Fantasizing about Arachne's Information Weave

conceptual victory can be achieved: ‘in the case of miniatures, in contrast to what happens when we try to understand an object or living creature of real dimensions, knowledge of the whole precedes knowledge of the parts.

And even if this is an illusion, the point of the procedure is to create or sustain the illusion, which gratifies the intelligence and gives rise to a sense of pleasure which can already be called aesthetic on these grounds alone’ (Morris, 2006, p.10).

Models as more than just works of craftsmanship, they are the primary vehicle of the design process, therefore in ‘the Arachne’s Information Weave’ they are merely used to generate the project, instead of just describing it, while offering enough fodder for the imagination rather than presenting. Even though the models were taken as conceptual elements in the architectural process, they also revealed an independent existence of their own, divulging their own stories as well, while representing the project; Michael Graves also argues that once an idea has been modelled, the made objects begin ‘to have a life on their own’ (Healy, 2008, p.51). While representing the ideas behind ‘The Arachne’s Information Weave’ through physical models allowed the observers to receive tactile clues, helping them to make sense of the objects as well as understanding the conceptual ideas behind the design, taking them a step closer to ‘reality’, it also allowed the models to have an artistic existence of their own, giving the observers the opportunity to place the models in their imagination and to form images of their own.

However, the impact of the models built to represent the design ideas for ‘The Arachne’s Information Weave’ is highly dependent on the photographs of them, making the physical objects even more attractive, while achieving a higher degree of manipulation through the atmospheric images, even though ‘a model can only ever be as good as the photos that can be taken of it’ (Elser and Cachola Schmal, 2012, p.9). While the photographs of the models do not simulate through deceivingly realistic-seeming images how one is meant to imagine ‘the Arachne’s Information Weave’, they do stage the project as a mysterious, abstract sculpture, being powerful instruments of ‘representing the already represented’ ideas in order to stimulate even more viewers’ imagination, engaging in experiencing, constructing and manipulating their mental images. Yet, to what extend do physical models persuade viewers’ perception of the project, while influencing their imagination through representation?