Incarceration

Abstract

The work for this thesis has developed along two paths. That of research-through-writing and research-through-making. Both lines of inquiry relate to imprisonment. The trajectory of the writing looks at the prison as a social construct, its origins and its place in society. The 'making' line of inquiry uses Giovanni Battista Piranesi's Carceri d'Invenzione or Imaginary Prison etchings as a starting point. This work is 'coloured' by the writing. Making blatant or deliberate connections between the products of these two modes of working has not been forced and it is intended that unforeseen connections may or may not emerge. This gap is important and is alluded to by the layout of this document. Throughout, there are two columns, with an equally large gap between them. The left hand column is the space of 'making' and the right column is that of 'writing'. At times the 'making' ventures across the divide to the other side and vice versa. Writing relating directly to the construction 'made' work is kept to the left as well. The 'making' column starts with a list of illustrations cataloging the images and objects that were generated and photographed as part of this body of work. They constitute a series of collages each with a corresponding model(s). The writing column documents the birth of the prison in society and architecture. Prison architecture is the site of a unique overlapping of architecture and social construct, the ramifications of which are critiqued and questioned.