The machinist landscape:Land Art Generator Initiative (Competition)

THE MACHINIST LANDSCAPE: AN ENTROPIC GRID OF VARIANCE
‘By drawing a diagram, a ground plan of a house, a street plan to the location of a site, or a topographic map, one draws a “logical two dimensional picture”. A “logical picture” differs from a natural or realistic picture in that it rarely looks like the thing it stands for.’
A Provisional Theory of Non-Sites, Robert Smithson (1968)

Between design and ground there are variances, deviations and gaps. These exist as physical interstices between what is conceptualised and what is realised; and they reveal moments in the design process that resist the reconciliation of people and their environment (McHarg 1963). The Machinist Landscape interrogates the significance of these variances through the contrasting processes of coppice and photovoltaic energy. It builds on the potential of these gaps, and in doing so proposes that these spaces of variance can reveal the complexity of relationships between consumption and remediation, design and nature.
Fresh Kills Park, and in particular the draft master plan (2006), offers a framework to explore this artificial construct. Central to the Machinist Landscape is the analysis of the landfill gas collection system, planned on a notional 200ft grid. Variations are revealed between this diagrammatic grid measure and that which has been constructed on the site. These variances between the abstract and the real offer the Machinist Landscape a powerful space of enquiry. Are these gaps a result of unexpected conditions below ground, topographic nuances or natural phenomena? Does this space of difference, between what is planned and what is constructed, have the potential to redefine the dynamic processes and relations with the land?
The Machinist Landscape is structured through this space of variance with an ‘entropic grid’, the under-storey of which hosts a carefully managed system of short-rotation coppice (SRC). The coppice, a medieval practice related to energy, product, and space, operates on theoretical and programmatic levels. It is planted along a structure of linear bunds, stabilized through coppice pole retaining structures and enriched with nutrients from coppice produced bio-char. Above the coppice is built an upper-storey of photovoltaic (PV); its structures fabricated from the coppiced timber and the PV produced with graphene from coppice charcoal processes.

Land art: um estudo sobre as origens da Land art e seus desdobramentos

Não disponível

La fotografia, il film e il video nella Land art tra documentazione e sperimentazione

La tesi affronta il ruolo problematico della documentazione nella Land art, sia per quanto riguarda l’immagine diffusa dai magazine e dalle riviste d’arte, sia affrontando nello specifico il rapporto con i media nella poetica degli artisti, dedicando particolare attenzione a De Maria, Heizer, Oppenheim, Smithson, Holt, Dibbets, Long, Fulton e Christo e Jeanne-Claude.

Terra Preta : bioenergy, soil restoration, urban agriculture, art algorithm

The 2010 LAGI competition was held on three underutilized sites in the United Arab Emirates. By choosing Staten Island, New York in 2012 the competition organises have again brought into question new roles for public open space in the contemporary city. In the case of the UEA sites, the competition produced many entries which aimed to create a sculpture and by doing so, they attracted people to the selected empty spaces in an arid climate. In a way these proposals were the incubators and the new characters of these empty spaces. The competition was thus successful at advancing understandings of the expanded role of public open spaces in EAU and elsewhere. LAGI 2012 differs significantly to the UAE program because Fresh Kills Park has already been planned as a public open space for New Yorkers - with or without these clean energy sculptures. Furthermore, Fresh Kills Park is already an (gas) energy generating site in its own right. We believe Fresh Kills Park, as a site, presents a problem which somewhat transcends the aims of the competition brief. Advancing a sustainable urban design proposition for the site therefore requires a fundamental reconsideration of the established paradigms public open space. Hence our strategy is to not only create an energy generating, site specific art work, but to create synergy between the public and the site engagement while at the same time complement the idiosyncrasies of the pre-existing engineered landscape. Current PhD research about energy generation in public open spaces informs this work.

Terra Preta (Agriculture+Art+Algorithm)

Terra Preta is a site-specific bio-energy project which aims to create a synergy between the public and the pre-existing engineered landscape of Freshkills Park on Staten Island, New York. The project challenges traditional paradigms of public space by proposing a dynamic and ever-changing landscape. The initiative allows the publuc to self-organise the landscape and to engage in 'algorithmic processes' of growth, harvest and space creation.

Two QUT Research Projects : Lightsite Perminant and Koonga Maya

Bushfire Responsive Architecture proposals (2) detailed in a 144 page document containing orginal architectural designs and site surveys by Dr Ian Weir. Presented in support of Dr Weir's sucessful planning application for the perminant artwork/land art project "Lightsite Perminant" situated on Point Henry, Western Australia.

Lightsite Perminant : A Kwongkan Artwork Installation

Lightsite Perminant is an original artwork created by Ian Weir and is intended to provide a model for building bushfire responsive arhcitecture in biodiverse Kwongkan shrubland on the Southcoast of Western Australia.

Optimal electricity distribution framework for public space: Assessing renewable energy proposals for Freshkills Park, New York City

Integrating renewable energy into public space is becoming more common as a climate change solution. However, this approach is often guided by the environmental pillar of sustainability, with less focus on the economic and social pillars. The purpose of this paper is to examine this issue in the speculative renewable energy propositions for Freshkills Park in New York City submitted for the 2012 Land Art Generator Initiative (LAGI) competition. This paper first proposes an optimal electricity distribution (OED) framework in and around public spaces based on relevant ecology and energy theory (Odum’s fourth and fifth law of thermodynamics). This framework addresses social engagement related to public interaction, and economic engagement related to the estimated quantity of electricity produced, in conjunction with environmental engagement related to the embodied energy required to construct the renewable energy infrastructure. Next, the study uses the OED framework to analyse the top twenty-five projects submitted for the LAGI 2012 competition. The findings reveal an electricity distribution imbalance and suggest a lack of in-depth understanding about sustainable electricity distribution within public space design. The paper concludes with suggestions for future research.

Arte y ecología: hacia nuevo método de análisis de las actividades artísticas relacionadas con la naturaleza

Ponencia leída en el Foro de Comunicaciones IkasArt III (BEC Barakaldo, 2011.11.11)

Arte y naturaleza.

Contiene: Guía didáctica 'Arte y naturaleza'. Seleccionado en la convocatoria: Ayudas para proyectos de temática educativa, Gobierno de Aragón 2008-09

A arte psicodélica e sua relação com a arte contemporânea norte-americana e inglesa dos anos 1960: uma dissolução de fronteiras

Pós-graduação em Artes - IA

Progettare il passato. Suasa senonum, dal frammento archeologico al progetto di architettura

L’esigenza di contestualizzare le rovine di Suasa Senonum all’interno di un Parco Archeologico che racconti la composizione della città e le relazioni che questa ha intessuto con il territorio, ha condotto alla formulazione di un progetto territoriale; il Parco Archeologico è così inteso come un’occasione per rilanciare la conoscenza di un sistema che connette aspetti culturali, storici e paesaggistici. La città è intersecata da uno dei percorsi più antichi e importanti della Regione: la Salaria Gallica che attraversa città, borghi, vallate, fiumi e parchi archeologici tra cui quello di Suasa Senonum e offre la possibilità di leggere le dinamiche che hanno modellato il territorio sin dall’antichità. Il punto di forza di questa via consiste nell’offrire la possibilità di leggere come la natura e l’uomo abbiano interagito nel tempo e di come esso eserciti la propria opera modellatrice sul risultato delle loro relazioni. Queste considerazioni hanno portato ad affrontare temi che pongono l’accento su questioni che vanno dalle connessioni territoriali all’aggiunta di stratificazione sullo spessore del tempo culminando in un risultato che riconsegna la città alla collettività. Il progetto traduce queste riflessioni affrontando la costruzione di un ponte sul fiume Cesano quale punto di ricucitura della via Salaria Gallica, dell’inserimento di un visitor centre e della rivitalizzazione dell’anfiteatro quale luogo di spettacolo. Il filo conduttore del tutto, dal lining out all’opera land art, sta nella volontà di intaccare il meno possibile quell’equilibrio con cui la natura ha preso il sopravvento sulle attività umane di un tempo celandone le tracce; la sfida è stata quella di rendere l’organismo urbano nuovamente leggibile attraverso il progetto di architettura. Abbiamo così cercato di reinserire in un circuito ritrovato ciò che il tempo ha in parte cancellato.

Condiciones de campo en el caso del Memorial a los Judíos asesinados en Europa

La siguiente tesis se estructura fundamentalmente en tres partes. La primera determina el marco teórico conceptual, efiniendo antecedentes y entregando los lineamientos que permitirán el análisis del caso. El texto que conduce el marco teórico corresponde a “From Object to field”, de Stan Allen, que consiste en el desarrollo de la idea de campos organizacionales, a través del concepto de “Condiciones de Campo”, donde se mezclan conceptos de alta teoría con el trabajo práctico del arquitecto, con el fin de establecer un diálogo constante con la complejidad de la realidad desde nuestra propia disciplina. Desde aquí se desprende la necesidad de abordar algunos conceptos y tendencias que desde el arte pueden servir como antecedentes para un mejor análisis del caso y se proponen algunas reflexiones dirigidas a comprender el desplazamiento del arte objetual al arte del concepto (Simón Marchant) y los análisis propuesto por Rosalid Krauss en relación a la expansión del campo del arte hacia la segunda mitad del siglo XX. En particular atención sobre el Minimal Art y el paso a tendencias posteriores como el Post-Minimal, Land Art y algunas experiencias surgidas en los setenta, tiene como objetivo principal describir un momento fundamental en el arte donde los cambios producidos a través de sus experiencias, afecta de forma substancial las normas de composición y los medios concebidos hasta esos años, lo que no necesariamente fue reflejado de forma paralela en arquitectura. Con el fin de comprender el real alcance que estos cambios estructurales han tenido en el campo de la Arquitectura, me propongo hacer una revisión sobre algunas tendencias desarrolladas a partir de los años setenta. Por un lado, determinar las directrices a partir de las cuales se ha definido la denominada “Arquitectura Minimal”. A priori me atrevo a decir que han sido en su mayoría incorporados a nivel estético, comprendiendo de forma absolutamente superficial los conceptos y potencialidades que estas reflexiones pudieran tener para la Arquitectura. Por otro, acercarme a la figura del Arquitecto Peter Eisenman, quien se presenta como relevante en este punto en cuanto a su atención constante al arte y el desarrollo de una arquitectura fundamentada en las relaciones lingüísticas, basada en el proceso y el uso de signos indiciales. La segunda parte se refiere al Caso Memorial a los Judíos Asesinados de Europa diseñado por este arquitecto en conjunto con Richard Serra. Además de la descripción del proyecto en términos formales y cuantitativos, se plantea aquí una cronología de los acontecimientos y contingencias que fueron parte de un largo proceso partiendo desde el primer concurso en 1988, hasta su inauguración en el 2005, pudiendo ser una muestra de la relevancia de este proyecto para la sociedad alemana. Estos sucesos provocaron una serie de modificaciones en el proyecto inicial, incluso llegando a influir en la salida de Serra del proyecto a poco de finalizar su diseño. Una tercera parte corresponde al análisis del caso, a partir del marco teórico desarrollado, relacionando el proyecto del Memorial, con el texto de Stan Allen y las condiciones de campo definidas en él. Tanto por sus características sintácticas como semánticas, contextualizadas en torno a un complejo escenario como es la historia reciente del Holocausto en Alemania, este proyecto sugiere la utilización de conceptos extraídos desde el Minimal y el Post-Minimal en Arquitectura, como pocas veces podemos encontrar. A partir de un viaje personal realizado a Berlín en el marco de esta investigación, expongo el registro personal de mi propia experiencia como parte fundamental para la comprensión del caso.

Fieldworks from the Museum of the Void: Experiments in the Event of an Archive

This exhibition was a research presentation of works made at Center for Land Use Interpretation [CLUI]base in Wendover, Utah, USA between 2008-2010. The project was commissioned by the Centre For Land Interpretation in USA and funded by The Henry Moore Foundation in the UK. Documentation of research conducted in the field as made available as video and installation. An experimental discourse on the preservation of land art was put with GPS drawings and research information displayed as maps and documents. In examining physical sites in Utah, USA, the project connected to contemporary discourse centred on archives in relation to land art and land use. Using experimental processes conceived in relation to key concepts such as event structures and entropy, conceptual frameworks developed by Robert Smithson (USA) and John Latham (UK), the 'death drive' of the archive was examined in the context of a cultural impulse to preserve iconic works. The work took items from Lathams archive and placed them at the canonical 'Spiral Jetty', Smithson land art work at Rozel Point north of Salt Lake City. This became a focus for the project that also highlighted the role of the Getty Foundation in documenting major public artworks and CLUI in creating an American Land Museum. Work was created in the field at extreme remote locations using GPS technologies and visual tools were developed to articulate the concepts of the artists discussed, to engage the exhibition audience in ideas of transformation and entropy in art. Audiences were encouraged to sign a petition to be used in future preservation of spiral jetty currently facing development challenges.