Boundaries
My project was based on looking at windows as boundaries. I decided to focus on the idea of how windows reflect and blur reality and can be both a barrier as well as opening, looking at ideas of privacy and openness.
My original idea was to look at metal bars as something that divide but also protect. I visited Arsenal Tube Station and recorded how bars are used to separate passengers (and football fans) as they pass through the station but are there to also funnel passengers safely out of the station quickly. After the first site visit to Edgeware Rd, I realised that this approach was not appropriate to the site and so decided to focus on looking at windows as boundaries.
On further site visits I sketched windows in the area and investigated how some were covered, or obscured. This could be with stickers and advertisements in the case of shop windows or by net curtains in the case of residential properties. Then I began thinking why were these items added to the windows - to attract attention to what was behind them? Or to hide what was behind them? I also started thinking about layers of windows and layers of obscuring. I also thought about what happens when more than one level of blurring is added upon - I began to look at the work of the artist Gerhard Richter and his work "Standing Panes" (2002) I also thought about what happens when something is reflected in a blurred surface. I think that not being able to see something clearly makes it more interesting, so if something is blurred it can become more attractive. I also looked at the work of Architects Shingo Masuda and Katsuhia Otsubo, and their work "Ghost-Like Architecture" (2010) - they have used a metal screen to create a obscuring screen around a property in Tokyo.
As part of my research I visited the new Switch House extension to Tate Modern. Initially I focused on the interior and how windows were used to separate different areas and uses within the public and private spaces of the building. There was extensive use of obscured glass throughout the building - in many cases to create private areas, such as the members areas and the restaurant. I also looked at the examples of reflection on obscured glass. The idea of privacy was highlighted when I visited the viewing floor at the top of the building. There were notices asking people to respect the privacy of residents of the new flats nearby. It is possible to look directly into these flats, very few of which had curtains to provide any privacy. The occupiers had paid huge amounts of money for these flats and yet they had no privacy – did they think about this before buying the property and decide it was worth it for a good address?
I experimented with creating printed images based on photographs I have taken during the project which explore the idea of obscuring and blurring and reflection. I used merged images and then applied wet ink using a sponge. Some of the images had a nightmarish quality I think, whereas other clearly showed ideas of transparency and layers.
I found this project interesting as I have been made to think about windows as both an opening to look through and a barrier to seeing. I have also developed my understanding of how windows can separate and divide an interior space by performing there functions.
Referenced :
- Gerhard Richter - Born 1932 - Painting - Fenster Window Grid - 1968 - Oil on Canvas
- Gerhard Richter - 7 Stehende Scheiben - 2002 - Standing Panes - 234cm x 167cm x 336cm - Glasses and Steel Construction
- Louise Bourgeois 1911 - 2010 - Cell ( Eyes and mirrors) 1989 - 93, Steel, Limestone and Glass
- Louise Bourgeois 1911 - 2010, France, worked USA - Cell XIV (Portrait) 2000, Steel, Glass, Wood, Metal and red fabric
- Ghost-like Architecture - Shingo Masuda and Katsuhisa Otsubo
- Boundary Window House Japan - Tokyo by Shingo Masuda + Katsuhisa Otsubo
