- Frida Starvid

FUNDAMENTALS

Scale. Dimensions and proportions. Materiality and tactility. Mass and void. Light and shadow. Stereotomy and tectonics.

The human body. Its proportions and senses in relation to constructed objects, plans and sections. The body’s movement through space; the choreographed architectural promenade. While architecture and art is often reduced to a market commodity, these things define spatial values beyond the commercial.

Architecture always tells a story. We build our spaces, consciously or not, as reflections of something. A space tells us something about the people who have been there before, how it has been used, about the time in which it came into being. It says something about society, economy, faith, ethics, politics and norms.

This forms the basis for an inquiry, an analysis, and a methodology. It is a way to look critically at existing objects, to expose power structures, and find strategies of resistance. It is also a method for approaching the creative process.

How can fundamental spatial values be interpreted and used to enhance the corporeal experience in works of art, be it architectural objects, paintings, sculpture, stage design or exhibition curation? This is the question I attempt to formulate answers to.

project: ‘stacks’

“Stacks is a collection of pigmented concrete and plaster cast objects that explore sculptural methodology and the architectural process itself. The curatorial vision here was to dissolve the boundaries between space, interior and art. The method of creating some of the sculptural objects was mimicked in the creation of these podiums, that were plastered to melt into the surrounding walls. This approach merges the existing space with the exhibition structures and the sculptures into a consistent whole.”

project: ‘SECULAR/SACRED’

“Imagine travelling to an unfamiliar city. Strolling down a street, you come upon a church. Its doors are open; you go inside. A faint light hangs over the altar, your steps make an echo as your feet hit the stone floor of the central nave. You sit down in an empty aisle, the wood of the bench carrying the marks of thousands of people who have made it their temporary resting place before you. As you close your eyes, the silence is palpable. This is exactly what I need right now, you think. This space.”

project: ‘THEN WE DREAMT OF BIRDS’

“A dry wind blows over barren lands. The sky is bleak, the sunlight filtered through a veil of smog. The world is silent, the only sound to be heard is the rolling breeze. When the wind dies away, the silence is deafening. In a deserted room, a human climbs over a pile of broken furniture. A cloud of dust flies up as her friend tosses some old rubbish across the room. Apart from these two, no one has been here for ages. All there is to find are traces from people who have left.”