Ptarmigan existed as a project space in Vallila from 2009-2011 and a mobile curatorial/creative platform until 2014. We no longer exist as an organised collective, but this website will continue to serve as an archive of the activities produced as/at Ptarmigan during these years.
The goal of this workshop is to experiment with ways in which environmental surroundings might affect our sense of vitality. Situating ourselves in the Ptarmigan Tallinn project spaces, we will explore a range of different ways to inhabit, modify and imagine environments, and the production of vitality through architectural means. A range of activities will be involved in a developmental process that will unfold across five days of intensive investigations with various materials, movements and models.
We will experience and explore Wilhelm Reich’s orgone accumulator, designed to improve the general health of its user through the accumulation of positive atmospheric energy called orgone. We will build models of architectural spaces and manipulate different elements of built surroundings. We will experiment with techniques developed by artist/architect pair Arakawa + Gins, whose work focuses on examining the relationship between the human body and built architecture, and how new architectural designs can affect the body. Through these precedents and practices the workshop ultimately aims to explore a life enhancing potential often believed to be an impossible outcome of architecture, in order to push the boundaries of architecture and our understanding of the connection between bodies and environments. Experimentation will be led by three architectural body-environment researchers: Dr. Pia Ednie-Brown (School of Architecture and Design, RMIT University, Melbourne), Dr. Jondi Keane (School of Communication and Creative Arts, Deakin University, Melbourne), and Scott Andrew Elliott (School of Art and Design, Aalto University, Helsinki). This workshop is being offered in conjunction with Aalto University School of Art and Design, but is open to others as well. Activities will build upon previous events by resident researchers, such as Tuning Fork, Vitality Machines, and Push/Pull. This workshop is being offered in conjunction with Aalto University School of Art and Design, but is open to others.
Workshop Outline
Day two (Thursday 1.12): Beginning of model-making process.
Day three (Friday 2.12): Stage two of model-making process, with other activities and interviews about vitality. Presentation of Vitality Machines film.
Day four (Saturday 3.12): Final stage of model-making and environment modification. Presentation at CONNECTIONS symposium.
Day five (Sunday 4.12): Final presentations, discussions, and documentation.
