The painter starts with the real world and works toward abstraction, and when he's finished with a work it is abstracted from the so-called real world. But architecture takes two lines. The architect starts with the abstract world, and due to the nature of his work, works toward the real world. The significant architect is the one who, when finished with a work, is as close to that original abstraction as he could possibly be.
John Hejduk.
Drawing is the language of architects. It is used for analysis, experimentation, communication, and ultimately presentation. Drawing is representation. It contains an answer to a question, and it is a question demanding further answers. Drawing is a probe, harnessing the designer's creative energies in pursuit of a potential solutions. Drawing is complex, and it is simple. It abstracts, and it reduces.
I'm reading 'Architectural Design and Composition' published by Thoth. Editors Clemens Steenbergen, Henk Mihl, Wouter Reh, Ferry Aerts.
For the exhibition in March, im supposed to produce analytical drawings of the Singapore river- to uncover a new understanding of the river in its situation and context that we don't commonly see. That i've never seen before. Drawings are supposed to peel away and unearth deeper knowledge undergirding the Singapore River. In that sense, the river is both a skin and a volume. To 'unpeel' is to pull away a thin, fragile surface, like the hardened crust layer over thick soup, bubbling beneath. To 'unearth' is to dig through a volumetric substance, unveiling buried secrets wedged within. It is strange how english words that are so vastly different can be used so interchangeably.
I'm officially on a 'sabbatical', though i've never used that word myself. It is inscribed upon me, the official term for an officially announced break. My reason to rest? That i can't find any compelling enough reasons to be unrested. to stay, to work, to serve, to sing. I think we all see things clearer with distance. Like drawings, you must be a certain distance away in order to view buildings in perspective. Otherwise, all you see is the flatness of a single surface, the elevation. Makes me wonder about the etymology of 'perspective'. That which is gained only through distance.
The question that has been occupying my mind stubbornly is this: How can I live for God?
The direct question. How can I live?
Is what i'm doing enough? Is singing songs enough?
Is meeting up with friends I'm comfortable with, going for the occasional prayer meeting, the weekly church service, TRULY enough?
Maybe there is a term for this too, how about 'holy dissatisfaction'?
We tend to have very complicated terms for very simple meanings.
Is this life, enough?
How can i live for you, God? How can i abide more wholly? More fully?
Dig and peel, dig and peel, until we all find the answer.
i love the quote on gerry's blog :
A woman should be so lost in God that a man must seek Him to find her.
Love it.
