SIGNS AND THE SIGNED – MARSDEN WOO GALLERY LONDON 2023

BETWEEN REPRESENTATION AND PRESENTATION

 

MARSDEN WOO GALLERY  IN CLERKENWELL LONDON

In preparing for this exhibition, I began by immersing myself in the gallery’s
rich urban and historical context. Situated in the heart of Clerkenwell, an area
renowned for having the highest concentration of architects and designers in
the world, Marsden Woo Gallery is deeply embedded within a creative hub
where ideas of form, structure, and materiality are constantly evolving.
This setting naturally informed my approach, compelling me to explore the
nuanced relationship between architectural representation and tangible reality.

LAYERED HISTORIES

My research unfolded through sketches that captured the layered histories—
tracing the building’s infrastructure, the pulse of its surrounding population, and
the very fabric of the space itself. The floor plan, like a living map, was drawn with
the same sensitivity as spatial sequences, each line offering a glimpse into the
interconnected rhythms of past and present.

FROM REPRESENTATION TO RESONANCE

To further investigate the interplay between mapped representation and spatial
experience, I conducted my research through the lens of Google Maps—another
kind of virtual representation that, while offering a sense of place, remains inherently
detached from the tactile and sensory qualities of reality. This digital vantage point
became an unexpected yet integral tool in my process, revealing the contrast between
the abstraction of architectural drawings and the lived experience of space.

TRANSFORMATION

I liberated the drawings from their original context and referential ties, allowing
them to breathe freely within the realm of abstraction. Terms like spread, condensation,
and juxtaposition guided their transformation. No longer mere representations, they
became signs unto themselves—tools that shaped and arranged the space, directing
the placement of objects in the gallery. These signs formed the foundation for the materials
I used—wood, concrete, and my new invention, glazed ceramic concrete—as abstract forms.
They dictated the interplay of proportion, light, and the gallery’s floor plan, each element in
dialogue. Adapted drawings, now stripped of context, emerged as spatial sequences—almost
ornamental, yet deeply rooted in their abstract essence.

QUESTIONING

In this way, the exhibition engaged with both the physical and the virtual, merging traditional
architectural methodologies with contemporary digital tools. It questioned the nature of
representation—whether through architectural drawings or the mediated lens of technology
and spatial reality within the gallery space.

 

MATERIALS: Glazed Concrete, Concrete, Painted Wood, Drawings.

PHOTOS: Ole akhøj,
SEE CATALOG

Photos of the exhibitions elements and interrelations. Photos Ole Akhøj.