week 1: investigating

I’ve been living in North Acton for almost a decade, and it has mutated and grown rapidly throughout my time there, almost unrecognisable when compared to the day I first moved there. Most of this change has happened because of the expansive Old Oak Common HS2 (High-Speed Two) station that is undergoing construction.

Naturally, I decided to explore the HS2 construction site.

Heavily inspired by the exercises mentioned in Perec’s ‘The Street’, focusing on detailed observation of the mundane, I explored 3 facets of the site through extensive photography, and what information I could extrapolate through them.

These were –
01: details
02: all around the site
03: the area

Most of this exploration focused on understanding the details I noticed at the site, from different methods of investigation: sketching patterns, observing shapes and objects, noticing signs and symbols (and the language, colours, and fonts they used), what objects or paraphernalia was present at the site, what colours appeared at the site, and the logos of construction related companies.

This method documented both previously unexplored perspectives of the site through photography, as well as any evidence to how it related to the area. I don’t know if I gained any new findings from this method, but I loved rigorously documenting the site in this way; it became truly beautiful to me.

I’ve been looking at a view of beautiful green landscape from my balcony, with the London skyline faintly visible in the distance, and previously the cranes were an ugly intrusion to the view, but now I’ve become obsessed with them.

Additionally, the phrases I had previously overhead “stand clear, this vehicle is moving back *beep beep*” is something that is embedded in my memory, but there wasn’t any activity happening at the site this week, so I would like to explore this further next week.

This conceptually was the most interesting method of investigation for me, and I gained a better understanding of my the site and connections it had with the area. Mostly, I was called to the graffiti in the area, and the old signs, and I hope to discover more about them next week.

The feedback I got however was that the site is too rich, and I’m focusing on too many details, so I need to narrow down my focus for next week. This is something I currently feel I’ll struggle with as I’m too attached to the site, but I hope I can!