Xinrui Li

15th Mar. 2021

Research question/ proposition

The Covid-19 has claimed the lives of many people whose journey through life might have been more than that, but because of this disaster, their lives have ended and we have lost loved ones,  I wanted to create a series of installations that would express a process of reflection on how we regard life and death, as well as expressing our thoughts and condolences to those who have passed away, providing a place for people to contemplate, to stop and think, and to escape the hustle and bustle of silence.

Research

Since the pandemic, bodies are subjected to very strict measures because of medical-related requirements, we cannot even see them one last time, they cannot even have a decent funeral, and we do not even have time to think about what life means to us and what death means as the disease rushes to take it away.   I believe that understanding life is a very important thing, understanding why we live, what it means to live, how we should think about the gifts that life gives us, and also because I have had some recent personal things where I have said goodbye to life and faced death, so I am even more keen to delve into the concept.   I hope that the greatest feeling my installations bring to people is empathy, and a sense of experiencing the atmosphere of the space, so I will start my research in the study of empathy in space and phenomenology to understand the relationship between space and emotion.

Research Methods

I regard my concept as an expression of a more complex subject matter and I may need to go through a lot of research to determine the medium to be used, on the other hand I want to inject my own empathy and emotions into the feeling of the space, I think it is a constant process of learning and reflecting on myself, personal experiences should be reflected to some extent in the project.

References

National Holocaust Monument, Daniel Libeskind, 2017 I think what inspires me about this project in the form of the architecture, the architects have used some very strong forms to express themselves, together with the properties of the materials, such as metal, concrete, etc., to give a feeling of impact and oppression from the senses.   Jewish Museum Berlin, Daniel Libeskind, 2001 I was inspired by Daniel Libeskind’s projects and I think he is very good at capturing how spaces reflect on people’s emotions. What inspired me most about this project was the narrative of the building, which leads the visitor on a journey and is divided into three different storylines, each with a different ending. Berlin Holocaust memorial, Peter Eisenman, 1998-2005 The project also inspired me about the form of the space, the cubes ranging from 0 to 4 meters in height, not all of them completely perpendicular to the ground, which usually creates a sense of oppression for structures taller and larger than the human body, and a friend who experienced the space said that once inside you would feel cold from the inside out, and that it creates an atmosphere just like the one described on Peter Eisenman’s website: In this monument, there is no goal, no end, no working one’s way in or out.  In this context, there is no nostalgia, no memory of the past, only the living memory of the individual experience.   Monochrome, Anish Kapoor, 2015 Descent into Limbo, Anish Kapoor, 1992 Both of Anish Kapoor’s works make use of vantablack, an extremely black material that has a very strong emotional impact in the first place as if there is an irresistible gravitational pull like a black hole that draws people in. Kapoor’s creation and the vantablack material gave me a very strong emotional response, which is what I hope I can achieve in the project.   Leviathan / Death of Leviathan, Anish Kapoor, 2011-2013 It seems to me that this should be a series work, the latter after the demise of the huge ‘leviathan’. Kapoor has always been very good at capturing the senses and immersing people in his work as if they were under a spell, and I hope to gain some experience from this and apply it to my own projects. The relativity of matter, Levi van Veluw, 2018 It’s a huge installation of 350 square metres and I think it’s a wonderful journey that makes you forget what happened before you came in, it’s like being in another world and you probably don’t think that you’re going to go out and still be in the world you’re in now, I’m very impressed that Levi can create this very detached experience.   The Monolith (Charcoal drawings), Levi van Veluw, 2016 “By creating an environment in which everything must be redefined, the visitor loses his hold and grip on reality. His senses and brain become over-stimulated, emotions and feelings are fired up. The visitor is hyper-aware of his surroundings and at the same time invited to become part of it.” This is what Levi had in mind for the project and what I was inspired by, as well as what I wanted to express to the audience in my space, for them to heal and meditate in it.

What textbooks, articles and secondary written data will help support your research and writing

Phineas Harper,  Death urgently needs a redesign. Yuk Hui, One Hundred Years of Crisis, 2020. Ken Worpole, The power of the grave as the locus of remembrance has been increasingly relinquished. John Summerson, John Soane and the furniture of death. Tom Wilkinson, Typology: crematorium. A Matter of Life and Death, Sad ruin stands in place of a seemingly successful scheme.

What do you plan to do next in terms of your studio practise to develop your practice?

I have recently collected a lot of worthwhile materials, case studies, theories, references, such as theatre plays, installations, architectural designs, journal articles, etc. I will study them in depth and then combine them with my own concepts to develop a narrative structure for my project, based on which I think it will be easier to solve problems regarding materials, spatial forms, etc.

What resources do you need to do your research?

I’m not very sure what facilities I would use for this stage, but I think maybe I need the CNC, if it’s okay for me to have a book and use that would be great; The other thing is I found that the website ‘The Architectural Review’ is very useful for research,  however, it is fee-based and not cheap for students. I would like to know if the University has any relevant resources or can recommend a similar website or platform?

What considerations will you make regarding sustainable design:

I think sustainable design is also a very important point for my project concept because it carries a reflection and nostalgia for life, so to a certain extent I want it to be sustainable and recyclable, both conceptually and in terms of materials, and I will focus mainly on materials and perhaps incorporate some cutting-edge technology.

Timescales

29th Mar – Finish research stage and begin to build the narrative structure 4th Apr – confirm the initial materials/forms/layout of the plan 12th Apr – finish all the experiments/technical drawings/atmosphere expressions 19th Apr – confirm the subject/research area of the essay 26th Apr – finish essay draft 6th May – finish revised version of the draft

Ethical concerns

I don’t know if the experience of being in my space might be different for different viewers, and I don’t know if it causes negative emotions such as falling into grief or excessive longing. But my concept and the space I want to create is a healing and calming atmosphere, if that’s considered ethical concerns.

Risks

I don’t think I have any risks, unless the negative emotions mentioned in the previous point are considered an risk.