Construction Site
PortraitsLandscapes
"Construction Site PortraitsLandscapes Ryan & Felix" is a site-specific installation that emerged from a Psychogeography workshop at the RCA. The installation features two mixed-media compositions that visually interpret my psychogeographic encounter with Ryan and Felix, two construction workers from White City and Shoreditch. Both compositions are abstract portraits of Ryan & Felix and an abstract landscape of their surroundings.
The construction site represented a ‘temporal installation”, the dust, the craftsmanship, the unfinished and the restrictions. This work serves as a vehicle of critique, prompting reflection on the never-ending construction of the city and the creation of restricted spaces that lead to gentrification and displacement.
The compositions placed as a temporal installation in a temporal construction site are out of access, but visible. The geometrical layouts show confinement, a hint of control and an appreciation for the unfinished. They function as a protest. I also reflected if the two pieces needed to be buried on site, or remained in the buildings once it’s finished as a reminder or even ghosts of the people who build the space.
The majority of the materials used for the compositions are recycled, left overs, discarded materials or found objects. One of the compositions is made with the disposed materials from one of the construction sites given to me by Felix. Each element in the composition tells its own story, for example, where the 8 x 8cm square of plastic came from, or why I used that specific tint on one of the cartons, given to me by an employee of Leyland SDM Shoreditch. All of it came about from the extraction of shapes and stories, geometry and exchanges with people.
The construction site represented a ‘temporal installation”, the dust, the craftsmanship, the unfinished and the restrictions. This work serves as a vehicle of critique, prompting reflection on the never-ending construction of the city and the creation of restricted spaces that lead to gentrification and displacement.
The compositions placed as a temporal installation in a temporal construction site are out of access, but visible. The geometrical layouts show confinement, a hint of control and an appreciation for the unfinished. They function as a protest. I also reflected if the two pieces needed to be buried on site, or remained in the buildings once it’s finished as a reminder or even ghosts of the people who build the space.
The majority of the materials used for the compositions are recycled, left overs, discarded materials or found objects. One of the compositions is made with the disposed materials from one of the construction sites given to me by Felix. Each element in the composition tells its own story, for example, where the 8 x 8cm square of plastic came from, or why I used that specific tint on one of the cartons, given to me by an employee of Leyland SDM Shoreditch. All of it came about from the extraction of shapes and stories, geometry and exchanges with people.
Found object board, paper, carton, plastic paper, discarded paper, spray paint and pencil.
Dimensions: 594 x 841 mm
Construction Site PortraitsLandscapes, 2022. Site-specific installation.
Construction site materials provided by Felix, found object board, paper, spray paint and pencil.
Dimensions: 594 x 841 mm
Ryan builds this city,
He is surrounded by installations
He works with art, but he does not know it
I take pictures of his colourful objects
Geometry.
He is curious about me being curious
My accent he doesn't mind,
He smiles, he is kind, he builds the city.
I walk in concrete, is not soft
Surrounded by steal and glass
Sound systems with Fake birds,
Wondering when even the rain will be synthetic,
blurred.
Surveillance everywhere.
Cameras pointing in different directions
Are they looking at me? Am I suspicious?
I take pictures of them,
taking pictures of me.
I fancy red, but it means restricted doors,
Security, codes, access cards and beeps galore.
A lot of No’s and Do Not’s
Ryan builds this city to later not have access to it
