HM

*This blog post has been back-dated for continuity purposes. Photographs were originally taken in February 2012.

Using a pencil to highlight the wood grain, shows how the wood looks like it's turning into water - how this solid object is melting in the flowing grains. This grain work reminds me of a technological landscape/circuit - symbolises our future melting wood (nature) - how city skyscrapers, buildings, city population will eventually destroy our natural earth. Representing this message through major architectural element - stairs. *This blog post has been back-dated for continuity purposes. Sketches and text were originally done in February 2012.

*This blog post has been back-dated for continuity purposes. Sketches and text were originally done in February 2012.

Melting and deteriorating into bubbles/domes of liquified landscape. Materials that do not melt but appear to be right before our eyes. We know it's not real, this situation cannot occur within this world with these kinds of materials and objects, so it must be otherworldly. An action/scene that cannot happen has been brought here to take place. Depicting some sort of deteriorating landscape/scene from a dystopian landscape. Many connotations as to why this could happen. This extreme situation presents itself to make us think and wonder. *This blog post has been back-dated for continuity purposes. Sketches and text were originally done in February 2012.

Questioning how to construct 'Downfall', lead me to undertake some empirical observation. This is an important step in my journey of sculptor 'becoming-joiner'. Visiting the Company, 'Ace Joinery' in Hove, Brighton, I was able to observe the work and produce of carpenters and joiners and learn of the certain traditional and contemporary wood working techniques and methods they used. Amongst the products seen in working-progress were stairs, doors, balusters, and stringers (view images above). As a big functioning warehouse, the assumed long process of traditional wood crafting turned into fast processes of functional output. This could be seen in an example of how the staircases were made; a

Making Stairs actually melt I need to see how a staircase would melt really in reality - so I made a model out of wax. Excuse the stair design, this was made when I was thinking about building spiral stairs. However I'm glad I didn't because trying to build straight stairs is hard enough! But still using these moulds I made a wax model so I could melt and observe how the drips are formed and how the structure bends - to inform my studies and drawings on how to make wood appear to be melting. I began by melting wax onto the staircase as I was afraid if I set the heat-gun on it straight away it would collapse. These created beautiful melted designs of the steps connecting / flowing onto one an

Using the instructions I printed off from E-how.co.uk for a general idea for a miniature stairs model, combined with the measurements I took of life-size stairs - divided by by 15 for the measurements on a 1:15 scale. Below is a paper practice template, I didn't take in the measurements taken up by the pole, so I had to make the circle bigger to keep the step width at 3.5inches. Applying this method of measuring to the piece of thin MDF I had created 19 steps ready to be cut out. The dowel I picked for the stairs central pole, I measured and marked 0.46" in between upwards on the dowel to mark out where the steps will be placed. Wood workshop Using the bandsaw I cut out the 19 steps and dril