unit 01_methods of investigating ☆
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01 – the site and the photos
I chose an estate at 10 Lilac Lane / Usk Street, Bethnal Green (E2 0FX) as my site and visited on the 24th (sept). I set myself one rule: photograph anything that appeared to instruct, restrict, direct, monitor or organise behaviour. I kept every photograph, including the ones that seemed boring, so that nothing was…
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02 — site sketch and categories
While on site I drew a quick overview sketch of the estate and annotated it as I walked, so it records the order in which I noticed things as well as their positions. Back home I sorted my photographs into five categories, keeping the categories few so the patterns stayed visible: Sorting made it clear…
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03 – layered map
I returned to my quick map sketch and developed it into a more detailed map using a Google Maps view as the base. I annotated the estate with different layers of control: navigation, surveillance, restriction, community and interruption. I colour-coordinated the annotations so that the different systems could be read separately and in combination, then…
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04 – analysing fencing
I selected three fences in the area and annotated each one, looking at the repeated bars and rails, the gaps between them, visible access points, locks, routes and what could be seen behind the boundary. Rather than treating fencing as one uniform element, I compared how each fence works in relation to its particular setting.…
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05 – analysing the graffiti
I annotated the mural and the graffiti that appears on its surface, looking at the difference between the mural’s planned composition and the more informal marks layered over it. I considered how each communicates, how the two forms of mark-making occupy the same surface, and what their coexistence might suggest about the way the estate…
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06 – my own signs
I was inspired by Clet Abraham, who takes existing signs whose meanings are already understood and adds a small intervention that changes or questions the message. The original sign remains recognisable, but the added element makes the viewer reconsider it. I also looked at MOBSTR, whose interventions more directly subvert public messaging and signage. His…
