Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Inca article and 2nd project

Ok I am going to play the devils' advocate here and say that the long winded article (on Inca's use of natural outcroppings integrated into building) is a whole lot of religiosity and romanticizing about what most likely started out as being a brilliant move on the part of the very first and earliest " builders"; i.e. they saved lots of time and effort by using a wall already half built! Then of course, as the human species is prone to, they made up stories about their origins, (creation myths ) snowballing until they became divine/ sacred thus providing impetus for incorporation of more and more religious notions into further developments. Man also has a tendency to make himself "more special" than all others - as the Inca did when making the assertion that theirs was of "unique relationship" with Mother Earth and their "two extremely handsome babies" born of the union of that special relationship.

Now apart from all that, I found the masonry and natural integration absolutely beautiful!! Not being a patient person, I have tremendous respect for the tedious intensive work of "nibbling" and the ingenious work or uncoursed masonry reflected in Figures 15 and 16.

Thoughts about Space altering construction Project #2:
I WAS considering doing a garden wall construction with found rocks and ceramic tiles....but after reading this article I might abandon that idea---for surely I could not live up to their masonry. Sheesh forget all that nibbling and chiseling, I'd use cement/mortar/epoxies.
Another idea for project #2, is continuing my work with driftwood constructions, perhaps incorporating my collection of spent Orton Cones.
While thinking about this project, I realized that I already have made many space altering contructs in various parts of my yard; one uses a collection of old fashioned window sash weights, another a set of iron cast bathtub feet and yet another is an old catamaran hull that I cut, reconfigured and painted. Since I have done that already, and this IS a ceramics class, I really should be pushing myself to construct with clay..... what to do , what to do......

1 comment:

cat17302 said...

I like that you are very honest about your feelings towards the article- very refreshing to see such a down-to-earth type of response. :)