#1 Teepee/Bivouac
Over the Summer I started researching a personal project around non-designer forced invention – constructions and objects made to fulfill a need using only those materials immediately to hand. For example, a shelter or den created by kids in a wood using branches and sticks. The urban equivalent made by the homeless using cardboard and plastic. The results are often ingenious and beautiful – in such situations, the form really does follow function. It’s also a very English obsession which permeates every level of culture – Necessity is the mother of invention. Heath Robinson. Make Do & Mend. The results are devoid of pretension and style, they are authentic and to a purpose. The first stage of the project comprises a series of drawings, photographs and objects. More to follow…
#2 Laid Hedge
Branches bent and staked to create a natural barrier.
#3 Tree House
A treehouse of sorts, built in a big willow tree next to a footpath which runs behind a car breakers yard in the Essex coastal town of Walton-on-the-Naze. The platform is made from scraps of wood, palettes and tyres. It hangs above a rubbish filled pond used by fly tippers which offers a variety of building materials to local children – mattresses, sofas, trolleys, prams and bikes.
