As ballast materials moved across oceans it was simultaneously transported across space and time, slipping through value systems; from waste, to weight, to commodity. Structures across the continent were built with chimneys or foundations that had begun their life in the distant granite quarries of Cornwall, and from bricks that had rounded Cape Horn – their material transience obscured by the illusory stability of heavy stone or masonry forms.
In this story of value slippage, the transport vessel was the ship’s hold – this was the site where the material transformed. In our thesis, we inherit the concept of “holding” as an active verb that indicates a conscious placement into a temporary configuration in which materials are transported through time, allowing built assemblages to transition between value systems. This opens up a space between immediate value or function and waste – a gray area of sorts.
Inge Donovan | Portfolio