From our visit to the V&A we chose three objects, before narrowing our choice down to :
Architectural Spikes, Cast Electropolished Steel, Manufactured by Kent Stainless Ltd, Wexford, Ireland, 2014.
My Position:
David
1. Discuss how each group member understands this object based on their individual positions (refer again to the definition to the right). How do your positions differ from each others’? From the curators’? From the maker’s?
Coming from a country with a serious housing crisis, one that has made a predatory for-profit market from homelessness, my position relative to this object is defined by a certain level of disgust. Having had loved-ones experience homelessness (and let us be clear, that is what these spikes are designed to prevent), I find it hard to divorce the object from its context in the world outside of the museum.
I feel the curators at he V&A did a good job at presenting the object in a factual manner which gave context without casting judgement. Seeing the object presented in such an isolated manner let me consider its design more carefully. This was helpful for thinking of ways to recontextualize it.
I found Chinhwa’s position to be interesting and I liked the way she pulled back the lens on the object, casting it in terms of public and private space. I agree with a lot of what she said, and also find the increasing regulation of public spaces to be something worth examining. I feel such a trend underlines the object, its design, and its deployment, which can be conveyed in terms of market value over public need. This can be see in the position of the maker (‘if they don’t do it, someone else will), and the people the item affects who have no comparable value to the market.
2. What questions about this object and its contexts could you explore further as a group?
I would like to think of ways to subvert the object, both to parody it and to reverse its purpose. As a simple object, I feel it can easily be re-made and recontextualised into something more positive. I propose…
- Making a foam cushion replica of the spikes and block, that can be placed over the original spikes allowing people to sit comfortably.
- Public intervention by putting lots of spikes over a large area (basically reversing the way it works in real life).