Week 1 – Collage

To start off the new semester we started by taking a walk from the WM building down to the Saint James Theatre which is the site for this brief. As we were walking we were asked to observe colour in the city. This can be in many forms such as integral, applied or embedded colour, Light/dark and the shadowsand textures created. We were also asked to observe how colour was used – thresholds, interiors, elevation, architectural details – and the impact on the surroundings such as reflections and finishes of colours.

I collected evidence in the form of sketches, photographs and rubbings to capture the different textures and colour in the city. I then thought about which aspects stood out to me the most and arranged these into a collage.

There was one wall which was surrounding the Saint James Theatre that stood out the most to me. It was a mix of colours – pink, purple, blue, green – in varying tones all overlapping to create phrases but you really had to focus and pick out the individual words. I passed a building on the walk that also captured my eye. It is completley brick but within the brick there are patterns and details in the way that certain bricks have been layed and a great variation in the colours of the brick. I also noticed lots of applied colour in the form of decorative/directional signs around the university campus itself. These were in varying shapes but none were simply square, the different shapes is most probably why I noticed them more.

I decided to make a second collage to show some of my favourite photographs from the walk as they allowed me to show some aspects I wasn’t able to capture on paper. Specificaly I was able to better capture the effect of the trees and the dappled shadow effect the created on surrounding buildings. I also looked more closely at the range of textures in surrounding areas.