Archaeological Exhaustion 2014 

Invited Distinguished Professor:

Bruno Juricic.

 

Gabriel Esquivel,  Studio Professor

Stephen Caffey, Assistant Professor of Art and Architecture History and Theory

Texas A&M University

 

Team: Jacob Patapoff, Juan Arriaza, Mike Clariday

 

Archaeological Exhaustion of the ungrounded object relates to the analysis of the object that forms the exhausted experienced throughout the examination. The observation, development, and interactions of the raw and synthetic are the main points of attraction for the analysis. The development begins with a base mesh that is observed in the initial unarticulated state, which is rendered for the instances of the exterior, interior, and liminal space. This initial object has no surface articulation and has no treatment of the transitional space between raw and synthetic. This is a representation of the object before the intense exhaustion has started. The analysis begins with the examination of the exterior raw, continues with the interior synthetic, and then the liminal space between the two.

The exterior raw has parameters defined as curvaceous and vermicular, with a form that is ambiguous and uncontrolled. The exterior exhaustion de¬develops the smooth surface as it is analyzed. It becomes more aged through the processes observed and as it reaches the extreme exhaustion, the heavy articulations penetrates the skin, extending into the transitional zone. This creates the first interactions within the liminal, opening it up to further analysis.
The interior synthetic started off with the same level of articulation and volume treatment seen in the initial ungrounded object observed throughout all phases. As the interior is analyzed and exhausted, it breaks down and becomes more geometric, faceted, and defined within the Cartesian grid. It is reminiscent of Piranesi’s Prisons, especially in relation to its figure to figure relationships created via the ‘machines for viewing’. The analysis progresses by translating the 3D into the 2.5D to the 2D. The analysis begins with an object dense with information and breaks it down to examine it far enough to the point of being able to be read in a binary manner (the metal etching plates, which can be read in black and white or 1s and 0s.

The transitional area starts as the undefined, basic surface that spans the space between the raw and synthetic. This transitional zone represents a liminal space that is in constant change, and a constant wage between the raw and synthetic. Liminal space implies that it is on the boundary or threshold of two different entities. Typically the use of liminal space refers to the ambiguity or disoriented space occupied in the middle of the ritual, when the participants no longer hold their pre-ritual status but have not yet begun the transition to the status they will hold when the ritual is complete.

 

As stated previously, the exterior raw becomes so defined and articulated that it penetrates the surface of the exterior to the point of creating nemate or holey space. Then they synthetic intrudes into the transitional space and creates the same effect that it did in the interior. Interacting and impacting the nemate space created from the raw exhaustion. The nemate spaces can be seen in its break down of the geometry into a faceted surface, defining the holey space.

The complete entity has references to the endless house in relation to the idea of free flowing space. The endless house model also influenced our decisions for the texturing and development of the external skin. Referring back to the “machines for viewing”, these connections create the ability to analyze and experience multiple points in one singular space. Instead of viewing one singular space, the machines allow for a more complex, complete analysis of the object. Due to this, the interior is not an index of positionality.