CASSIE HANSEN
Sitting Vacant

Sitting Vacant is an exploration of architectural materiality and composition, inspired by the clay tablets of ancient Mesopotamia that were used to write stories, poetry and fables, but also to record building plans. The ancient clay tablets allowed individuals to record who and what was significant.

In my series, the clay is left unglazed in order to emphasise the textures and graphic shapes, as well as reference the unfired nature of the ancient clay tablets. Building materials – tiles, wall cladding and hardware – are used to create the textures, bringing an added layer of architectural language to the pieces. The hand-carved shapes – an assemblage of quadrants, curves and arcs – resemble site plans for elaborate villages, or can be read as the collection of material palettes used by architects and designers. These present-day artefacts record architectural messages – messages of scale and balance, texture and shape, composition and form – intended to be preserved forever.