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some musicians make use of an otherwise derelict corner on tottenham court road. such a good place to work as a gig venue the ex-road is a good size for a stage and the barriers edging the road were a perfect for walkers by to rest against. inspiring example of people making direct use of 'lost' spaces.

took part in a workshop with masters tutor lucy tauber. she says she always carries little people in her bag so she can take pictures of them in different spatial arrangements. this is one i did.

drew the logo for greyfriars art space back home in kings lynn.

found this article of my grandad online which was written in the telegraph around 2000. he was a japanese POW and this story his amazing.

http://petswhowanttokillthemselves.com/

'drawing on the rhythms of daily life to produce sound in unexpected ways' exhibition at the curve in the barbican. a flock of zebra finches perch on electric guitars laid flat and aloft and the artist idea is that through playing their landings and movements then one can record their routines. i like the idea of finding new ways in which to measure reality.

went to the emirates stadium for champions league match between arsenal and porto where arsenal won 5-0. i watch alot of football following my home team norwich around various tin shed away stands in league 1. walking up into the 60,000 seat stadium was completely overwelming.

benches in normand park, london designed by kinnear landscape architects. i like the really simple changes in the form that allow different ergonomic possibilities as apposed to normal retagular benches. they provide different uses and it seems as though the designer has thought about the spectrum of people who use them.

went to the crash exhibition at gagosian. works inspired by the novels of jg ballard. the works generally represent destruction, sex and violence exhibiting the extremes of human nature and commodity of western culture. as well as the works being very provocative pieces i found the exhibition to be insightful into the extremes of existence. not necessarily a new idea, crash is a reflection of these ideas. I particulaly enjoyed a piece where there were lots of contact lenses lying on the floor next to one wall of the gallery. the viewer may or may not be aware of them or even able to see them so is likely to stand on them. so as the exhibition goes on more of the contact lenses are stood on. i understand this to be the destruction of focus over time. i enjoy the idea that the older something becomes, maybe there is more understanding of something but less focus on the reality. like the way society gradually dictates our thoughts and actions and we become less focused. http://www.gagosian.com/exhibitions/2010-02-11_crash/#

http://www.helmutsmits.nl/english/indexenglish.html

http://urbancartography.com/

http://www.casa.ucl.ac.uk/

taking walks under the thames. (top) woolwich foot tunnel and (below) rotherhithe tunnel.

Focus Week was spent in the French Alps skiing. The top image is taken from inside a lift over the valley between les Arcs and la Plagne. The next image down is taken sandwiched in between two layers of cloud.

On tuesday I injured my shoulder so on wednesday went for a walk around the mountains further awy from the commercial resort type appartments. I found some really nice old structures as well as some purely handmade buildings where you can almost see the process of how the wood is nailed together, holes cut out of the timber clading to allow the floor beams to poak through. I think its more interesting to see the process within an the aesthetic of an object than to have something clean and untouched. When one is contending with the snow maybe there is more of a priority for something to be made just do its job.

showed terminator for free at the rose theatre in kingston. It was on a projector in the bar. really informal and inviting. they have more viewing on monday nghts.

video i made showing a small section of a foldable pathway. i made it with found ex-fencing material from finsbury park. Each post is attached horizontally to the next by a hinge so that they can be folded, moved and managed reletivly easily. They are laid on the ground responsive to the desire lines that form over time from pedestrian movement. They provide routes through the open space. The challenge in the design is to create pathways that are not subject to theft or vandalism. A romantic view is that the community users will adopt the site and feel ownership of it so as not to steal or negativly damage the site objects. There is a pattern to the hinges. 3 on the bottom in between posts and then 1 on top. It means that the posts can be stacked by 2 at a time. The hinges for the model were bought from my local hardware shop. The intension of the actual detail is for the hinges to be made from melted down steel and cast iron fencing that exists on site.

RMJM using my graphics on thier website!

time travel from kings cross

back home for christmas and playing golf with dad at cromer golf club. right on the north norfolk sea. i like the reuse of old football pitch astro turf for all the pathways around the course.

camden market redevelopement. nice use of materials. staffolding and perpex shelter. like how they use just normal supporting materials so to perform just the shape the shelter needs instead of making a bespoke high spec stainless steel construction.

paris

bixwork party poster

bixwork christmas party poster

working on a project in the new year with wayward plants.ex-xmas trees
www.waywardplants.org

video projects

1 x 60secs edited video
1 x 60secs unedited video

elements and values.

http://www.pecha-kucha.org/

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/bjarke_ingels_3_warp_speed_architecture_tales.html

big

http://www.ted.com/talks/rachel_armstrong_architecture_that_repairs_itself.html

FADA launches annual Sustainable Design Solutions workshop. We disscussed sustanability issues in Kingston in particular the ravens ait island on the thames. the island has been common land since 14th century and since it was recently abbandoned a group of squatters lived on it and proposed serious ideas to Kingston council about making the island a eco conference centre with ecological and sustainable method learning oppotunities for Kingston. the council refused and the squatters were physically forced off the island. In are workshop we were reflecting on thier proposal. we agreed that the ideas expressed in the proposal are good and definatly positive for the surrounding communities. we thought the promlem with the proposal was down to pakaging and stereotype issues. like the council see dreads, baggy trousers and even the word squatter and instanly refuse. this is the nature of society. we proposed that the project needs a champion to gain some respect. an important figure like david attenborough or prince charles.

http://www.crimethinc.com/texts/insidefront/situationists.php

Author
Debord, Guy, 1931-
Title
The society of the spectacle / Guy Debord ; translated by Donald Nicholson-Smith.
Uniform Title
La société du spectacle. English
Publisher
New York : Zone Books, 1994.
Bib Id
245734
ISBN
0942299809
Physical details
154p ; 23 cm.
Notes
Originally published as: La société du spectacle. Paris : Buchet-Chastel, 1967.
Language Note
Translation of: La société du spectacle.

reminder for me to get this book out on monday

http://www.neave.com/

went to tate britain for the richard long exhibiton. his deep conections with the landscape and unconventional walks through it are based on shapes and time and numbers and mapping sounds, experiences, music. the above image is a circle of norfolk flint. exhibition instalation is not the best representation of his work because his ideals are about his experience of the external natural environment. but as a norfolk boy it was nice to see a material from my home within a london gallery.

i think i have a clearer understanding of what i will write about for my disertation. Having orignally thought about maps i became aware that it is important to write about my own design philosophy. this has evolved through my interest of emotional maps and then discovering the situationist. WOW.. they are a group of international revolutionaries founded in 1957. "ideas rooted in Marxism and the 20th century European artistic avant-gardes, they advocated experiences of life being alternative to those admitted by the capitalist order, for the fulfillment of human primitive desires and the pursuing of a superior passional quality." as i understand situationism is about employing change in society by making new and different social situations to evoke and inspire and change lifes normality. they also used alot of emotional mapping techniques that expresses these ideas of spontaneous urban recreation. i realised that alot of my previous work draws paralels with these ideals. i.e community driven, evolving spaces, that dont have an ending.