It started with a love of Thomas Demand’s Processo Grottesco. There are plenty of things to learn from it, but I enjoy most the way the completely exposed scaffolding surrounds his panels of cut cardboard stacks. The act of supporting the model speaks at once to the massive presence of the object, but also expresses the scale of the model itself. In so many of the images that capture the work, the inclusion of just a metal pole reveals to the viewer the true size of the object, rendering it even more impressive.

 

This is why I dearly despise so many of the models I have seen in my time in Switzerland. Students spend hours on end working on modeling the building and its surroundings, often placed on an Alpine hillside so beautiful that the layers of laser cut contours become a work of art on their own. It is too bad then, that they wedge pieces of cast off material beneath those same contours as support.

 

It is a small thing, but when I see it I can do nothing but think of things such as the Farnsworth House sitting on little pillars of battered plywood or the upper portion of Moretti’s Il Girasole atop a block of styrofoam. The object is nothing without a proper base, no matter its form or function. The thinking should run deeper than the structure, it should permeate all ideas and all scales (a pedagogical issue in general).

 

My own small act of rebellion against this practice led to something over thought and completely unnecessary, yet interesting nonetheless. In a model representing the city of Las Vegas, the topography of protected areas around the city are elevated with poker chips. The root of the action is certainly cynical, but has made an impression. Many visitors come by and often take a picture of the supports. Regardless of whether they are meaning to poke fun or have a genuine interest an impression has been made. I have learned much from them, maybe they will learn something from me.

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-C

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11/29/2022