Seeing in the city

Often we easily accept the sights that surround us as Auckland city, but what individual elements do we see within this all-encompassing title or unity?

The typology and topology of the built environment have a great effect on how the city is perceived, and hence how it affects our individual sense of place, or as Merleau-Ponty has put it, our internal (perceived) worlds that each of us inhabit.
(see Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Phenomenology of Perception)

Seven crossings across the motorway were surveyed along their centre axes, capturing views both into and out of the CBD. To determine which parts of the city were actually perceived (and so contributing to our internal worlds) these views were then exploded into their individual built elements, then these elements were scaled and translated to their geographic positions.

The redrawn views develop a language that communicates the similarity or dichotomy of the built environment either side of a divisive element, as well as locating beacons or icons that are visible from more than one location, elevating their importance in the perceived world, as they are more prevalent.

Conversely, the views also identify areas that are null; without them being perceived, we can only assume what is there, but without any surety, triggering further investigation or development of those areas.

A5 page from exhibition catalogue

Framed drawing

detail of drawing
detail of drawing and frame
complete framed drawing

Install

Installing the exhibition at the Gus Fisher gallery, Wednesday 8th Oct.

Take two - framed drawing

The second attempt at the drawing went much more smoothly, and was framed as planned.

Executing the drawing - take one

Transposing the image onto watercolour paper, then inking in the elevations and their lines of sight. It all went quite wrong very early one morning...