StrangeHarvest
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The Harvest I
Currenly looking down the back of the sofa trying to scape together enough to bid on this Titan 1 missile base . Which is probably the perfect HQ for the new breed of internet architecture critic. The kind whose quasi conspiracy theory logics, insatiable appetite for quirkiness, love of the marginal, and distain for sunlight mean hanging out in abandoned military complex would be quite appropriate. You can see them congregating around at this post at BLDG BLOG. But then again, I guess that is what the internet actually is: we are all crawling around abandond military infrastructure. There is also this at Icon by Rick Poyner (of Design Observer amongst other things) about current architectural criticism - who, incidently has some very kind words about StrangeHarvest. I think there are new ways of describing architecture and design developing, especially on the internet. I think the sheer volume of writing now means that new views and approaches can't help but be opened up. Perhaps it is like monkeys, keyboards and Shakespeare, but it's also exposure to stuff that stretches the writing. Take this as an example: It's a cloud of alcohol 288 billion miles long. In space. How do you comprehend that? as an object? a place? a substance? Or this new development that could turn solid things invisible. The biggest change I think is the hyperlink. It suggests a different way of constructing writing. Instead of an introduction, development, conclusion - a kind of essay plan structure - hypertext means people constructing narrative bridges between a vast array of very different stuff. Like linking a technology that makes objects invisible to something like the Farnsworth House as an example of a kind of architecture which is also interested in dematerialising. It starts you thinking about things you don't know anything about and things you know all to well - working new pathways through your neural network. It means sentances that pedal very hard to get from one place to another. Things magazine is especially good at it. It inevitably means a narrative arc that reminds me of nothing less than Erich Von Danikens Chariots of the Gods : Was God An Astronaut? Interesting note: that ebay sale for the missle silo ended up kind of funny. The winning bidder backed out of the purchase claiming that (s)he thought it was a joke. Maybe it's still up for sale? 
Posted by sam at May 9, 2006 9:53 AM
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