S/F project at The Physics Room

A collaborative split/fountain project at The Physics Room, Christchurch, 2013
With Xin Cheng, Michael Parr, Blaine Western
Organised by Layla Tweedie-Cullen

In 2011 split/fountain was invited to facilitate a project at The Physics Room, but when the earthquakes struck Christchurch, plans were put on hold. split/fountain presented the project two years later in 2013, and diverted from the original proposal to expand on Temporary Housing + Shelter, a publication and exhibition project produced in collaboration with Whatever Press (Tokyo) for the 2012 Tokyo Art Book Fair.

For the Physics Room exhibition project, Xin Cheng, Michael Parr and Blaine Western improvised a display and furniture system constructed from a selection of raw materials locally sourced through TradeMe, exploring opportunistic forms and the versatility of materials in common usage. They considered the objectives of space through various interim structures to establish form in multiple configurations and suggestions.

A publication titled Work-book was produced as part of S/F project at The Physics Room, amassing work and writing from a varied group of contributors including Barnaby Bennett, Bekah Carran, Eleanor Cooper, Jessica Halliday, Jack Hadley, Toshiaki Koga, Melanie Keung, Asumi Mizuo, Johnny Moore, James Oram, Bruce Russell, Ella Sutherland, Zina Swanson, Tim Veiling, Bob van der Wall, and Sebastian Warne. Designed by Henry Babbage and Layla Tweedie Cullen, the workbook is edited by Matthew Galloway, Melanie Oliver, Layla Tweedie Cullen, Henry Babbage and Luke Wood.

S/F project at The Physics Room embraced transitional and temporary methodologies to speculate on the latent possibilities that may exist in opportunistic, collaborative, short-term initiatives. The artists and contributors considered the use of the gallery space and the potential for printed matter to foster shared experiences and conversations amongst the improvised structures, furniture and a reading space, cultivating relationships through a temporary practice that mirrors the informal projects already characterised as an alternative form of transitional place-making in Christchurch since the earthquakes.

Images by The Physics Room and Asumi Mizuo