Week 3 Discussion: Stone is more Stone...

"One aspect that Nietzsche suggests, and Zumthor explicates is the idea that we have deconstructed materiality into a complex of physical qualities. We are at a stage where we can understand what comprises a certain material, and use this knowledge to manipulate the materials to become nearly anything we will it to be. Take the KoolForm 9AN video for example; by understanding the segmented, yet imperfect qualities of stone brick, they are able to create a roller 'mould' that can impart these qualities onto any massive material, without the need to undergo the traditional brick and mortar process.

One of the most important questions this illuminates is the reduction of materiality to an easily manipulable set of parameters vs a phenomenon shaped by nature itself. With our 'new' ability to replicate for the sake of representing any material quality, have we effaced the value of discovering these qualities in naturally occurring and/or traditional craft? I feel this relates closely to Nietzsche's quote: "What does the beauty of a building mean to us now? The same as the beautiful face of a mindless woman: something masklike." In this respect, it can be said that manipulating material in such a way devalues beauty itself; material qualities are no longer a rare phenomenon, but cheap replicas of these phenomena, thus denoting the negative aspects of materiality as a complex of parameters.

Inversely,  manipulating materiality can also expand creative possibilities; loosening restrictions on how we use material and thus, freeing up how we manipulate any meaning or symbolism behind these materials. Zumthor's Klaus Chapel arguably exemplifies such processes; creating a process that preserves the material qualities of burnt wood to preserve "the sombre and reflective feelings" of such phenomena. In Zumthor's case, manipulating materiality could also be synonymous to manipulating meaning itself; therefore presenting a positive aspect of manipulable materiality."

Reflections

[YET TO BE WRITTEN]