Originally, we came up with the idea of recycling objects in the library and use them as our interpretations of a train station; for example, the trollies, we could use them as trains to move materials/luggage/passengers. However, we came to the realisation that the library was the ‘great central warehouse’, and should be given the correct recognition of its previous history and not as a train station; therefore we came up with a different concept.
We have been inspired by the covering of the Reichstag building by Christo and Jeanne-Claude; the idea of changing something substantial in stature and can be rehabilitated into another visual concept. In the video I have added to this post, you can see that they have had the ability to change this extremely recognisable political building into a blank canvas.
My group and I have the idea of doing an insulation piece of changing the library back into the Great Central Warehouse, by blocking the windows with different materials. The idea of mixing the old with the new seems interesting; therefore I came up with the idea of using materials from the library (the new), to create the warehouse (the old). Materials such as books and paper could be used; however we need discover in more detail on how this could work. Additionally, we have been looking at maps of the twentieth century of the university campus outside of the library. We are very interested in bringing history back; therefore we have come up with the idea of drawing the original tracks on the floor. We have the idea of drawing the tracks during the night with hard hats and torches, to replicate the nature of what happened in the twentieth century, on this site.
Our next step is to contact Stem Architects to provide us with more information of the construction, as well as the blue print plans to give our group a better understanding and grounded information for our performance idea. As well as contacting the University about the phantom library architecture drawings, and York National Railway Museum to extract any more information.