La Malterie

Thibaut Devulder

In preparation for our exhibition with Pictanovo about our Ooo-Ya-Tsu collaborative performance project, I spent a few days working with Qubo Gas at La Malterie — an experimental music and visual art centre in Lille (France) — to sort out some of the technical aspects of the project, such as calibrating the video projection and remotely tracking the motion of drawing gestures with brushes and pens.

We will continue working on the animation and graphics of the performance in two weeks time at the Hospice d'Havré.

Artist residency with Pictanovo

Thibaut Devulder

We have been invited to present our collaborative performance project Ooo-Ya-Tsu as part of the Experiences Interactives exhibition, starting in 29th May 2015.

Hospice d'Havré (Photo © Bruno Parmentier)

Hospice d'Havré (Photo © Bruno Parmentier)

The exhibition is organised by Pictanovo, a French association supporting the development of visual arts in Northern France and one of the main sponsors of our project.

The event will take place in the stunning Hospice d'Havré in Tourcoing and will showcase over the summer 2015 a selection of art projects supported by the organisation.

Prior to the exhibition, Pictanovo has kindly invited us to continue developing our visual and musical performance during a week-long artist residency in the exhibition space.

In collaboration with art collective QuboGas and musician DDDIXIE, our performance project Ooo-Ya-Tsu is also supported by the Centre National du Cinéma et de l'Image Animée (CNC), L'Aéronef, the French Civil Society of Multimedia Authors (SCAM), Le Cube and La Malterie.

Portfolio project
Squint: a micro-exhibition module

Thibaut Devulder

Mining some of our old files recently, we dug up this little gem from 2006: a mobile exhibition module we called Squint. It's an installation we originally designed for a competition in Calgary, for the temporary transformation of an urban space situated under a railway bridge.

Squint in the streets of Calgary (from our competition entry in 2006)

Excited by the idea of the self-building something we would then send to the other side of the world, we took the approach of a foldable crate system that could be deployed in an unlimited number of configurations, playfully modulating the openness — or enclosure — of the micro exhibition space it hosted.

Set on its site and then manipulated by the public, the articulated and perforated little structure offered glimpses of its content to passers-by, "leaking" some of its content to the surrounding urban space.

In another context: Nottingham's Exchange Arcade...

And of course, for easy transportation, the whole thing can be neatly folded into a tiny, self-contained crate containing both the panels and the exhibition materials, ready for shipping!

This was a fun little project and maybe something to prototype again?
Interested? Get in touch with us!

Ooo-Ya-Tsu on Arte TV

Thibaut Devulder

The French digital creation centre Le Cube hosted us for a week last April in Paris, to continue developing our live drawing and music performance Ooo-Ya-Tsu.

As part of this artist residency, the Franco-German cultural TV channel Arte came to film us and interview our collaborators, the collective Qubo Gas, discussing how the Ooo-Ya-Tsu project fitted in their wider practice as visual artists.

Qubo Gas collective interviewed by Arte, during our artist residency at Le Cube, in Paris (photo © Qubo Gas) 

This video is also available online on the Arte Creative website (photos above © Atelier A).

Fabrica

Thibaut Devulder

The Fabrica Art Gallery, Brighton's famous visual arts organisation, has offered to host our Ooo-Ya-Tsu performance for the Brighton Digital Festival 2014, next September.

Fabrica Art Gallery (Photo by Dominic Alves)

Fabrica Art Gallery (Photo by Dominic Alves)

Based in a former Regency church in the heart of Brighton, Fabrica commissions contemporary visual art installations specific to the building.

As part of the presentation of the project, we prepared this short description of the project, for once in English:

Constructed as a cycle, the Ooo-Ya-Tsu performance sketches a poetic landscape around the interactions of visual art collective QuboGas, designer Thibaut Devulder, musician Olivier Durteste and a custom-made computer programme.

Ooo-Ya-Tsu takes inspiration from phase music and conjures up the imagery of mobile collages, in which new strokes, colours and sounds are overlaid and combined at each sequence.

The performance develops in three phases:

  • A creative phase, during which the different performers step in sequentially to create and compose the graphical soundscape.
  • A chaotic phase, as the richness of the interactions takes over the performance, claiming back control over the creative process.
  • A rebirth phase, as Ooo-Ya-Tsu subsides and settles into an autonomous animated fresco, extending its visible existence into the digital space of the performance venue.

While based on a complex technical system, Ooo-Ya-Tsu keeps at its core the visual universe of the QuboGas collective: hand-drawn sketches on paper, in pencil, ink and watercolour. Digitised, these shapes and colours are combined with the soundscape composed by Olivier Durteste.

Ooo-Ya-Tsu offers a contemplative take on a collective artwork, where human gestures bring forth an infinite virtual fresco, an autonomous universe of sounds and graphics.

Ooo-Ya-Tsu gets CNC grant

Thibaut Devulder

We are delighted to be awarded the prestigious DICRéAM grant from the French Centre National du Cinéma et de l'Image Animée, for the production of our multimedia art performance Ooo-Ya-Tsu.

In collaboration with art collective Qubo Gas and musician DDDIXIE, Ooo-Ya-Tsu is also supported by L'Aéronef, the French Civil Society of Multimedia Authors, Pictanovo and La Malterie.

Weaving space: student exhibition

Tom Hughes

Alina and I are leading the Vertical Studio module this year at Nottingham Trent University, as part of the MArch (Masters in Architecture) course. It's a 10 week design studio delivered to both cohorts of the MArch course, aimed at bringing in practitioners with a particular set of approaches, whilst introducing new students to NTU and preparing final year students for their major dissertation projects.

We've decided to build the studio around the notion of weaving — both as an approach to understanding one way of making structure and space and as an analogy for the multi-stranded assemblage of information, knowledge and ideas that go into an architectural design project.

The site we've chosen is what we've termed an 'urban appendix' — a former thoroughfare truncated by the building of Victoria Station in Nottingham, and then overshadowed by its replacement, the Victoria Centre. This unloved backwater will be stiched back into the urban fabric by housing a dressmaker's shop, design studio and workshop.

During the first week the students were set the ambitious target of putting on an exhibition of exploratory models. Following visits to Kula Tsurdiu (acting as client) and the NTU textiles exhibition and weaving workshops, the students investigated techniques of stitching, pleating, weaving and fusing to create their models. It was great to see a lot of careful investigation and reckless experimentation coming together in a short space of time — the students really responded to the challenge and we look forward to seeing their designs develop over the coming weeks.

Tweaking hardware

Thibaut Devulder

First experiments with physical computing for our collaborative performance Ooo-Ya-Tsu with art collective QuoboGas and musicien Olivier Durteste (aka DDDXIE). We will be using the Processing programming platform to generate the visual and sound effects of our live drawing and musical performance and we are doing the first test of live motion tracking on stage using a WiiMote prototype.

Still in its early days, but it's nice to see the system starting to interact with the physical environment!

The project will be developed over the new year as part of an art residency with music venue L'Aéronef, in Lille (France).

Holding a creative space

Thibaut Devulder

The participatory arts magazine Mailout has published an article about our collaboration with artist Marcus Rowlands for our Lost Cuckoo public art project.

Written as a dialogue between Marcus, Tom and Thibaut, the article explores the role of artists and architects in the creative process and the idea of holding a creative space for public participation.

You can read the article on Scribd.

The full version of this issue of Mailout is also available online for purchase.

Lost Cuckoo workshop at NTU

Thibaut Devulder

Furthering our exploration and experiments using the cardboard module developed for the Lost Cuckoo project, Marcus Rowlands and 2hD Architects ran two "lectures" at Nottingham Trent University.

Images by Marcus Rowlands and Matthew Mouncey

With the participation of staff and students from the School of Architecture, Design and the Built Environment, and in a lecture hall setting. This was, however, not your standard lecture format: the starting point was for each person to build a module, then to team up and build an assembly, and finally to bring everything together to create a space-within-a-space... in which the 'lecture' would happen.

March 2012. Workshop run by Marcus Rowlands and 2hD Architects using the cardboard construction module developed for the Lost Cuckoo project. With first year Interior Architecture student, at Nottingham Trent University's School of Architecture, Design and the Built Environment. Marcus Rowlands: http://marcusrowlands.com 2hD Architects: http://2hd.co.uk

Video by 2hD

Portfolio project
The Lost Cuckoo

Thibaut Devulder

We have put together this short video about our Lost Cuckoo project with artist Marcus Rowlands from the DVD produced by the Lakeside Art Centre, who hosted the event last year.  The project was great fun and we are looking forward to developing this concept in other art festivals this year!

A public art and participation project by Marcus Rowlands artist and 2hD architects, involving pupils, parents and staff from Brocklewood, Melbury and Portland schools in Nottingham. Funded by The Arts Council, Lakeside Arts Centre and Nottingham Education Improvement Partnership, with support from Faspak and Staples. Original footage and sound by Vent Media. 2011.

The Lost Cuckoo project was commissioned and supported by the Arts Council England and Nottingham Lakeside Arts.

Portfolio project
A stone memorial for a Jewish congregation

Tom Hughes

This project is the result of our combined interests in public art, craftsmanship and education. Starting as a student design competition that we organised at Nottingham Trent University for the Nottingham Progressive Jewish Congregation, our design process became an involved exploration of traditional stone walling techniques and complex numerical modelling to create a solemn yet welcoming landscaped space.

This project was shortlisted for the RIBA East Midlands Award for Architecture 2011.

The completed stome memorial, with collaborating artist Igor Barteczko

We were approached by the client to create a memorial structure for their congregation’s cemetery on an exposed hillside with excellent views over the Trent valley. We proposed, set up and ran a design competition for students, then collaborated with the winner to bring the project to completion. We redesigned the competition winning entry, working with the student in the role of project artist, to ensure buildability and adherence to a very restricted budget.

Our innovations on this project include a rejuvenation of traditional craft building techniques and the use of three dimensional computer modelling to achieve the twisting shape using stonework. We developed a custom plugin for our 3D modelling software to help us explore alternative geometries with the stone masons and produce the required three-dimensional templates for the preparation of the curved ashlar stonework.

The first commemorative plaques, on the curved ashlar.

The resulting structure creates a strong sense of place with an intense focus for ceremonial purposes, whilst also framing views out and welcoming visitors in.

The Memorial viewed from the cemetery entrance.


The Lost Cuckoo takes flight

Thibaut Devulder

We have started work with artist Marcus Rowlands on the Lost Cuckoo project. Working with families from 3 schools in the Bilborough area of Nottingham, we will collaborate on the design of a bespoke cardboard module or system. This will be used by the families and visitors at the International Children’s Theatre and Dance Festival in the live creation of an interactive community sculpture.

In our first set of workshops we asked families to build with standard cardboard boxes and colourful tapes. They produced an amazing array of sculptures and spaces, pushing the boxes to do the unexpected and giving us plenty of inspiration to start the design of our special module.

Further workshops will run over the months until the Festival, on June 4th and 5th at the Lakeside Arts Centre.

This project is being supported by the Lakeside Arts Centre, the Arts Council England, Faspak and Nottingham Education Improvement Partnership.

Portfolio project
Stranded: extreme picknicking in the dunes

Tom Hughes

In response to the Structures on the Edge competition, we collaborated with artist Tristan Hessing, of One Thoresby Street, to explore the ambivalent relationship between art and nature conservation. We designed a shifting public art installation on the wild beaches of the Lincolnshire coast, on the theme of extreme picnicking.

The Stranded art installation, slowly eroding within the shifting sand dunes of the Lincolnshire coast

Our chosen site: a fragile dune ecosystem, isolated on a windblown seashore.

Stranded was our shortlisted entry for the 2010 Structures on the Edge art programme, and a distant cousin of our Bathing Beauties competition entry.

The artists’ brief called for small permanent structures in the sand dunes of the Lincolnshire coast that would respond to the wild beauty and harsh environment. Our response was to design an installation for extreme picnicking as a robust response to the rugged nature of the site.

Shifting sands

We decided to make our intervention at a dune crossing point, reinforcing and protecting the dune whilst giving views and shelter for visitors as they move between land and beach. Stranded would be a faceted concrete structure whose shape was derived from the dune surface, but with points raised to provide views and shelter, and others buried beneath the surface to provide foundations. We would see it as a geometric abstraction of the dune landscape, a frozen snapshot of the shifting sands. It might be taken for an archaeological artefact that has been exposed, or is in the process of being covered, by the sands.

Our collaboration with the artist

We found that Tristan shared our approach to understanding the project and our chosen site at Wolla Bank. We took our cameras and tape recorders and had a picnic in the dunes. We talked and sketched and thought, but we also interviewed everyone we could — hikers, families, fishermen, dog walkers, bird watchers.

It became obvious that it was the remoteness and rawness that they appreciated. All of them had visited Wolla Bank many times, and they all praised its quietness and undeveloped nature. Rather than change the place by inserting an icon that would signal development, we decided we should intervene in a strong but subtle way in the landscape.

The making

The process of making Stranded would be intimately connected to these intentions. Creating a mould from the sand of the dune, we would dig out areas of the structure which would be ultimately submerged beneath the ground, and build up areas that would be raised. Finally, we would spray on fibre reinforced concrete to form the structure. The process would be like building a giant sand castle — a hands-on process through which we would engage the local community and visitors.

The exposed concrete areas would collect sand and be blown clean so that the structure would change over time, a process that we would document and that would help to explain the life, mobility and sensitivity of dunes to the visitor.

" 2hD have been committed to delivering the highest standard possible at every opportunity in our collaboration, which is absolutely how it should be and the reason why it has worked so well for all parties.
From our initial shared exploration of the site, they were very engaged with my responses and ideas, responding quickly with visualisations and practical suggestions for the making process. The principle of our collaboration was to understand where our common ground was and how best to pool resources and create design without compromise."

— Tristan Hessing, collaborating artist


Portfolio project
1 Thoresby Street art space

Tom Hughes

Nottingham has a thriving arts scene, and over the last few years there has been a swell of artist-led studios and galleries.

We’ve had a chance to find out more by getting involved with the 1 Thoresby Street building, part of BioCity where the Stand Assembly artist studios, and the influential Moot gallery (which recently disbanded) have been given space. It’s a vibrant place with artist studios and several galleries from the poster-sized Keep Floors and Passages Clear, to the bedroom sized Trade to the 180m2 attic space. It was the Reading Room for the fantastic Hinterland project, a base for experiments in projection from Annexinema and is now the base and a major venue for the upcoming Sideshow — the British Art Show fringe event.

We’ve been helping the artists to get to grips with their building, making something workable, safe and with a strong identity on a minimal budget and, with the future of the building uncertain due to development and road widening plans, probably temporary. It’s a work in progress and an association with the art scene in Nottingham that we hope will continue. For us, it has also spawned a collaboration with artist Tristan Hessing on a piece for the Lincolnshire coast.

At 1 Thoresby Street an empty, wasted and forlorn building has had new life breathed in to it. We urge you to get down there to catch some Sideshow events, which run from 22 October to 18 December.