Day 6 - Collage manifesto

"The piece is a simple depiction of the comparison between the urban and the rural and the development of them both. As the urban is a modern construct in the grand scheme of the world however the exponential growth of this urban domain is causing major issues that are visible now. It shows that urban sprawl is not truly thought through and what we would call natural or urban is now being replaced. The layers therefore show how the cause of such destruction is multifaceted, ultimately meaning nature needs to run its course to solve the problems caused by man." -John Bell

Day 6 - Collage manifesto

"My piece is about the difference between the two societies- rual area and urban area. The main difference between the two societies as under: rural society is the one which has not industrialized, whereas present urban society is highly urbanized and industrialized. Our life habits reflect in the way of living, while nature is being threatened nowadays. May be is time to change the way of what we want for our future, to preserve the country’s nature, basic culture and traditions." - Kelly Cheung

Day 6 Dada art session

Fresh week calls for the dada collaging workshop where we put together a Schwitters’ styled storyboard from the previous week. We brought together the materials we have amassed from the trip and studio work to be put in the collage. The collages are trying to show the contrast between the man-made and the nature. The workshop has given people more exploration space as to how they wanted certain things to be presented.

Reminder for Day 6

Hi guys, Hope u enjoyed our little trip and got a good rest! Just a quick reminder to bring any used materials u have at home or from the nature that you have collected in the barn, for examples,envelopes, sketchbooks, stamps, tape etc, for our dada art session tomorrow.

Day 5 Lake District

Twenty minutes hike uphill from the barn lays a hilltop with an amazing view out towards Ambleside and Elterwater. The group did more filming on top to show the contrast between the city and the rural life. We also did quick sketches of the scenery that will then be used in the Dada collage themselves. The group concluded the trip by taking a short stroll from Chapel Stiles to Elterwater and did a short wander round the lake.

Day 5 Lake District

Starting the day by visiting Kurt Schwitters’ Merz Barn, Ian Hunter from Littoral Trust has kindly given us a brief talk about the surrounding areas and its industrial landscaped past used to make gunpowder. He then explained the history of the barn and his future aspirations for the area. The site where Merz barn is in is masterplanned by landscape designer Harry Pierce. The barn itself holds a historical significance in that it is a symbol for the rise of modernism as Schwitters tried to rebuild his project in his Hannover flat. We then went around the area and started collecting materials for our own interpretation of a Schwitters’ styled Dadaism collage for the coming week.

Day 4 Lake District

Heading to the lake district, we made a pit stop to Abbot Hall gallery in Kendal to see a special exhibition about Refuge: The Art of Belonging that showcases artists entering Britain as a result of Nazi occupation. The exhibition shows a tangible connection between Kurt Schwitters’ and the beginning of modernism as artists and architects flee their homeland to UK and US. We also visited the Museum of Lakeland Life that tell us a little about the Arts and Crafts movement and the rural lives people have lived in the Lake District and how the landscape has influenced their lives.

Preparation for the events week

Here is a preview of the exciting things we have planned for the events week! Remember we have a upcoming lake district meeting on Monday (18/3) at the Benzie cafe at 11am. See you all there!

Background information Dadaism

Dada began in Zurich from 1916-1922 and became an international movement. It was an anti-art and anti war movement. Dada involved a variety of different concepts from geometric tapestries and glass to plaster and wooden ornaments. It also involved a variety of different things from visual arts, literature, art manifestos and graphic design. Th aim of the movement was to provoke an emotional reaction from the viewer. The main influences were Abstractions and Expressionism followed by Cubism and Futurism later on.

Background information Lake District

The Lake District National Park is England's largest park which is in the north-west corner of England, in the country of Cumbria. There are 42,400 permanent residents nowadays. The aim of Lake District National Park is to become an inspirational example of sustainable development in action. They are finding ways of encouraging sustainable tourism without damaging the beautiful landscape.
‘We want a tourism industry that is successful and profitable and protects the local environment and culture.’ Stated by the National Park Authority.

Team introduction Merz 19'

Hi guys, let's introduce ourselves in the team!
Kelly Cheung Infrastructure Space
Chloe Chan Praxxis
Farah Arar Platform
Saad Sharifeh Platform
Jonathan Ngan Infrastructure Space
Ethel Ng Platform

Conceptual Stage

‘We need more of this criticality today – an architecture that jolts free from the spectacularity of the icon builders’ ‘ It is possible to scream with rubbish,’ by Tom Wilkinson in ‘Dada lives’ Architecture review.
Schwitters’ Merzbauten experiments continue to inspire many of the leading international artists and architects nowadays, like Zaha Hadid, Daniel Libeskind, Rem Koolhaas, etc. In this context, we are thinking to host a major international Merzbau exhibition or Dadaism workshop which influence in contemporary architecture, landscape, rural design and art.