DARIA KHOZHAI PRACTICE PROJECTS EXPLORATIONS NOW
MATERIAL MEMORIES
Material Memories is a practical research on memorializing abilities of materials. Where the experimental craftsmanship techniques of materials processing are used for recognizing and documenting the vacant spaces that fading from public memory and imagination. Exploring new ways of visualizing invisible layers of our surroundings and opening new dimensions where we can learn about ourselves and our environment through the labor of making physical things.
Material Library
Dozens of craftsmanship techniques and experimental materials, that can be used in unconventional ways were tested on a simple 40 x 40 cm. city pavement tile. The most promising once were collected to the “Material Library” book. (That will continue to grow and develop).
Collected materials are not innovative, but rather opposite, long existing and familiar, with their own stories and connections able to trigger our personal memories and activate collective ones. Materials that are not meant for architecture suddenly become building materials for the memories about it.
Material Playground
Series of expeditions to the abandoned buildings that are awaiting demolition and landscapes that will exist no longer were conducted during two month. And established explorative setups, onsite-laboratories to test the most promising materials and craftsmanship technics on a successfully matching locations. To investigate how certain material can respond to present Architectural and Cultural-historical qualities of the environment. Explore what unseen special qualities certain technique can reveal. And what the knowledge gained through making physical things can offer. By means of “Craftsmanship, which is an essential component of memorialization that helps us to relate to the environment”. (Craft as a Memorializing Rhetoric).
The right choice of material and making on-site help to engage with the location, feel it through, reveal the deeper knowledge about the site hidden behind it's appearance, reflect and link our past with the presence and create an evidence for the future. It helps to romanticize, personalize the vacancy, bolden it up without intervening directly.
COVER
SILICONE (failure)
THE OTHER SIDE
FIBERS (failure)
"Meltdown" is an investigation on an ability of the memory to deform under the influence of external factors. Cheese wax experiment proved memorializing ability of material (due to it`s unique composition and flexibility).
Waxing an abandoned Farmhouse and a family Cheese factory in Lochem, NL
Recreating a Farmhouse from the memory of a Cheesemaker
References:
"The Persistence of Memory" by Salvador Dalí
MELTDOWN project >>>
MELTDOWN project >>>
CHEESE WAX
Wax blanks preparation, for thin layer Lost Wax Casting of sculptures.
Royal Eijsbouts bell foundry visit.
BEE WAX
Former “Profitable House of Vertiporokh” at Mezhyhirska Street 33/19, Kyiv, have been mourning in Black Construction Net for last 20 years and got finally illegaly demolished. But Paverpol made Black Construction Net save all the Neo-renaissance details of facade of Architecture Monument of a National Importance.
Testing silicone-based release for Paverpol 1:10 model of Profitable House
PAVERPOL (textile hardener)
References:
References:
Testing Tin casting with the Broom principle.
TIN (water casting)
References:
Vacant NL. RAAAF. 2010 (Blue Styrofoam models)
In 10 years after Venice Biennale RAAAF activated many vacant buildings from the Vacant NL. But how many buildings from
Vacant NL disappeared?
This sketch demonstrates one way of materialization of significant parts of buildings in a threat of destruction. As well as shows a Sustainable way of reuse and recycling of ever-present waste material, Blue Polystyrene Foam (so popular in architecture field), in a safe and conscious way.
MELTED RAAAF`s Vacant NL
Blue Styrofoam, Solvent: D-limonene (essential oil extracted
from orange peels. Nontoxic, biodegradable, renewable,
and pleasantly citrus scented)
1:1 mock-up. Application on a a real building brick surface.
Significant details of buildings that awaiting demolition.
STYROFOAM (dissolved with D-limonene solvent)
PLASTIC (+ heat gun)
SOAP
References:
"How to Wash Your Hands" instruction during Covid-19
Soap solidified the void that surrounds and defines a Lined Through One Seat of Waiting Benches on a safe-distance 1.5 meter from each other. The familiar strong suffocating smell of soap solidifying air in a room,
creates a claustrophobic feeling.
Testing Antibacterial Soap cast in 1:10
Mold 1: Cardboard chair model
Mold 2: positive Wooden mold
Mold 3: negative Silicone cast
Ability to take a fingerprint
VINYL GLUE
Latex texture tests
LATEX
Royal Eijsbouts bell foundry visit. Brass melting
BRONZE (splash)
References:
Me in my childhood room. "Pravda" newspaper can be seen under wallpaper
1:20 model of my family apartment in Kyiv out of newspaper covers, collected during first month of russian War against Ukraine
This project started as a material experiment, just before the russian invasion of Ukraine. Insomnia and being surrounded by news from allover the world forced me to develop it further.
Unexpectedly this project proved the healing power of making physical things. Repetitive actions has a meditative effect, touching the physical material helps to stay grounded. Memorialization of the space that is not there anymore brings to realization earthier acceptation of the loss. With the same purpose the kids were taught making clay crafts during the WW||.
Recreating 1:1 model of my childhood room in a family apartment in Kyiv out of 1991 newspaper from sent from the destroyed library in Kyiv.
Newspaper papier mache also appeared to be a powerful direct and sensitive way to archive a historical events that are difficult to talk about.
Newspapers covers collected during first months of war
PRAVDA project >>>
PAPIER MACHE (newspapers)
PRAVDA project >>>
CARBON PAPER
Me, unrolling a 5m. long paper stripe under table between me and my colleague workplace, and covering it with carbon paper for one day simple experiment.
Pattern of an office swivel chair
Carbon paper registered the patterns we are gointhrough during the working day.
Footprints of my colleague
PARAFFIN
References:
First successful skin transplant 1870
RUBBER
Render of Kyiv on reconstruction.
“Ghosted” city is built out of precise handcrafted scale models of “Nothing” that left from historical heritage architecture intentionally destroyed in Kyiv. Models based on former drawings of monuments demolished just during the time of independent Ukraine and just of buildings officially declared as a heritage.
GREEN CONSTRUCTION NET
SILICONE
COVER SIDE 1
ORIGINAL TILE
COVER SIDE 2
TAR (failure)
Conclusions of experiment:
Experiment helped to investigate new ways of interaction and activation of the vacant buildings as well as a new ways for reading, documenting and memorializing hopeless buildings awaiting demolition.
By detaching the site-specific intervention from its site. Extract the essence of the project, detach it from the context and translate it into a “small” scale artifact that can build a future interpretation of our time. Using craftsmanship to enlighten the present and imagine the future. Using the Situation-specific materials and it's application techniques always due to the symbolic significance that they carry and making on-site help to engage with the location, feel it through, reveal the deeper knowledge about the site hidden behind it's appearance. It helps to romanticize, personalize the vacancy, bolden it up without intervening directly.
Material Memories research is conducted in collaboration with RAAAF
and made possible by Creative Industries Fund NL
Special thanks to Jouke Bos