Liminal Spaces

Building on the premise highlighted by Bryan Cantley, that engages “looking to discover the performance logics of how the ideas/drawings behave as opposed to their pure visual characteristics”, we began the sequence of projects for this semester with understanding “design as method” rather than merely a final product. We focused on evolving two-dimensional images into three-dimensional spatial constructs through a series of digital and analog processes. Generative digital functions allowed us to graphically dissect the layered surface of an assigned painting and interpolate topographies that are derived from the conceptual and compositional logic of the image. We referred to the resultant constructs as generative terrains and further conceive the liminal spaces that result from the delayering and extrusion processes. This project aimed to develop our understanding of hierarchy, layering, and formal ordering systems while building our digital and tactile skill sets and aptitude for spatial production. The analysis included diagramming the following: the hierarchy of formal components, figure/ground study, layers that constitute the image, underlying formal image structure and geometry, and gradients and transitions. We combined digital analysis tools and fabrication methods with hand drafting and model making as a means of devising hybrid workflows that inform new trajectories for thinking and producing space.