“Art as Design History?” by Ruth Mason

Beyond the shape, size, or structural design of a space, how does a spaces’ materiality influence human relationships within it? What influence do the expectations of human relationships have on spaces’ materiality? Thinking beyond the materiality of structural spaces, what is the relationship between a space and the physicality of material objects which circulate through it? Ruth Mason explores Lefebvre’s Production of Space and contemporary artist Eliot Jones and the place of physicality in understanding contemporary design history.

Eliot Jones‘ self-titled ‘spatial interventions’ are constructed from materials that constitute the make-up of our living environments, those by which we construct boundaries, insulate, in-case, or effect spatial environments.  Physically and functionally reconfiguring them into new spatial arrangements, Jones’ work raises interesting questions about space and materiality.