Category: FIELD

Level 5, term 2 field was incredibly interesting, and I thoroughly enjoyed learning about sites spaces and public places. I believe that this topic has benefited me and has shown me a variety of different skills and interesting site-specific and public artists which will be perfect to research into for my future interior design projects. Throughout the weeks I gained new skills and knowledge, particularly with understanding how art in public places is a way to increase the community’s social cohesion as well as their ownership of the space. I have benefited greatly from this field project compared to field in level 4 as the topic relates to my discipline subject massively. One thing which I found really helpful was having tutorials in groups as it enabled me to obtain feedback from not only my project lecturer but also from fellow students who might be able to provide feedback or ideas which I hadn’t thought of before. I have really enjoyed working I have always been interested in how peoples behavioural and emotional responses change depending on the space they are surrounded by and therefore, understanding a variety of mixed opinions about spaces and how they make different people feel has inspired me further within my course subject. One thing which I was interested in was the different ways in which the public can react to the construction/creation of art installations.

My course leader for interior design; Craig Thomas carried out a lecture where he spoke about the impact of Richard Serra’s “tilted arc” sculpture on the public realm. I was incredibly shocked to learn that an intense public debate leads to the removal of the famous steel sculpture. Although the government had asked Serra to produce a piece of artwork for the plaza, they refused to accept that his work provided a positive impact to space and stating that it was ugly and interfered with the social cohesion of the space as it sectioned off the plaza into halves. As a group, we discussed this topic intensely and it sparked a debate as to whether the removal of the “tilted arc” was necessary or not. I believe that the placing of the arc would have attracted more attention to space and therefore, encourage social cohesion to occur more often as people are more likely to share their opinion of the sculpture. Whereas, others in the group suggested that it was an ugly piece of artwork which distracted people from the beauty of the buildings that it was surrounded by. It was interesting working alongside different people from a variety of disciplines and understand their thoughts and feelings where towards different topics.

As an interior design student, I believe that this field topic will help me in the future when designing interiors or installations and how to go about placing artwork within the public realm. A massive part of this topic was the ability for designers to work together when producing artwork in the public realm. Outsourcing was a sub-topic which showed me that by working with a variety of different people with different skills and mindsets helps you to produce a piece of work which is often bigger and better than what you would produce alone. This is because the more people you collaborate with the wider variety of ideas you will obtain, thus, ensuring the production of a diverse, unique and exciting piece of artwork. As part of this project, we had to find a public space and create a piece of artwork which would make a difference to the area. I chose to regenerate an underpass which I use regularly to and from the university and the city centre. The reason I chose to use underpasses as my focal point of this project was that I find them incredibly scary, unsafe and ugly. Therefore, I thought this was the perfect opportunity to redesign a space which is used a lot by the public. Although this project was hypothetical I will continue to peruse this design as I believe it is incredibly important to increase the safety of underpasses and reduce their place lessness.

At the start of my field project my brain was full of ideas and concepts that I wanted to experiment with for this design brief. After thinking long and hard about all the possibilities available I decided to go with a design which was incredibly personal to me. Underpasses were designed and built in order to create easy and quick access to different sections of cities without the need to wait for the traffic to stop on the road to let you pass. In many ways these are a genius invention as they help reduce pedestrian road traffic accidents and allow individuals to get to and from places in a quick and efficient manner. However, on the other hand these places can be scary, potentially dangerous and incredibly ugly. Most underpasses are the same in every city around the world; they only serve to facilitate one main function which is allowing pedestrians to cross roads quickly. The design of underpasses is ugly and often get defaced by graffiti, which further degrades the aesthetic of the space. This graffiti is a way of the community making their mark on the space and trying to make a boring space increasingly more interesting.

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Therefore, my aim is to encourage the community to feel connected to the city by increasing the safety and aesthetic appearance of the spaces which connects the city together. I decided to create a name for this project as I thought it was important to give my design a purpose; I chose to call this design “Cardiff’s connecting colours”. The city of Cardiff is connected via a variety of different underpasses and I thought it would be incredibly fun to increase the aesthetic appearance and purpose of these forgotten and abandoned spaces. In the future I would like to expand this project and collaborate with a variety of different designers to improve the underpasses and design a different aesthetic appearance to each of them. Collaborating with different artists and designers will enable each space to be unique in their own way and portray something different.
As an interior design student, I decided to portray my ideas using SketchUp, photoshop and by producing a sketch model. I thoroughly enjoyed working on SketchUp for this project as I was using bright and bold colours which inevitably created a fun and interesting space. At the start of the design I found it hard to obtain the right lighting for the space, which was incredibly frustrating. However, once I rectified this problem both SketchUp and V-ray rendering worked smoothly. Once I had obtained the visuals, I wanted I used photoshop to add details which would make the design look like it was within the space. This was very fun and allowed me to see what my design would look like when placed in the selected space.

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One thing which I wanted to try and formulate within this project was the use of car energy on the road to stimulate the lights in the underpass. After completing some research into this technique, I came across a website which describes the use of speed bumps which generate energy to power street lights. “A conventional speed bump wastes a huge amount of energy when a car is forced to bring itself from a higher, more efficient cruising speed to almost zero. Large cities have a high number of speed bumps – and an equally high level of traffic.” (Rauneek, n.d.) Therefore, storing this energy and using it to generate light energy for the underpasses light installations will be incredibly sustainable.

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Bibliography
Rauneek. (n.d.). Bright Hub Engineering . Retrieved from Energy from speed bumps : https://www.brighthubengineering.com/hvac/32750-a-new-way-for-generating-energy-speed-bumps/

 

This terms field has educated me on a variety of different skills which will be essential in my future career within the design world. I learned how art in the public realm affects the community, this was very interesting as it showed me a variety of different ways that art and design can both help and hinder the community and environment. Art often stimulates debates, this is because sometimes artists want their audiences to carefully think about the meaning of the artwork and what it portrays. This simulates a variety of different conversations as people opinions can often be completely opposing; although this is a bad thing it also shows an element of social cohesion within the community. Alongside this, the development of art within the public realm can empower people by handing back authority, creativity and ownership to the community. This can be done by collaborating with the community to create a piece of artwork or design which is special and important to them and resembles the community’s morals and personalities. Artwork can bring people together and can allow the community to feel safe and stronger.

This is what I want to achieve with my light installation in the ‘Boulevard de Nantes’ underpass, I want to bring the community together and connecting sections of the city in a safer way. The lights will help guide pedestrians through the underpasses to the other side, it will be an intriguing, exciting and interesting experience; therefore, enabling underpasses to be a welcoming and fun space rather than a scary, dark and damp environment. The artwork within the public realm can help to captivate people’s imaginations and encourage creativity within the community; murals, sculptures and installations can change a space’s characteristics and personality which inevitably allows individuals to express their own thoughts and feelings in relation to the artwork. Thereby opening their minds to the possibilities available in the art world.

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As part of the Intervention lecture Antre set up, we had to create our intervention on the CSAD. I am not a very confident person when it comes to performances or things which would draw attention to me; therefore, this pushed me out of comfort zone hugely. I found it incredibly hard to think of something which would create an intervention. After coming up with a variety of different ideas I decided to sit down in different locations outside of the CSAD building and observe what people do within those specific areas. I used a linen cloth I found in the interior design studio and sat on it, at first I felt very uncomfortable and out of place; however, as time went on I realised that not many people took notice of me and didn’t find it strange that I was sat on the floor on a wet day watching everyone. What I found out from this intervention was that I was able to feel more comfortable and at peace when I was facing the greenery and woodland behind the university building. This space allowed me to concentrate on my thoughts and emotions and enabled me to take in the beauty of the environment that surrounded me. Unlike this tranquil and peaceful experience sitting on the concrete floor surrounded by large brick buildings made me lose focus and concentration of my thoughts as I was preoccupied on watching what other people were doing and what they were talking about. One thing I noticed was the number of people who were smoking, they used it as an area to socialise with other smokers. Although this showed me an element of cohesion within the student community it also showed me how little respect students have on the surrounding environment. Many of the smokers dropped their cigarettes on the floor or on top of bins which destroyed the natural aesthetic of the space. Observing from different angles of the space made me realise how natural and constructed spaces can make you feel different emotions and make you behave differently. I found that those who were surrounded by the woodland were more focused on their work and therefore is a place to reflect, compose thoughts and observe the natural environment. However, those who were in the constructed space socialised more had more things to distract them and rarely had the opportunity to compose their thoughts.
I found this intervention a great way to understand how people behave in certain environments and also allowed me to realise how I respond to being in different spaces both natural and industrial.

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Andre Stitt held a lecture on “Intervention, Engagement and Disruption”, I found this incredibly interesting as there were some cases which inspired me for my final project for the field. One thing which I found interesting is understanding how CCTV cameras affect the way individuals behave when in an environment. CCTV cameras are used as a security method to catch an indecent or dangerous behaviour from the public, they are used in shops, streets and large venues to ensure the safety of the rest of the general public whilst they are in that space. Behaviour within different spaces can change depending on the atmosphere within the place, however, if individuals know they are being watched will they think carefully about what they do or say whilst in public places? In places which are dark and scary such as underpasses will the appearance of CCTV cameras help to prevent dangerous or suspicious behaviour therefore, enabling them to be safer for pedestrians? Throughout my research for my final project, I was disappointed not to find any security cameras on in the “Boulevard de Nantes” underpass. As a student I feel incredibly vulnerable when walking through underpasses; especially at night therefore, the fact that the place does not have any CCTV cameras is quite daunting. As part of my study, I want to place security cameras on each end of the underpass in the hope to increase the safety of the area and ensure that people’s behaviour is more acceptable to society’s public etiquette. In November 1996 The Surveillance Camera Players were formed. These are cameras which capture videos of activity within public places- Therefore, if you are caught on camera doing something you shouldn’t be doing then you can be charged as guilty. Some people believe that these cameras are invading the public places however, I personally believe that surveillance cameras can help with many things and help solve crimes.

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CCTV CAMERA:

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One thing which I have noticed since moving to Cardiff is the amount of Homelessness which can be seen. Public places are the only spaces where homeless individuals can sleep, therefore, public spaces such as streets and underpasses are often used as recreational sleeping shelters for people of whom are unable to get off the streets. Andre’s lecture showed me that Krzysztof Wodiczko created a homeless vehicle in 1987-8, this was done in order to draw attention to homelessness within the area. This was a good way to reduce the number of homeless people who took shelter in underpasses and ensured that they had somewhere portable, dry and comfortable to sleep and eat. I found that when I investigated the underpass “Boulevard de Nantes” there were several homeless people using it as a shelter, initially I felt sorry for them as it was hard to see, however, as I walked past they were constantly begging for money which made me feel incredibly uncomfortable and vulnerable as I had no money to give them. Walking alone In the dark through these public places can be scary especially with limited light I also believe that eliminating the ability for homeless people to sleep in them can increase the safety of the spaces.

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Below shows an image of Krzysztof Wodiczko’s homless vehicle used on the streets of New York City

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http://www.biennial.com/2016/exhibition/artists/krzysztof-wodiczko

 

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CREATIVE SPACES AND WELL-BEING:

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During week 2 of field, we had a lecture about Creative Spaces and Well-being by Gareth Louden, I found this incredibly interesting as it related a lot to my course. The focus of this lecture was to understand how the physical environment you are in can affect your level of creativity and your overall wellbeing. There are multiple factors which can impact this, including the amount of light, noise in the area and the number of people of whom are within the environment. The amount of light which enters the space can affect your concentration, for example, bright white lights can help stimulate focus and maintain alertness. However, spaces which are encompassed with dim, ambient lighting can cause drowsiness and therefore, can lower your concentration and focus; thus, your creativity. Personally, I am most creative when I am by myself in a dark room and have no distractions, for example just before I fall asleep, I come up with ideas or designs which could possibly work. I think this works for me as I am incredibly relaxed and therefore my brain is open to a variety of ideas and is not distracted on other things. Therefore, I can focus solely on one thing. I also learned that the furniture you surround and the products which are within the space can also affect your ability to be creative and your wellbeing and comfort. The type of chair which you feel as though you concentrate most can vary from individuals. Personally, for me to concentrate I need to be sat on a comfortable yet supportive chair. As someone who is tall, I struggle with my posture and when sat in chairs I often arch my back, therefore, I am less motivated, and it decreases my motivation to work. It also increases my risks of obtaining stress injuries on my back. If you feel stressed, distracted or uncomfortable within space then your attention is increasingly narrowed and therefore eliminates your ability to obtain peripheral ideas. Within this lecture we were assigned a task, this involved finding a space on campus, sit or stand in the place, observe and listen and then pay attention to your own emotions, thoughts and feelings. During this exercise I went to the heart space which is the centre of the art and design school in Cardiff met. I chose to sit down, listen and observe the people that surrounded me within this environment. What I found when completing this exercise is that I am incredibly focused on what other people are doing which made it incredibly difficult for me to focus on my own thoughts and feelings. This made me realise that my body has been conditioned to listen to others rather than blocking them out which could potentially affect my concentration and creativity within busy environments., therefore suggesting that quieter environments are more preferable to my personality.

This term my field project was incredibly intriguing, it was associated more with my subject compared to last year’s field, which meant that I could relate the topics I was learning back to my Interior Design Course easily. Site Spaces and Public Places is the title of my field project and encourages me to think about how public spaces are used and how individual’s situational behaviour changes depending on the site/space they are surrounded by. The aim of this project is to identify a specific location of my choice, and, design and create a piece of art work which will cause a different psychological, behavioural and emotional response. After some serious consideration as to what I wanted to gain out of this project I decided to use the ‘Boulevard de Nantes’ underpass which connects city hall to the city centre.

(Image: Rob Browne) https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/local-news/cardiff-council-underpass-city-hall-17087436

I have chosen this place has since moving to Cardiff I have hated walking underpasses during the evenings as I have felt uncomfortable and vulnerable. As the nights draw in during the autumnal and winter seasons the underpasses are not well lit and rarely having cctv which makes the place seem dodgy, dark and scary. Therefore, my aim is to produce a piece of installation art which will enable this space to become more welcoming and appealing thereby, encouraging more people to walk through the space without feeling vulnerable and in danger.

Some of the main questions which is worth taking into consideration when researching into my chosen environment/space include:
– Photograph and consider the access of the space:
– What is around it?
– Why you chose it?
– Write a short report to clarify
– What you want to achieve?
– Who is the audience and client?
– Site lines and understanding the flow of people, light and context.
– The same space can change depending on the people of whom are within the vicinity of the environment = How many pedestrians walk through the underpass
– Does the volume of people walking through the space change depending on the time of day?
– If so when does the underpass experience the most interaction?