Avoiding patronisation and development of theory topic
I had rebooted my project with the intention of using slums as the base as I am really fascinated by the architecture and lifestyle within these areas. However, it was pointed out to me that while it most certainly wasn't my intention, looking at slums as a source of fascination was dancing on a very thin line between fascination and patronisation. I was also in danger of making blatant representations of the mismatched buildings seen in slums for lack of direction to take the idea.
It could be seen as patronising because I would be looking at the lifestyle of a person who lived in that situation and seeing it as interesting, whereas circumstances in the areas I would be looking upon with interest have no choice but to live their. It is a necessity rather than a choice they made.
Because I would be assuming how the people living in slums felt about living in the slums, it was suggested to me to instead look at the topic in terms of animals so as to remove from human condition, and rather than look at the architecture itself, perhaps look at structures made through necessity and instinct, like anthills and termite mounds.
Within the mounds made by these insects are extremely interesting structures made my animals born into a hierarchy; a worker ant is born a worker ant, a queen ant is born a queen ant. It is easier to assume that ants and termites don't think about their position in their hierarchy because we aren't the same species, and cannot communicate.
From here, is started looking at Animal Far, a book written by George Orwell and first published in England in 1945. The book depicts a social hierarchy within a group of farm animals with pigs being the highest on the food chain. It is an allegorical story, and tells from the perspective of animals the lead up to the Russian Revolution in 1917l, and then to the Stalinist era of the soviet union. From this book, a became very interested in the quote:
"All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others."
This quote to me became the basis of my new investigation and experimentation. I started out with the most basic of ideas; the materials I use should be of equal amounts but of different value.
while the meaning is very obvious, I wanted to see if it could hold any other meanings that could be of use to me when experimenting, but in the end, I decided to settle with the most obvious of meanings, which al comes back to hierarchy; There is no equality, only hierarchy.
My project would be focused on creating an allegorical sculpture or installation that depicts the quote, which I had reformatted to 'everyone os equal, but some are more equal than others'. I planned to depict how those higher in the food chain would say that 'we're all equal', but would live more luxurious lifestyles than most.
The piece would be made using very raw materials, as I had done throughout the project, and would comprise of towers of different heights that all held the same material on the top, which would be plaster.
It could be seen as patronising because I would be looking at the lifestyle of a person who lived in that situation and seeing it as interesting, whereas circumstances in the areas I would be looking upon with interest have no choice but to live their. It is a necessity rather than a choice they made.
Because I would be assuming how the people living in slums felt about living in the slums, it was suggested to me to instead look at the topic in terms of animals so as to remove from human condition, and rather than look at the architecture itself, perhaps look at structures made through necessity and instinct, like anthills and termite mounds.
Within the mounds made by these insects are extremely interesting structures made my animals born into a hierarchy; a worker ant is born a worker ant, a queen ant is born a queen ant. It is easier to assume that ants and termites don't think about their position in their hierarchy because we aren't the same species, and cannot communicate.
From here, is started looking at Animal Far, a book written by George Orwell and first published in England in 1945. The book depicts a social hierarchy within a group of farm animals with pigs being the highest on the food chain. It is an allegorical story, and tells from the perspective of animals the lead up to the Russian Revolution in 1917l, and then to the Stalinist era of the soviet union. From this book, a became very interested in the quote:
"All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others."
This quote to me became the basis of my new investigation and experimentation. I started out with the most basic of ideas; the materials I use should be of equal amounts but of different value.
I began to break down the quote into what it could mean.
while the meaning is very obvious, I wanted to see if it could hold any other meanings that could be of use to me when experimenting, but in the end, I decided to settle with the most obvious of meanings, which al comes back to hierarchy; There is no equality, only hierarchy.
My project would be focused on creating an allegorical sculpture or installation that depicts the quote, which I had reformatted to 'everyone os equal, but some are more equal than others'. I planned to depict how those higher in the food chain would say that 'we're all equal', but would live more luxurious lifestyles than most.
The piece would be made using very raw materials, as I had done throughout the project, and would comprise of towers of different heights that all held the same material on the top, which would be plaster.
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