In Code Workshop I
,2016
«De-coding – Re-coding» 22.09. – 30.09.2016
The surface of a space has no depth, because it is a surface, one usually says! But as the skin of a human body overcasts bones, organs, blood vessels and muscles the surface of a space may cover plaster, bricks, bearing elements out of steel or concrete. So the surface of a space could have a certain deepness, even if not obviously visible at first glance. The skin of a human body is indicated to be largest organ of our body – up to two square meters – since its surface not only protects our bodies from various kinds of damage, such as loss of water or abrasion from outside, it`s deeper tissues excrete wastes, regulate temperature and are the attachment site for sensory receptors to detect pain, sensation, pressure, and temperature; the skin as a human organ moreover provides vitamin D synthesis. Yet the skins of our bodies have no other destiny than to age over time and to finally extinguish together with their enclosed organs, blood vessels and muscles.
If we stretch our metaphor of the surface of spaces with the skin of human bodies a little further, we could argue, that the aging process of a human skin is constantly inscribed into its surface and this inscription – a code – can be de-coded by observers of a human body`s surface. The condition of a human skin then would en-code the state of its general aging process and history. The surface of our bodies from this perspective opens another dimension of depth, the dimension of witnessing time across traces of abrasions and patina left by actions during its aging process over time. In this perspective the second depth of the «skin of a space» would incorporate a vast number of information, if we try to de-code its surface: The skin as a contemporary witness.
In our Master-Workshop we explored the skins of five spaces, trying to «de-code» the traces of actions inscribed into their surfaces. Therefore we visited the rooms of a former brewery in Liestal abandoned in 2006 and named «Ziegelhof». Our task not only consisted in detecting traces in the skin of the five spaces, we also researched facts of incidents really happened in the history of the former function of the brewery.
The workshop was completed by a lecture of Prof. Uwe R. Brückner on contemporary scenography as an universal design discipline by the means of the creativ(e) structur(e) (CS). He introduced us to the scenographic parameters of the «diamond of suspense» and presented how those parameters can be orchestrated to a holistic, integrative design.
The workshop was conducted by Prof. Andreas Wenger, architect and co-director of Studio Scenography & Exhibition Design in collaboration with scenographer and lecturer Prof. Uwe R. Brückner, scenographer Martina Ehleiter and motion designer Ronny Traufeller.
