During the first week of the Positions through Contextualising brief, I began to refine my line of enquiry through research into the history, and historiography, of The Stone Cottage. The work naturally began to form an archive, where the research material should be read in conjunction to weave together a narrative about the building. To develop the visual language of the studio enquiry, I began to gather references of successful archival projects.
[References marked with an asterisk are included within the written response. The written response explores the position of these sources within the context of my studio enquiry in greater detail].
Beattie, J. (2021-2023) Shadowing the Archives [Film, video stills, archival material]. Dublin Castle, Dublin.*
Huygen, F. and Boekraad, H. C. (1997) Wim Crouwel: Mode en module. Rotterdam: 010 Uitgeverij.
The publication is dominated by a contemporary visual language used to create an archival timeline of Wim Crouwel’s work (Huygen and Boekraad, 1997). There is a consistency to the page hierarchy and text placement, which ensures the legibility of the spread. The publication successfully balances the density of the academic references without overpowering the accompanying imagery. This balance will be paramount within my own archival work, as there is potential for the work becoming stuffy and overly-dense.
OK-RM (2023) 555: Revisiting The Fashion Archive of Francisco Costa. New York: Rizzoli.*
Real Review (2025) Real Review. London: Real Review.
Real Review is a ‘quarterly contemporary culture magazine’ (Real Review, 2025. Each edition of the magazine utilises an A3 double parallel fold. The publication is not formerly bound, allowing the pages to move freely and be reordered as the reader wishes. Impermanence within the construction of my own archival documents will allow the information to be manipulated by the user (the interpreter) so that they can glean their own insight into the history of The Stone Cottage.
Shea, D. and OK-RM (2019) Ex Nihilo. London: InOtherWords.
Daniel Shea and OK-RM successfully combine a variety of material finishes within Ex Nihilo (2019). ‘The edition comprises a series of printed objects (a book, a set of six posters and a signature of plates) in a high-gloss folder secured with a rubber band. Each of the objects explore distinct formats, materiality and print techniques’ (Shea and OK-RM, 2019). The texture and visual language of each element of the publication has been considered and speaks to its content. The project focuses on the materiality and physicality of the work, utilising full bleed images with text that runs over the edge of the pages. Materiality within my archive will be paramount, as each document must communicate its provenance within the collection. I intend for the archive to sensitively communicate the nostalgia and memory of the lives lived in the rural west coast of Ireland, whilst simultaneously remaining engaging so that the user (the interpreter) palimpsestically positions the documents.
Wolfgang Tillmans, I Didn’t Inhale (1997) [Exhibition]. Chisenhale Gallery, London. 7 July 1997 – 3 August 1997.*
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