1/3 Rule

Centre: Simone Steel (Pin-Up Project Space) and Right: Patricia Lee (Palamont: art in manufacturing) beside the exhibition crates. Photography Norman Johnson.

Usually it takes me about 1/3 of the original installation time to actually demount an exhibition. With the generous assistance of Simone Steel and Patricia Lee we completed the demount in just over 5 Hours!

I think that has to be a record given it took 3 Days to set up the TRACE exhibition at Pin-Up Project Space, Melbourne.

Big Thank You to Simone and Patricia. Go Girl Power!

The Why We Create Launch

Guests start to arrive for the launch of the Why We Create series within TRACE at Pin-Up Project Space, Melbourne. Photography James Braund.

Invited guests from a diverse range of fields including Art, Design, IT, Engineering, Law, Media and Education joined the How We Create team for the Lunchtime Launch of the Why We Create Series.

The Why We Create initiative (founded by How We Create and I) seeks to spark a wider conversation about the process and value of design-led thinking in Australia. Interviews, discussions and public forums are occurring parallel to events that will take place across Australia over the next 12 months. The Launch of this series was held within TRACE at Pin-Up Project Space in Melbourne, on 16 May 2012, and marked the close of the exhibition.

Yes that’s me passionately speaking at the event. Photography James Braund.

Norman Johnson from How We Create and Palamont: art in manufacturing launched the series. I gave an intimate presentation into why I create, and the importance of creatives engaging with the wider business community.

Nicholas Rogers (Parameter Space) and Alexi Freeman (Alexi Freeman). Photography James Braund.

Fleur Watson in conversation (Pin-Up Project Space). Photography James Braund.

Gini Lee (Melbourne University) through Scale Screen. Photography James Braund.

Matt Ward with Martyn Hook (background). Photography James Braund.

Joanna Bosse, Gini Lee (Back) and Christina Waterson. Photography James Braund.

Simone LeAmon in focus. Photography James Braund.

Patricia Lee (Back)( Palamont), Alexi Freeman (Alexi Freeman), Norman Johnson (Back) (Palamont and How We Create) and Nicholas Rogers (Parameter Space). Photography James Braund.

Guests enjoyed good conversation and a beautiful selection of light tastes created by our special local friends Cibi (head, hands, heart) accompanied by refreshing organic apple juice and Pimms cocktails all served by the fabulous Boys and Girls team.

Special Thanks to Melbourne based photographer James Braund who documented the event exquisitely and of course to the team at How We Create.

TRACE BID Details

TRACE The Work = Where We Live

Thread Screen 2009. Photography by Tobias Titz. This screen was inspired by the pattern of western light passing through foliage, lattice, across a verandah finally resting on a speckled glass window pane.

Mapping Occupation 2009. Photography by Jon Linkins. It is a record of the occupation of a verandah over the course of a day.

These two works included in Trace at Pin-Up Project Space were selected from the Where We Live Collection, made with the assistance of a 2008/2009 Creative Sparks Grant. These studies aimed to capture the qualities that enrich our lives in Brisbane and define the special places where we live. Many were informed by our unique light and use of space specific to our climate, views and places within the city.

TRACE FLASHBACK

A large part of the initial research for the  Where We Live project was photographic. In all, seven different places or ‘typologies’ were selected and researched for the project including ‘Up High’, ‘By the River,  ’In the Centre’ and ‘Living Rough’. Only one of these ‘Living at the Edge’ was selected for final exhibition at Raw Space Gallery.

A Sister Work to Thread Screen is Light Study 2009. Photography by Christina Waterson.

Where We Live Installation at Raw Space Gallery 2010. Photography by Jon Linkins.

Raw Space Gallery located on Melbourne Street (South Brisbane) allowed 24 hour viewing of the works. This meant they were readily accessible to a wide diversity of people who both worked and passed through the area on a daily basis.

Both Thread Screen and Mapping Occupation 2009 were selected for TRACE because they are yet to be realised to their true potential. They are in waiting to still evolve and become fully.

Where We Live was a Creative Sparks Grant Project. Creative Sparks is a joint initiative of Brisbane City Council and the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland. Where We Live at Raw Space Gallery was an Official Associated Event of 2010 Unlimited: Designing for the Asia Pacific.

We interrupt the scheduled program…04

1 Scott Street, Kangaroo Point, Brisbane, Queensland.

Scott Street Apartments (designed by Jackson Teece Architects) is located at the junction of Kangaroo Point and The Story Bridge, Brisbane. It is an intriguing building from the outside with sculptural facade, and shimmering tiles that reflect the changing mood of the sky. Exquisitely detailed both inside and out, Scott Street is testimony to the importance of understanding context, siting, program and the experience of joyful living. Its considered relationship with a wider context means that the joy is experienced by not only the residence of the apartments but also the residence of the wider city.

Sculptural Relief: Precast concrete facade inspired by native mangrove and melaleuca forests found along the Brisbane River.

View to Brisbane's CBD (including Riparian Plaza by the late Harry Seidler) between Scott Street apartments and adjacent Heritage Listed Silverwells Residence.

Scott Street Apartment Entry on Main Street.

Recently I had the chance to visit Scott Street Apartments. This opportunity came about through an artwork request by artisan: idea skill product. artisan were asked by Lindsay Bennett Marketing to fit out one of the amazing full floor apartments. artisan is an active body in Queensland ‘presenting and promoting unique and individual quality crafted design to an Australian and international audience’.

They selected works from more than 20 Queensland Creatives for one full floor apartment at Scott Street. Works included those by artists Lincoln Austin, Ian Friend and Leonard Brown; makers Kenji Uranishi, Will Marx and Joanna Bone; and designers Fukutoshi Ueno, Alexander Lotersztain, Brian Steendyk, David Shaw, Kent Gration, Surya Graf, Jason Bird and Easton Pearson. Please view the photos of these talented creatives’ work at Scott Street featured on artisan’s blog spot.

It was very refreshing to see this diverse selection within the one environment. Usually you witness works by specific artists or designers in a solo or group exhibition in a gallery environment. I have never experienced these kind of juxtapositions before in someone’s (potential) home. There was a comfortable nesting of materials, mediums and concepts and of course I was very excited to experience my work in this mix.

Me with X-Screen 2008: This particular format of X-Screen was made especially for the Gallery Corridor at Scott Street. You can see Alexander Lotersztain's Crusoe Sofa with Scott Street's Sculptural Facade behind. Photography by Andrea Higgins for artisan.

TRACE The Work = Intra Screen

Looking through Scale Screen 2012 to Intra Screen 2008. Photography by Tobias Titz.

From afar: Intra Screen in a 6 x 3 Configuration. Photography by Tobias Titz.

Intra Screen (2008) was included in TRACE at Pin-Up Project Space because it is an essential key to understanding the way I think and make. Intra refers to the weave or module type. It is one of five weaving types within The Komodo Series. This series continues to inform my practice and reminds me about important relationships; scale and material; material and light; complex whole and simple parts; and ideas and their potential to inspire others.

TRACE FLASHBACK…

The Komodo Series was launched in September 2008 at Living Edge’s Brisbane Show Room. The event was part of the 2008 Brisbane Indesign celebrations.

Living Edge's Brisbane Show Room in Fortitude Valley. Photography by Aidan Murphy.

The Komodo Series Launch 2008. Photography by Aidan Murphy.

Natural forms, structures and geometries that stem from the beautiful qualities and simple properties of materials inspired me to make The Komodo Series. Through an experimental handmade process initial 3-D studies in cardboard were transformed into larger objects and surfaces in a range of materials including plywood, polypropylene and stainless steel. The Komodo Series makes visible my playful testing process.

A family of beautiful objects; my tests in cardboard, corflute and polypropylene. Photography by David Sandison.

Plexa#1 Screen Study made in reclaimed cardboard. Installation at artisan; idea skill product, Ivory Street Window 2008. Photography by Andrea Higgins for artisan.

The actual modules (such as Intra and Plexa) allow the individual to experiment, reinvent and personalize their surroundings. The parts can be assembled into multiple configurations  and objects including screens, lights and sculptural forms.  Each change in combination, size and material creates subtle variations to light, shadow, density and use.

Plexa Screen at Living Edge 2008. Photography by Aidan Murphy.

Launch Night: I am sitting (exhausted and speechless for once) in front of Plexa Screen, listening to Cameron's opening speech. Photography by Aidan Murphy.

Cameron Bruhn opens the event. He is pictured with Komodo Series Forms. Photography by Aidan Murphy.

It was great to see Intra Screen within the environment of Pin-Up Project Space for TRACE.

‘From little things big things grow’ (thank you Paul Kelly and Kev Carmody) and will continue to grow and change and reveal their true potential over time. This rings true for me every time I make, install and witness any part of the The Komodo Series.

The Komodo Series: Small things have a big Impact. Hand-Self Portrait.

The Komodo Series was assisted by an Arts Queensland Sector Project Grant in 2008. The launch was also made possible through the kind support of artisan: idea skill product and Living Edge.

TRACE The Work = Studies

The Studies 1996 - 2012. Photography by Tobias Titz

I feel all of my work is in a state of becoming. In this way each is a sketch or study for something larger, smaller, in a different material for a different function or simply to be enjoyed in a new way. Cameron Bruhn (the now Editorial Director of Architecture Media) succinctly described my process in his review of my very first solo exhibition RECENT in 2002 in the following way:

FORMS WERE GENERATED UNCONSCIOUSLY BY Waterson’s engagement with the techniques and material of her craft. Like the architect Louis Kahn, she asked the brick what it wanted to be. Waterson’s process answered the question. She probed the physical limits of her materials through a study of structural forces, repetition, spatial manipulation, and scale. She probed the metaphoric through association, subversion, and memory.

extract from The Architecture of Being by Cameron Bruhn 01/02 Artichoke

The small studies pictured above are a selection of my firsts. They are a special record of the very first time my feelings came into being through materials. They are a constant link to the essential ideas, qualities and forces that inform my process and, like a ribbon on my finger, remind me of why I make.

Within the range of studies displayed in TRACE are models for Array 2007 (that became the 20 x 30 metre RAIA Ceiling Installation for the Queensland Architecture Awards) and also little constructions for future works, maybe to become jewellery, screens, ceilings or lights… or all of the above.

Trace 2012. My quick photography as we installed the exhibition. They are so beautiful!

All of the studies are hand-made except one related set Trace 2012 and Crown 2010. They are my first experiments using SLS and 3D Printing. I worked with architect Domenic Mesiti to ‘trace’ Crown (Part of the Komodo Series),  simplifying the parts down to a continuous surface; like draping a soft material or skin over the bones of the original form. Trace at the presented scale is close to the size of a bracelet – but could be scaled up or down. Patricia Lee, Talented Product Design Officer at Palamont, prototyped TRACE bracelet for the exhibition.

Special thank you to Domenic Mesiti and Patricia Lee for their amazing skill, expertise and professionalism.

Norman Johnson (How We Create and Manager of Palamont) and Patricia Lee (Talented Product Design Officer at Palamont) prototyped TRACE bracelet for the exhibition. Photography by Tobias Titz.

TRACE The Background

My Winston Churchill Fellowship Adventure

My Winston Churchill Fellowship Research took me to Japan, China and Turkey to investigate the origins or (as I put it) the space hidden within the ancient patterns of these cultures. By space I mean:

- physical space (scale, depth, color, dimension, composition)

- non-physical space (accumulated knowledge through history; belief, meaning and intention; culture and way of life; nature and need; technology and local materials; the individual maker’s touch, and contribution)

- and the space of experience (built environment or architecture) in which the patterns are experienced as part of a greater whole.

Therefore my research was very rich and multi-layered, as my focus encompassed not only art, design and architecture but also the essence of the places visited and people met.

The space of experience at The Forbidden City, Beijing China.

Looking through my photographs of the intricate carpets, engravings, metalwork, carving, mosaics, ceramics, and textiles from each of the places I visited, one can only be inspired by the craftsmen and the objects of their making. When you experience them first hand you can feel their life and energy and see the imperfect marks made by their hands. The small discreet deviations from the ordered structure and repetition of the patterns made them human and importantly showed the mark of the individual in the transmission of stories, beliefs and skills from generation to generation, across materials, processes and culture.

Details that make the whole, Hagia Sophia, Istanbul Turkey.

Colours and Patterns of Nature, Colours and Patterns of Place; Oriental Rugs at Liberty of London.

Materials and colors are of the place. They stem from the original natural environment of the time. The artefacts were made from these materials by people out of need in their everyday lives. The primitive patterns experienced record ancient man’s connection and dependence on nature and season. The meaning of the motifs, colors and significance of a pattern subtly vary from country to country, workshop to workshop, and artisan to artisan. There is a strong relation between purpose, material, and technique with place, and the realized form of the patterns.

Beautiful Spatial Bamboo Weaving with Ohashi-san, Beppu Japan.

The relationship between nature, making and beliefs in each of the countries was paramount to understanding their patterns. In Japan in particular patterns were based in simplicity, subtlety and beauty. Within the objects of their craft they ritually captured and used materials and processes that revealed the transient nature of their life and surroundings (the passing of seasons, light in the morning, a spider’s web under a new moon). This revealed their deep understanding of the imperfect and impermanent qualities of space and objects with the passing of time and through nature’s forces.

Very moving and personal experience of Karakami with Toto and Aiko from Karacho.

One of my key recommendations that came out of my research was to Foster further research and practice that reflects our own Australian natural environment and identity through our history, native materials, process and way of life. My exhibition entitled TRACE at Pin-up Project Space in Melbourne, was an opportunity to Explore these concepts in a series of new studies.

Trace maps and connects the underlying conceptual ideas that thread through the practice of Brisbane-based architect and artist Christina Waterson. By physically surveying the origins of her work, the new collection embodies a 3-dimensional ‘trace’, sketch or echo of past trajectories. A softening of material and a simplification of line results in Waterson’s return to essential forms and qualities. Like a stone smoothed by the tidal waters of the ocean, sharp lines soften to tactile curves and arabesques. A palette of materials that range from rubber, leather and felt resonate with a return to artisan values within the traditions of leatherwork, sewing, beading and macramé. A collection of work within the exhibition is informed by Waterson’s recent Winston Churchill Fellowship Research experiences… extract from Trace Exhibition Floor Sheet

The main body of text within this post includes key extracts from my Winston Churchill Fellowship Report.

TRACE The Opening

Trace Opening Speeches: Norman Johnson (How We Create and Palamont), Fleur Watson (Pin-Up Project Space) and yes that's cheeky me. Photography by Tobias Titz.

Pin Up Project Space. Photography Tobias Titz.

I was so excited to finally share the works in Trace at Pin-Up Architecture and Design Project Space, Melbourne.  This opportunity to exhibit was made possible through the team at Pin-Up Project space. The generous support of How We Create (in mentorship, feedback, prototyping and sponsorship) ensured an amazing exhibition that is truly my best and most inspirational to date. After completing Official Duties I was able to enjoy catching up with the guests who attended the Trace opening.

Dear friends and colleagues Pawel Zab and Brett Duke. Photography by Tobias Titz.

New Scale Screen in the foreground was assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body. Photography by Tobias Titz.

Norman Johnson (How We Create and Manager of Palamont) and Patricia Lee (Talented Product Design Officer at Palamont) also prototyped TRACE bracelet for the exhibition...Stay Tuned for details! Photography by Tobias Titz.

The beautiful Amy Hoffman (Light Project) with Simone Steel (Pin-up) who assisted in the lighting and installation of Trace respectively. Photography by Tobias Titz.

Ewan McEoin (Studio Propeller), Kate Rhodes (RMIT Design Hub) and Laura Sullivan (Pin Up). Photography by Tobias Titz.

Looking back through the space. Photography by Tobias Titz.

A very special thank you to Tobias Titz who captured the opening Night beautifully. Please see more of Tobias’ great work at his website.

TRACE Installation

We Begin

We unpacked the works and laid them out within the substantial space of the gallery. Some of the works were very very new and so it was the first time I had witnessed the parts together.

Kate Riggs follows my set out drawing of the NEW work Scale Screen.

It took us three intensive days and a few late nights to install TRACE. 

At the end of a late night Martyn Hook surveys the progress. My hands shake as I take this photo. I am so tired.

The works in the exhibition ranged from very small to quite large. A team of people worked with me to complete the installation. They included Kate Riggs (RMIT Architecture Student/Pin-up Student Assistant), Simone Steel (Pin-Up In-turn), The Martyn Hook ( Pin-Up co-Founder/Architect and Melbourne Editor of AR Magazine), Fleur Watson (Pin-Up co-Founder/Curator/Former Editor of Monument Magazine), and my dear friend and jeweller; the beautiful Anna Varendorff.

THANK YOU so Much!!!

Nearly Finished...