AM on Thursday, November 13. Please use the label 3.7 Exercise Seven Submissions for Exercise Seven.

Project Three

Project Three
The (Sub)Urban Intervention
Effecting Affective Social Space


OVERVIEW

The street is not home territory. At best, it is a territory to be tamed, to which you need other weapons than those forged over the century in the sometimes complacent habits of the museum.

from Can Art Get Down from its Pedestal and Rise to Street Level?
by Daniel Buren, 1997

The Ontario College of Art and Design, in a joint venture with the City of Toronto and the Art Gallery of Ontario, has secured funds and permission to create an open-air gallery for the exhibition of a significant work of art within the boundaries of Toronto. With the AGO providing the work, the City providing the environment, and OCAD providing the environmental design, this initiative will serve to link two of Ontario's premier cultural and educational institutions with their host city. This permanent installation will create a premiere location for the consideration of a major work of art, as well as provide a quiet, contemplative retreat from the intensities of urban life. A Design Review Committee consisting of representatives from all three stakeholders has been created, and is currently holding an invitation-only competition for the design of a synthetic intervention that incorporates a work of art from a shortlist of artists within an architectural environment constructed from predetermined elements.



THE WORK OF ART

A shortlist of 20 artists has been compiled, representing a cross-section of contemporary installation practices worldwide. Some of the artists are well-established masters of their discipline, while others are emerging voices; all produce work of the highest calibre. Many of the short-listed artists do not typically produce the type of large-scale sculptural works traditionally considered most suitable for public installation - with limited precedent, these artists may prove to be particularly challenging. Each invited designer has been assigned an artist at random from the shortlist. Designers are permitted to exchange their artists with each other, at the discretion of the Chair of the Review Committee. The designer must select an appropriate piece from the artist's body of work. The shortlisted artists and their preliminary assignments are shown below.

All changes in artist must be finalized by November 13, 2008.


THE SITE

The City of Toronto has identified six areas of the city as being suitable for this intervention: the specific site is at the discretion of the invited designer. Five of the these areas are suburban locations at the termini of each arm of the Toronto rapid transit system: Kipling Station, Downsview Station, Finch Station, Don Mills Station and McCowan Station. In these cases, the designer must select a suitable site within approximately 500m of the station in question. The sixth site is a central downtown location, bounded by Toronto City Hall to the north, Bay Street to the East, Union Station to the south and York Street to the West. In this case, the designer must choose a site within the given boundaries.

Analytical studies in plan (for the suburban areas) and section (for the urban area) have established the character of these sites and highlighted locations where an intervention of this type would have a catalytic effect. Invited designers are encouraged to review these studies, available for review on the competition website.

Specific sites must be finalized by November 20, 2008.


THE INTERVENTION

The intent of the design of the open-air gallery is to enrich the experience of the visit to, and the viewing of, the work of art sited within it. The synthesis of the sited work and the surrounding architectonic apparatus should also improve the site as a whole. The environmental design should take into account the full range of experience, from the initial viewing of the enclosure from a distance, through the pedestrian approach, to the up-close viewing of the work of art. It should be possible to view the work in the round: the design of the gallery may or may not passively guide this procession. Given the extended nature of the gallery, it is suggested that the design include a central domain where the work of art will be installed, and a series of secondary domains, discrete or interconnected, where temporary exhibits may be installed.

Due to a limited budget, the enclosure will consist of a set of predetermined architectural elements that have already been acquired through an anonymous donation. These elements are:

• Five rectangular wall elements, each 3m high,8m long and 1/3m thick;
• Three cylindrical columns, each 3m in height and 2/3 m in diameter;
• Two rectangular volumes, each 1m by 2m by 4m;
• One cylindrical volume, 1m in height and 2m in diameter, and
• One cubic volume, 1m by 1m by 1m.

The elements are constructed from a recently developed fibre-reinforced recycled plastic, and are innately UV and weather-resistant. They can be sanded to a smooth, matte white finish, and their material continuity permit them to be modified as necessary. In order to maximize the utility of the donated elements, maintain their structural integrity, minimize the cost of their installation, and ensure a degree of visual cohesiveness, the Review Committee has established the following restrictions to their possible arrangements and modifications.

• At least 2/3 of the total volume of the elements must be used in the intervention.
• The wall and column elements must be used in their normative configuration, with their height oriented vertically.
• The volumetric elements may be used in any stable configuration.
• Portals may be cut into the walls, but they must be greater than 1/3m and less than 3m long.
• Portals must be exactly 2-1/3m high, and the spaces between adjacent portals must be equal or greater than 2/3m wide.
• Modifications are limited to a maximum of 25 discrete cuts, and all cuts are to be planar and orthogonal: no diagonal, crooked or curved cuts are permitted. Note that portals require three cuts each.
• Similarly, all elements must be arranged such that they form an orthogonal composition.
• Parallel wall elements must be greater than 1m apart and less than 3m apart. No element is to more than 3m from another element.
  

Proposal for a Brick Villa by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, 1923

DELIVERABLES

Given an artist, propose an architectural intervention that uses the supplied elements to satisfy the desired outcomes within the defined constraints. Your proposal should consist of the following.

• A 1:100 scale model of the site. The site model should include, at a minimum, the full extents of the area that is to be converted into an open-air gallery. The site model should be constructed of brown materials only, such as corrugated cardboard and millboard.
• A 1:100 scale model of the open-air gallery, installed on the site model. The elements should be constructed of white materials only, such as illustration board, foam-ore and styrene.
  
• A full set of orthographic drawings, including: one plan; one north-south and one east-west section, each bisecting the work of art, and two elevations. The drawing set must be prepared on 11" x 17" sheets at 1:100 scale, and must consist of black lines only. All drawings must each include a 1" border and an appropriate title block.
• Three perspectival drawings. The perspectives should be composite images derived from photographs of the models and of the selected work of art. It is suggested that the perspectives cover a range of scales.
• One designer's statement of not more than 250 words, outlining the intent of the environmental design proposal.

Some proposals may require additional drawings for clarity, but these should be kept to a minimum.

Proposal for a Concert Hall by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, 1942

You will deliver a progress report to the Chair of the Review Committee on November 20, 2008 for informal discussion and feedback. It is suggested that your site model and elements be complete at this time, though the elements should remain moveable. It is also suggested that free-hand drafts of your orthographic drawings be complete at this time. Your work-in-progress must be shown physically, but an electronic copy of your report must also be uploaded to the competition website prior to the beginning of this meeting.

You will formally present your proposal in final form to the Design Review Committee on December 4, 2008. At this presentation, you will visually curate your constructed material and read your designer's statement, as well as respond to any questions the Committee may have. You will not be permitted to provide any additional explanatory visual or oral material. It is expected that your presentation, including questions, will last no more than 10 minutes. The Committee will collect only electronic copies of your work for further review subsequent to this presentation: this must be delivered to the competition website no more than 48hrs after the conclusion of the formal presentation.


DEADLINE SUMMARY

November 13, 2008, 11:30AM: Finalization of all Artist Assignments
(AKA Exercise Seven)

November 20, 2008, 8:30AM: Electronic Progress Report Posted to the Competition Website (AKA Project 3, Part 1: post all work to-date to the blog)

November 20, 2008, 8:30AM-11:30AM: Progress Report Meetings with the Chair of the Design Review Committee
(AKA informal mid-project reviews with Jesse)

December 4, 2008, 8:30AM-11:30AM: Formal Presentation of Final Proposal to the Design Review Committee
(AKA formal final project reviews with Jesse and guest critics)

December 6, 2008, 11:30AM: Electronic Copy of Final Proposal Posted to the Competition Website
(AKA Project 3, Part 2: post all deliverables to the blog, clearly formatted with concise annotation - note explicit evaluation criterion below)


EVALUATION

Progress Report: /5
Model Style, Craft and Care: /4
Orthographic Drawing Style, Craft and Care: /4
Perspectival Drawing Style, Craft and Care: /4
Design - Responsive and Functional Qualities: /4
Design - Lyrical and Formal Qualities: /4
Final Presentation and Post: /5

Exercise Six: Eve

Exercise Six - Amanda Compagnone

Individual Force Maps: Alanna McFarland

McCowan Station - Force Maps

Natural vs. Man-Made Spaces

Residential vs. Commercial Spaces

Main Traffic Routes

Residential Traffic Routes

Parking Spaces