MUSEUM OF TECHNOLOGY - OUT OF THE ASHES
The process of working at the Museum of Technology has been a challenging one, not least because of the many ways in which the museum, its rich history, its magnificent machinery and artefacts could be interpreted. In this final piece, the culmination of a ten month residency, I built a room within the Spackman Building which is on the site of the Museum. As Pam Halls, the museum’s curator says “This site inspires great things.” Working here has inspired me to create a space full of found objects, photographs and sounds that are the interpretation of my experience of working here . Through building this room, I have created my own museum full of a variety of artefacts that have excited and intrigued me. By working with installation, despite having taken many photographs, I wanted to find a way that went beyond the two-dimensionality of a series of photographs representing elements such as texture, light, space, the beauty of the machine perhaps, but feeling to me as if they were unable to reflect in any depth my experiences of these elements. I wanted to present them directly for people to experience by moving around and through the work. Visitors were invited, in fact, encouraged, to explore the space for themselves, and to spend time looking through drawers and cupboards; they are invited to look at, to touch or simply to sit and contemplate any of the items that I have included and to soak up the atmosphere.