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Vibrant Matter: A Political Ecology of Things





Contrast between work that is about specific contexts and work which is about materiality.


E.g. a play with materials, pushing materials to their limits, combining similar, different or contrasting materials together.


Explores the bodies connection to different materials - how can my own work explore this sense of materiality.


“vital materiality” that runs through and across bodies, both human and nonhuman.


My work is a constant process of discovering and understanding the vital nature of the materiality of objects and specific materials.


It can be seen that everything contains a specific materiality - from sound, imagery, text to physical objects, especially pliable materials.



Materiality of concrete:


My current work is very engaged with exploiting the material properties of concrete


  • heavy

  • hard

  • course

  • pliable

  • both liquid and solid (changing status)

  • link with brutalism - urban environments

  • historically loaded material - used as tool - technology for construction - ancient Roman invention

  • ability to mould into surface - take on different textures - can mirror different materials - sense of illusion

  • encasing objects inside

  • can be grinded - sanded - removing layers of materials

  • can be combined - various other objects cast inside

  • can be pigmented

  • its structural properties can be changed when paired with different materials - e.g. adding an aggregate - different sizes of stones/sand/mortar which all effect its weight and structure and density. It can also be mixed with other casting materials such as plaster - changes the weight - effects the setting time and workability - also effects the colour

  • the surface can be changed - polished - stained




materiality - defined as 'the quality or character of being material or composed of matter.' as well as 'the quality of being relevant or significant.'


  • Materiality as value - connection between material and worth -


  • Materiality and aesthetic as interconnected




https://muse.jhu.edu/book/70060



'the immaterial is not easily separated from the material. Humans are defined, to an extraordinary degree, by their expressions of immaterial ideals through material forms.'



There is a clear relationship between human interaction and materiality.

I can consider how myself as a practitioner can interact with materiality.



https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/2043820611421562?journalCode=dhga



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