With an action packed week of getting up to speed with the commission things are slowly pulling together. Due to the tight time frame we are being pressed to come up with a pretty clear concept by start of Feb. If I’m able to literally start site analysis today will mean next week I can concentrate on pulling together some drawings and ideas.
Instantly on seeing/experiencing the hall for the first time to hear the main floor of the supper room was going to be removed was a real highlight. Whilst there was other options of floor sections and spaces certainly the scale of this floor was pretty special.
The presentation and community consultation went very well. I really found the conversations about the political fight to save the hall from being a casino strong. Stories of journeys to Hume from other locations either near or far were really potent. The sense of concern that the hall won’t still serve the people in all their various lives is present here to.
I woke on the morning of the day of the community consultation with a title in my head. Crossing the floor. In a way it was reflective of the initial experience and feeling of entering the supper room space. The generous floor that had such a large dedication of timber and space was quite overwhelming. I had been told that the hall was a scale greater than most and this first entry really brought this home. The main hall whilst impressive with the stage didn’t hold the same awe, possibly because it was being used for storage which cluttered the ability to experience it in full.
To find out from the architects that the super room floor was to be removed due to sinking was an incredibly important moment. The floor is such a crucial surface within this structure for obvious reasons. There is a chance that it was also sprung for dances. I think I realised right at this point that this was going to be a hard one to ignore in the future potential for this work.
At the community consultation meeting I met with a woman who talked about the 7 year struggle they had to save the hall from becoming a pokies venue. I mentioned my title that had come to me in the morning. Within the conversation I noted that as a phrase I felt it considered that political position of doing what is right even if it means going against your party beliefs. I summed up the conversation with this struggle of how so many diverse nationalities and groups united against this change. I also felt it considered other social usages of such a space. That grand gesture and feeling of crossing over a vacant floor. The specialness of being out there alone with a destination in mind. Whether it is a dance and the intention is to cross over to ask someone to join you, either to dance or the meet. The spotting of someone that you recognise and the excitement of reaching them. In connection to journeys traveled I felt this symbiotic gesture has the capacity to consider the many journeys the community have taken to either be part of the Hume community. This could be representative of changing suburb or changing countries. This could be representative of merely crossing the street, for as one community member expressed to borrow a cup of milk or tea. The ability to know that in leaving one place that the other place will welcome you, knows you and is apart of your life.
The floor seemed for me to be such a unifying form as it is the one thing in common that has support so many people over such a long period of time. Whilst the main hall floor is not to change even if it was an option there is something potent about the supper room space as having a greater sense of informal celebration, of embracing the importance of the before and after the main event, the sharing of food and stories.
Another aspect that has potential is that if a major sculptural cut and/or possible one the full floor has been removed what it opens up is the raw persevered earth that sits below. There was a conversation in the community discussion of the dirt streets, of mud boots left at the station. The photos of the hall surrounded by ex farm land and thistles. The opening up of this surface has the capacity to instantly transport us back to this time. Did understand that what separates us from what was then to what was now is possibly only merely 1 meter. That once cut and removed we could enter the hall and step down onto the ground that has been preserved for many years. From this position to then be able to consider all that has changed or possibly not changed. To consider that the depth of the floor board is all that exists to separates us from this and whilst this may bring up feelings of fragility and vulnerability it also shows us how accessible this dimension, this time is.
