The Waving Solid
Abandoned brick, seashell, iron oxide, plaster, sound and moving image, object: 33cm x 33cm x 90cm, size of projection is variable.
2025
The Waving Solid is a contemporary ecological totem pole inspired by abandoned landscape and created during 24-25 academic year and firstly presented at the RCA2025. It is a multidisciplinary project that brings forward the story of my intimate relationship with brick, hidden landscape in London and a story of a path of River Thames. This installation was incorporated through creative walking, gathering materials, natural material experimentation, programming interactive moving image. I walked along the Thames and discovered abandoned bricks piled up in a reservoir of Thames. I researched about this over looked material and re-build them with natural material-seashells that one of construction material in ancient times. The moving image is generated by sound recording from the river.
Throughout my research I found the fact that the abandoned brick is not a waste item but a living material that has been interacting with surrounding and vibrating with tides in a non-linear way. It also has a micro-space contained humid and shade, so it can provide a shelter for non-human creatures. The collecting methodology reflects the story that the mudlarks scraped valuable items in 18th and 19th centuries near shore of Thames to support their lives. Henry Mayhew, an English journalist, reported that they often carry little treasures in their cap. Becoming a mudlark was usually a choice dictated by poverty, but mudlarks had a degree of independence.
I reconstruct urbanized spaces, value and cultures lost in the process by rediscovering the state of materials, investigating the history of space and multisensory installation. This practice is an attempt to make a sustainable future for resource recycling and small diverse histories. This practice is a response to climate change and sustainability that requires action to re-think waste resources and nature space in urban, along with naturally visualize aesthetic and craft of future, presenting uncovered texture, natural colours.
Installation view at the RCA2025
