After fear, revenge might be the new paradigm of Johannesburg.
Joburg Paradigms:
-1994: Greed
1994-: Fear
Now: Revenge
Saturday, December 30, 2006
Joburg saga
I didn’t make the homeless project because I exploited the subjects. This is entirely wrong. I also could have made a project on casino, or shopping mall, or office. But I made a project on the homeless. I did try to understand the city. I did try to think about it. And I did try to contribute to it. I succeeded, but after that, I also decided to leave the city. There is no other explanations than what I knew very well since years-
I don’t want other people to be my infrastructure.
I don’t want to feel guilty (for the deeds I didn’t do).
I don’t want to live in fear.
Mrs. Deckler was attacked in a squatter camp in Honey Dew, Johannesburg. She sensed revenge in the atmosphere of the city. ‘Someone has to pay for what happened’, she said. She sensed that S. African people are not so friendly any more. Some don’t react when you greet them on the street.
Julie’s movers arrive at 9:30pm at the gated, wanting to move her stuff to her dormitory 1.5 hours away from Joburg. Mama was scared and freaked out. When the movers’ truck arrived at the door, mama switched all the lights, waited in silence, did not dare to pick up ringing phones. She only could call Lihwen to come home quickly and wait outside somewhere hidden until the movers’ truck goes away. When this kind of things happens, you can only think, luckily nothing happened. The thought a possibility of something could have happened makes one made. What have the movers been doing since noon? Why do they come anyway since Julie had already cancelled today’s appointment with the company manager? Have the movers got other plans when they come at 9:30pm, to expect to work until late in the night? More creepy than what could have happened is the fear to communicate. Mama did not dare to open the door and talk to the movers.
In Rotterdam we’d just open the door and talk about it with the movers.
I don’t want other people to be my infrastructure.
I don’t want to feel guilty (for the deeds I didn’t do).
I don’t want to live in fear.
Mrs. Deckler was attacked in a squatter camp in Honey Dew, Johannesburg. She sensed revenge in the atmosphere of the city. ‘Someone has to pay for what happened’, she said. She sensed that S. African people are not so friendly any more. Some don’t react when you greet them on the street.
Julie’s movers arrive at 9:30pm at the gated, wanting to move her stuff to her dormitory 1.5 hours away from Joburg. Mama was scared and freaked out. When the movers’ truck arrived at the door, mama switched all the lights, waited in silence, did not dare to pick up ringing phones. She only could call Lihwen to come home quickly and wait outside somewhere hidden until the movers’ truck goes away. When this kind of things happens, you can only think, luckily nothing happened. The thought a possibility of something could have happened makes one made. What have the movers been doing since noon? Why do they come anyway since Julie had already cancelled today’s appointment with the company manager? Have the movers got other plans when they come at 9:30pm, to expect to work until late in the night? More creepy than what could have happened is the fear to communicate. Mama did not dare to open the door and talk to the movers.
In Rotterdam we’d just open the door and talk about it with the movers.
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
Simulacrum
Shopping mall is a simulacrum.
It is a copy of a copy of a copy.
A second-hand copy which becomes something else on its own right.
Something different from the original.
Something creative.
It is a copy of a copy of a copy.
A second-hand copy which becomes something else on its own right.
Something different from the original.
Something creative.
Behind walls
There are liberating shopping malls and imprisoning shopping malls.
We were at the Century City/Canal Walk (Cape Town, South Africa) today. It felt stressful and depressing.
From the N1 highway and the map I saw a prison next to the mall.
Behind walls people shop; behind walls people are jailed.
Irony.
We were at the Century City/Canal Walk (Cape Town, South Africa) today. It felt stressful and depressing.
From the N1 highway and the map I saw a prison next to the mall.
Behind walls people shop; behind walls people are jailed.
Irony.
Becoming less
I am in the process of becoming less South African.
Opposite of Deleuze’s becoming/flight towards something.
Instead I am on the way to becoming less of something, away from something.
What is the opposite of becoming?
When I see people’s eyes I see myself.
I see how I am identified.
I don’t belong here.
The wall is in the eyes
Opposite of Deleuze’s becoming/flight towards something.
Instead I am on the way to becoming less of something, away from something.
What is the opposite of becoming?
When I see people’s eyes I see myself.
I see how I am identified.
I don’t belong here.
The wall is in the eyes
Monday, December 25, 2006
Inside-Outside
In Johannesburg people are always inside.
When you are always inside, you are actually only always outside- of a community, of nature, of a richer and more complex world.
Was I ever part of Johannesburg/south Africa? I thought I was, and maybe I was, but I am not so sure now. I was judged; my work was judged on the basis of my skin- not because I was black, or white, but because I was either black or white. I was not part of the old South Africa, so I am not part of the new South Africa.
I left, not because of fear of crime or economic instability, but because I didn’t feel part of it. I tried through my projects. Through one’s work, one can fully understand how one is truly being judged.
South Africans were not able to see that non-South-Africans can produced deep and sharp works on South Africa. They are very narrow-minded. The ‘becoming’, which Deleuze valued so much, was not yet a known concept. Imagine the enormous effort of ‘transformation’ and becoming put into making the homeless project. This project should have been appreciated particularly because it was done by a foreigner.
When you are always inside, you are actually only always outside- of a community, of nature, of a richer and more complex world.
Was I ever part of Johannesburg/south Africa? I thought I was, and maybe I was, but I am not so sure now. I was judged; my work was judged on the basis of my skin- not because I was black, or white, but because I was either black or white. I was not part of the old South Africa, so I am not part of the new South Africa.
I left, not because of fear of crime or economic instability, but because I didn’t feel part of it. I tried through my projects. Through one’s work, one can fully understand how one is truly being judged.
South Africans were not able to see that non-South-Africans can produced deep and sharp works on South Africa. They are very narrow-minded. The ‘becoming’, which Deleuze valued so much, was not yet a known concept. Imagine the enormous effort of ‘transformation’ and becoming put into making the homeless project. This project should have been appreciated particularly because it was done by a foreigner.
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
Monday, October 9, 2006
Friday, September 1, 2006
Monday, July 31, 2006
Wall Studio: The ‘wall’ and its inversion, Introduction
Introduction
The wall is a line on the plan. It is a primordial, inevitable and necessary architectural element in our environment. Its omnipresence makes it easy to be ignored and taken for granted.
The wall can be brutal too. History of mankind has demonstrated its ultimate role. Meaning of the wall could be: enclosure, division, separation, isolation, framing, protection, seclusion, display, provocation, support, connection, mystification (of the other side), boundary, mediation, etc. It separates this and that, here and there, us and them. It excludes the ‘misfits’, the ‘unsuitable’, the ‘lunatics’, and the ‘others’.
The studio tries to comment on contemporary social divisions and invisible walls between different races, tribes, religions, economic brackets, and ideologies. The studio also tries to sharpen our consciousness for position, ideology, and architect’s social responsibility. In a larger sense it tries to address humanity through architecture.
While trying to induce meanings of the wall, we shall seek inversion of its power and give the meanings a twist. Ultimately we shall be able to arrive on ‘the other side’ and to be able to understand different sides.
Architecture is, as Elia Zenghelis suggests, a medium through which to be critical. To understand the problem, horror as well as beauty of wall is to begin to understand the power of architecture. Next time you draw a line, or design a wall, be conscious of your power.
Studio Brief
The wall is a line on the plan. It is a primordial, inevitable and necessary architectural element in our environment. Its omnipresence makes it easy to be ignored and taken for granted.
The wall can be brutal too. History of mankind has demonstrated its ultimate role. Meaning of the wall could be: enclosure, division, separation, isolation, framing, protection, seclusion, display, provocation, support, connection, mystification (of the other side), boundary, mediation, etc. It separates this and that, here and there, us and them. It excludes the ‘misfits’, the ‘unsuitable’, the ‘lunatics’, and the ‘others’.
The studio tries to comment on contemporary social divisions and invisible walls between different races, tribes, religions, economic brackets, and ideologies. The studio also tries to sharpen our consciousness for position, ideology, and architect’s social responsibility. In a larger sense it tries to address humanity through architecture.
While trying to induce meanings of the wall, we shall seek inversion of its power and give the meanings a twist. Ultimately we shall be able to arrive on ‘the other side’ and to be able to understand different sides.
Architecture is, as Elia Zenghelis suggests, a medium through which to be critical. To understand the problem, horror as well as beauty of wall is to begin to understand the power of architecture. Next time you draw a line, or design a wall, be conscious of your power.
Studio Brief
1st quarter_’Walls’ in Rotterdam
We will start with documenting ‘walls’ in Rotterdam. The ‘walls’ could be physical, immaterial or metaphoric. All examples are documented in the same format, and eventually compiled into one matrix.
We will start with documenting ‘walls’ in Rotterdam. The ‘walls’ could be physical, immaterial or metaphoric. All examples are documented in the same format, and eventually compiled into one matrix.
2nd quarter_Robben Island as Museum
Robben Island has been a prison for many important freedom fighters during Apartheid era in South Africa, most famously, the former president Mr. Nelson Mandela. Visiting Robben Island is an act of willingness to reconcile individual’s own struggle towards Apartheid and the like. We seek to create conceptual dialogue space for differences to deal with one another. The dialogue could be visual, physical, spatial or economical. It is a space for respect, contemplation, learning, leisure and freedom. People come here to learn about past, to meet and learn the tolerance of ‘the others’.
The whole island is regarded as a museum. Design assignment includes the journey and structures which manifest the message of the museum as well as necessary buildings which support the visit. What is the museum’s message? How does the museum convey the message? What is the meaning of the museum’s architectural structures, and materials and their effects? What other additional programmes be added to the island in order to enrich the Robben Island Museum’s meaning and extend the island’s future life?
Utilize or invert the meaning of ‘walls’ to set up new rules for dialogue and communication (include reconciliation and new conflicts). The museum shall invert the horror of the ‘wall’ into a calming, relieving, sympathetic and connective architecture.
Robben Island has been a prison for many important freedom fighters during Apartheid era in South Africa, most famously, the former president Mr. Nelson Mandela. Visiting Robben Island is an act of willingness to reconcile individual’s own struggle towards Apartheid and the like. We seek to create conceptual dialogue space for differences to deal with one another. The dialogue could be visual, physical, spatial or economical. It is a space for respect, contemplation, learning, leisure and freedom. People come here to learn about past, to meet and learn the tolerance of ‘the others’.
The whole island is regarded as a museum. Design assignment includes the journey and structures which manifest the message of the museum as well as necessary buildings which support the visit. What is the museum’s message? How does the museum convey the message? What is the meaning of the museum’s architectural structures, and materials and their effects? What other additional programmes be added to the island in order to enrich the Robben Island Museum’s meaning and extend the island’s future life?
Utilize or invert the meaning of ‘walls’ to set up new rules for dialogue and communication (include reconciliation and new conflicts). The museum shall invert the horror of the ‘wall’ into a calming, relieving, sympathetic and connective architecture.
Students
Eun Zung Baik, Korea
Shu Yan Chan, Hong Kong
Young Joon Choi, Korea
Una Finnsdottir, Iceland
Hui Ping Foo, Malaysia
Ljubomir Georgiev, Bulgaria
Ayumi Isomura, Japan
Hiroko Kawakami, Japan
Geun Poong Lim, Korea
Peng Li, China
Maria Fernanda Pastor Peracchio, Italy and Peru
Hee Chan Park, Korea
Simone Pizzagalli, Italy
Luhayu Fauzia Triratnamuti, Indonesia
Dong Won Yoon, Korea
Weiping Zhang, China
Shu Yan Chan, Hong Kong
Young Joon Choi, Korea
Una Finnsdottir, Iceland
Hui Ping Foo, Malaysia
Ljubomir Georgiev, Bulgaria
Ayumi Isomura, Japan
Hiroko Kawakami, Japan
Geun Poong Lim, Korea
Peng Li, China
Maria Fernanda Pastor Peracchio, Italy and Peru
Hee Chan Park, Korea
Simone Pizzagalli, Italy
Luhayu Fauzia Triratnamuti, Indonesia
Dong Won Yoon, Korea
Weiping Zhang, China
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