Stripy, The Door Wedge
Oct 2022
Four Week Primer Project
Group Project (Royal College of Art)
Tutors: Steve Jensen, Ian Hunter
Project built in collaboration with Ella Nartey, Mauricio Salgado Arenas, Ning Yan & Yiying Chen
Our installation represents a synthesis of ideas from Amy Stacey Curtis’ Matter drawings and the MacLaren Gadabout Folding walking stick Chair which formed the initial super-composite. As an expose of layers within the domestic environment and as a temporary piece of furniture which encourages social interaction, these themes lead us to explore the key themes of layers, unfolding, unveiling the hidden, transformation, impermanence and facilitating connection and exchange.
We've noticed that students within the Steven’s building are constantly rushing in between rooms and corridors on the way to tutorials and lectures; using doorway thresholds purely for transition. We were interested in challenging the traditional idea of a threshold, as a limbo between two spaces, and exploring a way in which we could transform it into a place of pause, social exchange and thus, an area of inhabitation alike to the Maclaren Chair. Our intervention is ultimately meant to act as an invitation for social exchange and interaction, performing as a table or a facilitator for pause and conversation within a newly formed space within the doorway threshold, which otherwise becomes a mundane forgotten space overshadowed by the adjoining rooms and activities.
Process
Ella Nartey started the project by selecting Amy Stacey Curtis’ Matter Drawings and a random object - the MacLaren Gadabout Folding Walking Stick Chair. Ella interpreted the drawings as an X-Ray of the artist’s domestic space. The drawings are said to highlight the ‘density of accumulation’ however, unpacking the room into separate layers highlights the macro vs micro and concealed vs displayed within a domestic setting- showcasing the reality of what we often wish to hide behind a well curated façade.
We were then asked to create a 1:1 installation at the Kensington Campus based on the provocations of Ella’s super-composite. As a group, we decided on the site of ‘a door’ because the door as a hinged, sliding, or revolving barrier is very much a human construct that is designed to provide both enclosure and circulation. It is taken for granted within a space but seldom ever critically examined. We started by making rough sketch models of doors. We wanted our intervention to respond to the size and practicalities of the door whilst also retaining a sense of impermanence like the unfolding chair which would allow the door to return immediately back to its original state once removed. There would be a symbiotic and cordial relationship between the two elements. The door would not stay ajar without the intervention nor would the intervention achieve its goal without the compressive strength of the doors. Continuing with the theme of layering we decided to laminate materials to form the main structural elements of our intervention. We decided that cardboard would be the best material to use because paper and cardboard offer a sense of temporality to contrast with the permanence of the door. We decided on this specific set of doors because it is also one of the most regularly used doors in the building therefore we believed it would enable more interaction and pause upon people entering and exiting the space.
We also chose to layer this with alternate black and grey sheets to introduce the striped pattern as a distinct feature of the Maclaren chair. Taking inspiration from japanese bookbinding as a strong yet decorative method of adjoining the cardboard without adhesive, we chose to use a geometric pattern as this allowed enough compressive strength within the main boards to withstand the door’s pressure whilst also adding a sense of craftsmanship. We explored different ways of attaching the two main boards together that would be both functional and would induce a ‘wow’ reaction, almost a peacock moment as it is unveiled. We decided upon a bound paper fan which when promoted would unfold and fan out in a concertina form, referencing the arc shape of the door swing.
