Interacting Materially
Interacting materially uses a documentation process to capture and materialize ephemeral conditions such as light, sound, and interactions with surface matter. These conditions are then manufactured and reproduced to create interventions that are be placed within an interior, setting up an encounter with materiality and activating site through the interactions we have.
The body of work comes from an interest in ephemeral materiality and how our interaction within the interior is then informed by those conditions. Throughout the research undertaken in semester one, I was able to explore how our interactions are informed by both the ephemeral and physical materiality of space. Documenting and observing the interactions that were occurring within the sites I chose and there surrounding my environments, as well as manufacturing and creating interventions that simulated a certain encounter. I explored how we are able to take documentation of materiality from one interior and place it into another to activate and simulate an encounter representing the first site.
Can one interiors materiality be used to activate and inform our interactions within another?
Through my work, I want to be able to explore both the ephemeral and physical material conditions of the site to be able to create an encounter that informs our interactions. Using these material conditions to active and inform the way we move within an abandoned site. The material interventions will be used to take someone on a journey through the interior, creating a narrative and connection to both the exterior and historical background.
Site: Point Nepean Bunkers
I have chosen to use the site of the Point Nepean bunkers and the surrounding landscape. Inserting ephemeral qualities such and light surfaces and sound from the surrounding landscape in order to activate an encounter and experience within the abandoned bunkers through the interactions with materiality. The site has a historical background linked to the First World War. It was the site of the first shot fired by The British Empire and the first Australian shot for the Second World War. It holds its place in history becoming an example of the evolution of gun technology and defence strategies within Australia.
The materiality produced by and within the surrounding landscape is of interest to me and will be documented to active and inform an encounter within the bunkers. I want to be able to create a connection through materiality to the exterior landscape of the site and allow that to inform a narrative while encountering the bunkers. The rip is the stack of water that makes up part of the landscape, it is where the calmer waters of the bay of Port Phillip meet the rougher seas of the southern ocean which is one of the most dangerous straighter of sea lanes in the world. These waters frame the site of the Point Nepean bunkers and can inform the narrative of the landscape.
Audience - Stakeholders
The work is aim to be encountered by people who visit the Point Nepean bunkers, those could include locals, people who have a connection within the history of the site, those who have an interest within the site and those who would like to explore/ have an interest in the materiality and the way we interact within space. While the project will engage with Parks Victoria as I will need permission to use the site, It will also need to be supported by the community and possibly anyone with a military connection to the site. Any interventions that involve the landscape will need to be respectful to the traditional owners.
Design Approach / final presentation
I am aiming to produce a 1:1 site-specific series of interventions that explore materiality and informs our interactions within the interior. The intervention will take you on a journey, activating an abandoned site through creating a connection to the exterior landscape and exploring the narrative of the historical background of the site. The interventions will be produced through material qualities found within the surrounding landscape environment of the site of the Point Nepean Bunkers. Using film, imagery, projection, and audio work as forms of documenting to able to reproduce the conditions of the environment for them to be experienced within the bunkers. Develop technical drawings will be used to provide details on how an encounter may occur through the intervention into the site.
Activating
Documenting
Reproducing
Critical Reflection
My work produced in the previous semester began to explore how we are able to simulate an experience through an encounter with materiality basically transporting and reproducing the materiality from one space into another. Challenge if we were able to reproduce ephemeral qualities of a site into a new interior and have the same encounter. I starting working within the site of Sunnymead Beach and proposing the second site to be located at Heide II's entry. On reflection, these sites didn't connect and weren't able to pushed further.
For the final stage of the research projects, I want to expand and change direction little form these ideas. Proven through my research from the first semester we are influenced by the materiality of space whether it is physical materiality or ephemeral. I want to expand further and explore how the materiality can active and inform a connect different between interiors in order to influence our encounter. Using a site like the Point Nepean bunkers allows the abounded site to be activated through the materiality of the surrounding landscape.