Unknown Fields Division- AA
Nelly Ben Hayoun has been invited to join forces in a road trip from Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, through the Ukraine and the oil fields of Azerbaijan to rocket launch pad of Kazakhstan’s Baikonur Cosmodrone. A Project initiated by Liam Young and Kate Davies the AA ( Architectural Association). more on the project at www.unknownfieldsdivision.com
Reports written by Nelly Ben Hayoun for Domus on this fantastic trip can be seen here. Report on Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, here. Report on Aral sea, Here. Report on Baikonur Cosmodrome, here
As part of the expedition, Nelly Ben Hayoun gave students roles and experiences to explore on site and perform.
For example:
* Aral Sea: the experience of waiting
“I don’t seem to be able… (long hesitation) to depart.” Samuel Beckett in Waiting for Godot
Godot never came, but the action of waiting for him, is keeping the characters of the play very busy. They experience space and time efficiently, they fill it up with activities, games, exercises, arguments, discussion to avoid emptiness.
Although it often seems passive, waiting is a complex action, and can extend to various lengths, from waiting your friends, to waiting for the steam to disappear or the Aral Sea to come back.
In this workshop, you will look at designing situations in which we can all experience an ‘action of waiting’ , you will have to develop set and narrations as well as perform it.
“Let’s go. Yes, let’s go. (They do not move).”
–Samuel Beckett, Waiting for Godot
* Baikonur Cosmodrome: a Human smoke in front of the Soyuz rocket
* Airport: Radioactive catfishes and mime Chernobyl Sarcophagus
The Unknown Fields Division is lead by Liam Young and Kate Davies at the Architectural Association, London. It is a nomadic design studio that ventures out on annual expeditions to the ends of the earth exploring unreal and forgotten landscapes, alien terrains and obsolete ecologies. The Division as each year navigate a different global cross section and map the complex and contradictory realities of the present as a site of strange and extraordinary futures.
You can see more on their expeditions on www.unknownfieldsdivision.com
Unknown Fields Summer 2011 is:
Liam Young
Kate Davies
Collaborators:
Chris Hatherill, Clive Van Heerden, Emmanuel Verycuse, Eric De Haas, Jack Mama, Jonathan Gales, Michael Madsen, Regina Peldszus, Stephen Smith, Vincent Fournier, Will Wiles, Nelly Ben-Hayoun
Participants:
Adam Molinski, Aldongar Cherdabayev, Andrea Bagnato, Andreas Makas, Breanna Carlson, Bryan Allen, Charles Irby, Colleen Tuite, Demetris Constantinides, Ellen Hartman, Greg Barton, Ian Quate, Joan Tom, Joana Rodrigues, Judson Hornfeck, Madeeha Merchant, Mond Qu, Neil Berrett, Nicolas Moore, Nicole Koltick, Oliviu Lugojan-Ghenciu, Pete Collard, Samantha Lee, Svetlana Demchenko, Vere Van Gool, William Dunaway, Yuri Yoshioka, Kassymkhan Ulykbanov, Arjen Oosterman
