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From the beginning of my project my aim has been to capture some of what remains of the architecture of the industrial era in an attempt to represent this period of time through modern digital technology and in this way make a connection between our current digital revolution and the industrial revolution of the 19th & 20th century.
This essay is a reflection on my two year journey into the project, on my learning, development and contextualization of ‘Industrialism brought forward’.
This is the link to the PDF file of my essay
On the 25th of May I visited Tilbury, which is a renowned town for its docks. I thought I was going to find more structures from the 19th century but the site had been renovated in the 1960s.
A bit about Tilbury Dock history:
Tilbury Dock was built by the East and West India Docks Company in 1833, it’s situated more than 40 kilometres (25 miles) downriver from London.
The docks benefited from the connection with the London, Tilbury and Southend railway line, allowing rapid distribution of goods to the capital and the rest of the country.
The Tilbury Docks opened for business just as steam vessels began to take over the shipping trade. The location of the dock system on the Thames and the size of the basins meant that Tilbury was a very attractive dock to use. Although for decades after their opening, they were relatively underused.
When the Tilbury Docks first opened, in 1886, it traded in a number of goods, including madeira brought in by the West Africa Line; casks of sausage skins packed in brine and India chutney. Materials such as bales of jute and packaged timber and wood pulp also passed through the docks.
During the 1930s grain ships of 50,000 tons were regularly unloading at Tilbury. There were also the usual lighters and barges, ready to transfer the goods into the city.
In contrast to other docks in London, the luxury liner trade used Tilbury Docks. Passengers embarked and disembarked at Tilbury, making use of the good rail links and staying at the local hotels. During the war, Tilbury was used to convert the liners into armed merchant cruisers.
During the 20th century, Tilbury Docks became well known for their grain trade.
Towards the end of the 1960s, Tilbury Docks underwent a £30 million program of improvements. The grain terminal, which opened in 1969, was one of the fastest discharging installations in the world, at 2000 tons per hour. The grain silo on land had a 100,000 ton capacity and there were adjacent private flour mills ready to process the grain.
The 1960s improvements also enabled the large ocean-going cellular container ships to dock and be turned around in 36 hours. These refits enabled the docks to continue in business significantly longer than other dock systems in London.
Splitting (1974) Three chomogenic prints mounted on board.
I have been looking at Gordon Metta-Clark work and I can find a connection between his work and my wish to explore old buildings, the investigation of the life they had when they were constructed and the creation of artwork that speaks about both the then and now, showing the different layers of life, how life passes by whilst the building stays whilst observing the trace of humanity, allowing the building to talk about their history. I found this journal which discusses his work in a manner that I can connect with.
Compelled to focus attention on the dehumanization of the modern world, Matta-Clark developed a personal idiom that combined Minimalism and Surrealism with urban architecture. Using abandoned buildings for his medium and wielding a chainsaw as his instrument, he cut into the structures, creating unexpected apertures and incisions.In 1974 Matta-Clark operated on a two-story home in New Jersey slated for demolition, effectively spliting it down the middle. The light from the incision invaded the interior and united the rooms with a swath of brilliance. The artist photographed his work and created a collage of prints, the unconventional disposition of which re-creates the disorienting experience of the unprecedented destruction. The seamless cut slicing through the space memorializes the lives of the house’s former tenants as dramatically as a stroke of lighting.Maria Morris Hambourg (Autumn, 1993) Twentieth Century,The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, New Series,Vol. 51, No. 2, pp. 78
