Drawing inspiration from Tim Etchells’ company Forced Entertainment, we were given maps of each floor of the library and began to rename and redesign aspects of it, we gave each part a more literal name, defining it by it’s use and purpose and by what it appeared to resemble. Rooms that seemed confined or cut off from the rest of the building were given names suggestive of confinement, such as a prison cell or jail building. Parts of the building that resembled other buildings or structures were named accordingly, such as renaming the turnstiles at the library entrance as a tourist attraction, such as the sort you would get queuing for amusement rides at theme parks, other students drew similar conclusions and named them after train stations, or other types of venues that require crossing through a barrier in order to enter.
My initial ideas for this site specific piece are very human interaction based, and so this means that in a way, geography does not catch my interest, so once I found the renaming of rooms to be done to the best of my ability I took a somewhat accidental sideways glance at the maps, not realising others weren’t doing the same, this could easily be classed as a misunderstanding of the original assignment, and to some extent, I admit it was… However I felt that I wanted this exercise to fit more with what I wanted to do with this site.
We’ve been studying the library for a little while and we’ve researched into the architecture, history and geography of the place, but for me, the shape, size, age and location of the building aren’t what the library is about, for me, it’s about the people.
So in misunderstanding and adapting the exercise, I started not just renaming, but reinventing the library, instead of taking a literal glance, I began to imagine what those who visit the library would prefer in place of some of it’s existing features. Stairs became slides and rope ladders, offices became restaurants and games areas, whilst study areas remained the same, additions were added to make the library more diverse and to provide spaces of distraction, relaxation and entertainment.
Perhaps in doing this, I have misunderstood the task at hand, but as John Lennon said…
“When I was 5 years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I said ‘happy’. They told me I didn’t understand the question, I told them they didn’t understand life.”
Sometimes it’s okay to be wrong every once in a while, to err is human, and humans are what interest me, and what site specific is about for me, the way the site effects the people.