The Potentials of Edge Combinations And Conditions
Man-made and natural are two very different concepts. Normally, people can distinguish them by visual observation. In Charleroi, however, it is difficult to see that the local mountains are in fact made up of cinder blocks rather than natural formations. It is only when you go into the mountains that you can really feel the traces of man. One of the reasons for this phenomenon is that a large amount of natural vegetation has covered the slag heaps, changing their original edges and creating new shapes. The research shows that: changes of the edges can affect human visual perception and create something new. It represents the central focus of this research project. The research was conducted in four stages.
The first stage starts with a question: Is there a way to try to abstract man-made edge from the overlap between artificial and natural? The object of the research is a series of heaps found in Charleroi. After categorising them into man-made and natural, they were filtered to the part where man-made and natural meet and where the edge is created. The man-made and natural parts were then extracted separately and used as test pieces for subsequent experiments. Finally, ignoring the edge to restore the original shape of the man-made part.
In the second phase of the experiment, after mastering the method of extracting the edges, the experimental process was reversed to draw the edge of slag heap to its original state, which had been covered by the natural edge. This phase demonstrated more clearly how different combinations of edges can alter the observer’s perception.
The third stage involved experiments with boundary combinations. The boundary shapes that had been taken out earlier were reorganised to create new visual perceptions in a two-dimensional direction. In further depth, vertical lines are used to fill in the boundaries to produce more complex forms. As for the fourth stage, the edge is reorganised in three dimensions. In this stage, the edges are blurred and the man-made and the natural are mixed. The experiments use solid models to create a rich sense of space.
