Notional Architectures
Imagine a public space.
A vast public space, a square or a piazza.
Around the piazza, neither a part of it nor separated from it, are a million points of entry and exit. Enter here, leave there.
The space is a public space, that is to say that it is offered for public use, but it's physical manifestation is built from private structures. These private structures have a public face and a private back, a behind-the-scenes area, the staffrooms. Some people are entrusted with the keys to enter these areas. Some people however, understand the technology of locks and are free to move between the two sites as they see fit.
The more primitive the technology of the lock the easier it is to break and the greater the number of those willing and able to enter. Some locks, and some of the structures they restrict, are obsolete. They are no longer actively protected and are only nominally monitored.
A man on a street and a man in a wilderness are free to enter this public space, the piazza, as long as they are armed with one of many, increasingly primitive, pieces of technology. He may use a radio, a television, a mobile telephone, a computer or any combination of these devices. In this space people meet, discussions are held, money is exchanged, political agenda is decided and all aspects of our cultural civilisation take place.
This building is the notional architecture.
It is a transparent architecture, a structure built from an informational transfer in an electromagnetic spectrum.
An image essay by S.Craig which formed the title work for his exhibition Notional Architectures at i-cabin in 2007.
The publication comes with a text folded loose into the book outlining the theory of Notional Architecture.
(A5, Fan Bound, Variable page number)
Copies are made to order. Each copy is signed and has a unique page order.
Available to order from the gallery.
Cost: £40