Works&Projects

Synopsis:

The two films, Ice Rink and Lido, Treehouse, Gymnasium illustrate Feneck’s interest in the role of architecture in shaping our social activity.

In Ice Rink the camera focuses on the architectural interior of the ice rink as ice skaters enter the frame and endlessly rehearse routines and spinning jumps. Drab colours, artificial lighting and echoing music attach themselves to the pursuit of perfection. For the skaters, practice is integral to the outcome - potentially a glamorous success, however we can only imagine this glamour as we witness the committed nature of endless practice.

In Lido, Treehouse, Gymnasium, a handheld Super 8 camera observes three sites of communal activity. It slowly scans the architectural elements of each deserted space as an investigation into the physical structures of social behaviour. Feneck's choice of the three sites; a sea-side public Lido, a school gymnasium and a woodland tree-house complex reflect an intricate understanding of uses of public and private space.

Connections are created between the sites through framing and editing. Imagined inter-relations run between each film, and the sites form part of a wider realm of activity - that of institution building. The work explores how architecture forms the physical institutions of our communal needs.