(Archive) Iterations of the Construction Site

Iterations of the Construction Site

This series of bowls is inspired by the contrast of materials used in construction sites, revealing the poetics of rough materials before they are concealed in interior spaces. David van Slooten calls attention to the aesthetics of this transition.

Wastelands overgrown with grass change into a place of noise, dust, discarded orange peels and portable toilets. The functional reds, yellows and grays of tubes, plastic covered pallets, scaffolding wrapped in silky construction cloth and heavy machinery are placed against a background of the natural colours of sand, wood, bricks and a few patches of grass. David’s series of bowls capture the whole of this imagery, bringing together the elements of polished concrete, threaded rods and refined wood. As such, they are a translation of his reading of the construction site as a landscape.

In this landscape, everyone knows their own proceedings and both human and object function in service of the transition of space. The use of zip-ties and small wooden blocks holding the bowls in place, are a playful reference to the quick and improvised solutions found there. Such gestures and solutions often end up being veiled behind stucco and paint