Abstract
Blueprints for Future Outlaws is a mixed-media art project that centers on architectural drawing and exhibition as a mode of physical, psychological, and social construction. Developed over the course of eight years from 2016 – present, the project examines the complex relationship between national politics, collective trauma, and personal identity through drawing, photography, the display of interactive objects and contemplative video. Rooted in traditional drafting techniques, the project explores how architectural representation can serve as an orienting strategy for navigating and measuring the constancy of change. Contextually, architectural drawing is a fascinating visual language that brings to life an imagined world by providing instructions on how to build it. Optimistic by nature, blueprints begin with a survey of existing conditions and proceed through a series of interdependent vantage points linked by shared convention and code. Plans, sections, and elevations situate the body relative to earth and sky yet each on its own remains incomplete, limited and longing for the axis cannot contain: any single drawing tells but one part of story, its fullest meaning only revealed by the presence of its companions and one’s careful reading over time. This paper reflects on the creative process of producing this multisensory work; and discusses the experience and impact of exhibiting this work with specific emphasis on the site-specific storytelling aspects of its presentation to the community, within a former abolition-era home and refuge in Lexington, Kentucky.
Presenters
Liz SwansonAssociate Dean of Student Affairs and Associate Professor of Architecture, The College of Design and School of Architecture, The University of Kentucky, Kentucky, United States
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
Art Practice, Architectural Drawing, Identity, Community, Exhibition
