Maker_Verde
Coming Soon: Neils Dixon's MArch (lockdown) portfolio
Coming Soon: Neils Dixon's MArch (lockdown) portfolio
This section shows some of the events and places visited by myself and other participants of the narrative that has been developing over the last couple of years. Central Saint Martins has allowed a great deal of experimentation and social exchange which has made for a truely rich MArch experience.
During the first year our introduction to the world of engagement and networking got off to a flying start. Engaing with material and using CSM's Ceramics studio as our lab for an ongoing project with Grizedale arts in the Lake District we socialised with the rich stock of ceramiscists. Andy Allum was our expert advisor with all things clay and offered a great deal of professional guidance as we fumbled in the mud.
CSM dont do field trips, luckily the ongoing work with the Valley project allowed us a visit to Coniston, Lake District and John Ruskin's house.
Grizedale Forest, shout out to the trees the make this beautiful environment
The RIBA and the culmination of the years work of testing various methods of engaging workshops. The community, a list of paying particpants keen on taking home a brick.
The pilot episode of the brick decorating workshop went down at the Skip Gardens RAKU kiln opening event.
During the time of the placement there was the oppurunity to meet Mehrdad Seyf of 30 Bird Produtions. Mehrdad an artistic director was a pleasure and a priveledge to meet and his work with 30 Bird is a true inspiration.
Flier from the Local Connections: Borough Boundaries Exhibition at Place Ladywell.
Eiric and friends from the Bromely Archery Club attending the LFA exhibition on invite from Tim Oshodi.
While working with RUSS, with Anne Kennedy as mentor and RUSS School educator I dug deep into the world of community led-design. The network RUSS have is aided a great deal by the involvement of Jon Broome and Architype and the communitities that live in some of their designs. Now a member of that community I want to take the skills I have picked up along the way and to develop them further. The principals are shared by so many of us, they're for the greater good. Not just of humans but the entire environment that makes our home.
Meanwhile, back down on planet earth. Some of us have to make a living. Volunteering and good will gestures will only go so far, unfortunately I have to earn money. Hopefully this can happen while taking my dream of forestry stewardship and the responsible use of building materials beyond the achademic realm.
The image above shows some of the timber artifacts that make the yard of City Wood. The make-shift nature of this establishment have a charm rarely seen so close to the city of London. Before the lockdown I was in talks with Dan who manages the yard with Suraiya, a sculpture of beautiful wooden works.
Sam, a recent graduate of CSM had relayed some information back to Uni of an oppurunity to procure vast quantities of felled timber as a result of HS2. At the time I was advised the timber was in a very poor as a result of poor management and an extremely wet winter. With lockdown begining to ease, maybe theres a chance to connect City Wood with HS2 stock and potentially direct some much needed material to community led initiatives.
To get a better understanding of the situation in Part2Project I attended the 100 years of Poverty talk by Gerald Jones, Head of adult education for Lewisham.
The Bellingham Bowls Club is a hidden treasure and it was a pleasure to attend a meeting there for the discussion of a sports alliance. The sports alliance would form a sort of union of sports clubs from around the area.
This is one of the images sent to me by a representative of Skanska, a logistics organisation working on HS2. I was keen to see the extent and quantity of felled trees, it is such a shame that there has been no care taken on the sorting or storage of this timber and probably means it will end up as waste or smoke. According to Dark Matter labs, those responsible for the replanting of trees to offset the carbon deficit have shown as much care in the nurturing of the saplings