_thinkMake Week_1 (Spatial Design Practices: Situated Ecologies) - Action 01: The Stick

 This week, I am back with new students from January intake, Wafa and Frankie. Oren introduced us to this Situated Ecologies module briefly and explained the aims and outcomes and our engagement through actions weekly. The first week was about "The Stick".

We were given a wooden stick 180cm long and 2cm x 2cm thick, and with the stick for at least 7 days to understand how a simple stick can be used as a tool to understand doing things and to be performative, to have agency. 

When I took the stick from Oren's office, I felt that the weight was light, it was portable to carry around and easy to keep in the corner. But the height is around my height so I was being careful not to hold horizontally or tilt away too much just in case not to hit people accidentally.

When I carried the stick with me into my dorm, I noticed how narrow the hallways of my accommodation were.

 

I tried not to get and hit through the doors, and walls and felt I could use this as a measurement tool since I became aware of the heights and dimensions of my surroundings.

I have also used this stick as a support when I climb the stairs without being conscious in my mind,  so I started to realize how this piece of a small object can also functionalize and a sense of being around something can discover those moments.

           

But when I am outside in an open space, I felt the presence of the pressure of carrying the stick less than having it inside the room especially when compared to being in an elevator.

So through this part of the creative process, this small object can make me extra aware of how I am being situated in a space and how the surroundings can be different noticeably with the power of a stick.

In the afternoon we were given a task to perform together as a group with 8 of these sticks in the Eldon building to interfere with the people and empower us to make something potentially related to the uses of space.

We chose our place near the open stairs on the first floor.  We planned to make an arch just in front of the stairs for people from the stairs to cross over or sit under the structure. But the height might be too low to pass through so we placed it between the walkways in case some people want.  

 At first, it was a little difficult to figure out how we can able to compose all of these sticks into one together without cutting and with given materials like rope and tape. So, We tried to assemble the sticks in different positions with support to each other like a tent or standing them in a V-shape.

Then we started to tie them with ropes from the uppersides and tried to add two more legs one by one at each side to get more support from the base.

Finally, we added the remaining two between the gaps above these two supported structures and made them connected with the ropes in fluctuating shapes along them.

I'm glad that we were able to create something aesthetically structured and well proportional similar to an arch or alter in the area within 40 minutes.