Power/Technology-Sustainability

Penclawdd, Swansea

19th century – My village, Penclawdd was well known for it’s sea port, coal mines, pubs, copper and brass works, train station and cockle picking.The only industry that has kept going is cockle picking.

Abandoned buildings

Definition of sustainability: ‘Able to be used without being completely used up or destroyed’, in other words to keep going.

Old coal shelter in my garden, from previous owners – House was originally a pub

Inside of coal shelter – completely eroded, unused and rusted.

Stones falling out, wood naturally crumbling away from weather.

Weeds and plantation going through Cracks expanding them and causingWall to collapse.

Roof has already collapsed

Soon the shelter will collapse

Derelict buildings in Penclawdd

Barn 5 minutes from my house, used to be used as aShed for horses in the field but now all walls except one Have fallen including the roof.

Swansea

Famous monumental building in Swansea:Palace Theatre.

Built in 1888 – Would attract 900 theatre-goers, used as a bingo hall and night club.

Present Time

Present time, building hasn’t been used since 2006.

It’s been neglected, and every year becomes increasingly derelict.

It’s already been said that the building is too dangerous to enter or go near.

London Trip

Miyako Ishiuchi – She portrays the social conditions in a country haunted by WW2

Ishiuchi captures the after math of war with the alienation and abandoned buildings and areas.

Max Ernst: ‘The Entire City,1934’

Ernst depicts a crumbling city below a ring-shaped moon.

Suggesting a cityscape ruined by the hate for the Nazism that took hold of Germany.

Stacked buildings

Valery Koshlyakov

Saw his work in the Saatchi Gallery last year.

Works on cardboard and strips panels of it to shape the structure of the buildings.

Koshlyakov engages with the theme of abandonment and ruin.

Architectural buildings with drips of paint, looking wet and quick rendered and broken.

City Photographs

London cityscape

Photo’s of London near the Tate Modern

Quick picture of National Gallery.

Drench water on paper and then quink.

Pencil drawing of Coal shelter

Shelter made out of string

Thread on nails – In style of artist Debbie Smyth

Textiles artist – uses pins and thread to create powerful buildings, structures and mechanisms

Started another thread and nail piece on hardboard of the Palace Theatre.

Still working on this piece at the moment.

Some other string pieces of pylons.

Influenced by Debbie Smyth

Starting point

Fin.