LTLT Ranch Ranch Summer Summer Session Session 2018 2018
2009
Anna Parfirnko Yi-chuan Lui Yu-ting Wang : Ken Wilder
w
Ami Kanki Changda Wu Dayea Park Georgina Walker Hyunsuk Park Lewis Barton Sofia Anastasiou 2011 Spyros Anastasiou Sylvia Yebing Yuan w : Rob Nice Stasys Skliaustis
2012
Chris Humphrey Enzo Guida Keun Hye Lee John Wo Min Kang Mamo Jeulin He Marcus Boyle Max Thomson Mo Ja Neda Kahooker Patrick Yi-Wei Chen Paresh Parmar Recy Shao Sam Lo Ming Shum w : Emma Hunter Stasys Skliaustis
2013
Abdulbari Kutbi Jacqueline Hu Jialing Li Mengjie Liu Mirella Dourampei Sang Kyong Jeong Wan-Yun Tsai Xin Wan Ya Gao Yang Bai w : Janice Shales Jiri Hanzlik Stasys Skliaustis Bingyu Hu Bo Lu Fang Yuan Lijiao Wen Lin Wu Nan Yao Shandri van Rooyen Sue Ahmed Zuofung 2014 Zhou Yun Na Liu Yvonne Onah w : Jeffrey Adjei Jiri Hanzlik Ken Wilder Stasys Skliautis
2015
Declan Ralph Emiliano Zavala Faezeh Fathi Helen Brewer Liu Yang Lu Peng Nathan Back-Chamness Richard Ford Tianyue Wang Wei Wu Yvonne Onah w : Alison Lloyd Annemarie Piscaer Jeffrey Adjei Jiri Hanzlik Stasys Skliaustis Tina Tran Daniel Stilwell Declan Ralph Elif Ergisi Faezeh Fathi Gemma Maria la Rocca Owain Caruana-Davies 2016 Richard Ford Sarah Stollery Yingting Franne Yuan Yuan Zoey Zhao w: Jeffrey Adjei Ken Wilder Lucy Alice Jones Stasys Skliaustis
2017
Adrienne Ursula Bennie Athina Leontiou Charlotte Crocker Clinton Olajide Jr. Faezeh Fathi Luna Ozbek Nathan Back-Chamness Piera Dencker-Rasmussen Richard Ford Zigiant El-Sarkaoui w : Jeffrey Adjei Ken Wilder Lucy Alice Jones Stasys Skliaustis
2018 Ben Carpenter Dan van Orsouw Dimple Manmovanlal Declan Ralph Elliot Waters Ethan Burley Faezeh Fathi Jacob Hedge Miksa Albert Richard Ford : Jeffrey Adjei Kristina Kotov Nasios Varnavas Niall Healy Stasys & Antanas Skliaustis w
There is an indefinable sensation of a primeval like urge to build, create, construct, form. With my hands - the conduits of the thoughts in my mind. That’s something that can’t quite be realised easily in conventional society anymore. The ranch strips all obligations of the outside world away, quite literally and figuratively through its remoteness and isolation. Allowing you to enact on the habitual desire to define space. Transforming space into a place. This landscape, environment, community can be moulded, intentionally and unintentionally each year to undertake new projects and explore new ideas.
Place-making is a rather important part of the ranch, this year was no exception. Through reasoning and craftsmanship, spaces that previously had no value began to be defined and described as of ‘place’ through our investment of time onto them, enacting our will onto them, to mould them and to forge them into something more than what they were previously, before we made our mark. Boundaries and new movements of passage unearthed across the landscape as we travelled to and from the extents of our placemaking, through repetition, necessity and arbitrary action these passages took shape as the week progressed. These natural arteries crossing the landscape formed like organic scars on the skin of the earth that opened up as freshly trodden wounds to accept our footsteps that cast and recast, formed and reformed the defines, extents and limitations of the routes we travelled. Although many of these corridors of movement had little meaning at first all of the routes of travel ended in a space that had transformed through the process of placemaking and enactment of ourselves onto the fabric of the landscape. Foreword by Jacob Hedge
Insertion Line
Ethan Burley, Miksa Albert In our first Ranch session we worked with a forest which was interesting to us as it is not possible to do in a ‘workshop’. The main aim was to mark the trees that were to be cut if needed. These specific trees were growing within a grove of Birch trees and so these would be the first to utilize if the timber was needed in future projects. In a minimal way of marking we wanted to highlight/emphasise the beauty of the different trees and create a visually attractive spot. We did this by aligning the marks from a position to form a line that matched the horizon. We then made a bench to signify this position allowing the project to guide anyone curious enough to stumble upon it. The seats themselves, we decided, were to be made purely from materials found within the grove which meant fixings and such were also out of the question. A second bench was placed with a different perspective of the markings with ideas for more. From these positions it created entirely different horizon lines and visual experiences.
The project then became very fluid and grew rapidly as we explored the new experiences provided by just a small change to the environment. Using strings, we grouped trees based on the thicknesses and age allowing visitors to quickly identify their required tree and alternatives from a single glance. On the other hand by linking the trees using a single thread it entices people to follow the lead and brings them within the web creating entirely unique experiences dependant on the path taken. However due to the thicknesses correlating with the trees’ age the layout of the strings - the horizon line is bound to change and thus will provide a completely new experience for each year of projects to come. The removed bark themselves became another angle of the project which evolved into a performative moment where the skins of the trees would seem as if they had been displaced whilst becoming a source of light - as an ode to our working conditions using incense sticks to ward off bugs in an attempt to share our experience of the site.
Cooking The Landscape Dan Van Orsouw, Jacob Hedge, Nasios Varnavas The project began in conjunction and response to the brief written by Nasios Varnavas titled ‘Cooking a Landscape’ this prefaced our experimentation with the landscape and was successful in collectively encompassing our individual desires to: Make, fire, forge from raw (earthen) material.
Marc .3 After assembly and inaugural firing
- Marcus Aurelius Meditations Chapter IV ‘That which rules within, when it is according to nature, is so affected with respect to the events which happen, that it always easily adapts itself to that which is and is presented to it. For it requires no definite material, but it moves towards its purpose, under certain conditions however; and it makes a material for itself out of that which opposes it, as fire lays hold of what falls into it, by which a small light would have been extinguished: But when the fire is strong, it soon appropriates to itself the matter which is heaped on to, and consumes it, and rises higher by means of this very material.’
https://vimeo.com/291386674
Marc (Mk) .1
The initial experimenting was tentative and investigative, not yet knowing the restrictions placed on us in regards to our own experience in this field. As each key decision we took throughout the week allowed us to broaden our design objectives using our past experience from previous iterations, successful or not. We had taken only limited outside knowledge into our endeavour, which made for a much more personal learning process. Ensuring that we worked deliberately with crafting the ingredients and constructing each stage of process, but still being intuitive and speculative when it came to theorising our concepts and learnt knowledge.
Our first steps were to locate ground that contained clay, the hillside across the stream from the house consisted of rich clay. As we were yet unsure as to the extent of our project we began by creating a selection of bricks of different compositions, using a mold, and firing these in a small draft furnace. Latter known as Marc 1. Experimenting with the bricks and their ingredients allowed us to implement a mixture of clay and water that we could form into shape and fire. At first we thought that we would be using these bricks to build the furnaces but we later realised that the mixture allowed for us to mold the mud and fire as one form.
Marc (Mk) .2
After the success of Marc 1 we wanted to explore kilns further and moved away from brick making. Our second kiln was far more experimental. This one we knew would work, but we were interested in broadening our knowledge and finding the limits of the kiln making process, Marc .2 was far larger than the previous, with an air intake 4 times as large. We constructed the internal space out of shuttering and experimented with vertical sticks positioned regularly in the layers to provide support. We were unsure as to the reusability of this kiln and we quickly realised that it would only see one firing. This sole firing however was very dramatic,
with more material for the furnace to burn, a much larger internal chamber and a further array of smoke stacks/air intakes the firing that we did experience was very impressive. We found the limit of our construction material as well - with one of the external faces of the wall collapsing due to its weight and the heat becoming too much for the rapidly drying structure it collapsed. The impressions of the internal shuttering that were forged in the heat of the structure were extremely expressive of the firing process, charring the mud and leaving the signs of the previous structure that was burnt through the landscape of smoke.
the Shovel Boyzzz
Marc (Mk) .3
As the week progressed we felt more confident building these structures, our imprint on the hill now spreading further as we embarked on our largest kiln yet. Using our previous knowledge from our experiences building, digging, mixing and firing the previous two kilns we felt confident building something at an even larger scale. Our first decision was where to cite the new kiln, this is something we spent considerable time discussing between the three of us, we wanted it to sit well in the landscape and we had raised the idea of placing the kiln on a low rise away from our previous deployments but we felt that this position was far too detached. After locating the kiln back on our existing site we were forced to level and clear the ground, the clay was easy to dig and move but the sheer volume made it exhausting work. After leveling the ground we made a step down to floor level and then proceeded to dig out the kilns internal void. Opening up a smaller pit we used the clay we had excavated to build up the walls - this time we used shuttering on both the internal and external faces - this really allowed us to pack the mud down and create defined layers using a crafted tool and some found objects, lining each layer with ash as a final experiment. The firing was a really spectacular moment, culminating one week of hard work, completing the final kiln on time for the whole group to experience its first firing. We were really happy with its design and formation, although we still took a lot of lessons away from building a kiln that big it reflected how far we had come from the initial brick making and our first kiln. With reinforced internal and external shuttering, two large air intakes, and further vents on alternating levels the draft exceeded our expectations, burning a lot hotter than we’d comprehended - resulting in some extensive cracking on the inside wall. The last kiln survived its first firing and hopefully we will be back to light it again in the future.
anarchitecture of fire and mud anarchitecture of smoke and dust anarchitecture of waiting slicing mixing layering burning cooking anarchitecture of time
full bleed image Ranch life
PIVOT!!!!
Ben Carptenter, Dimple Manmovanlal, Elliot Waters
Viewing of the areas when we were walking around the first time, it kind of became exposed, the site, and instantaneously we knew this was going to be it. The landscape in itself was spectacular with perfect materials for resources at arm’s reach, and from a distance, there was the perfect view. What do you do with a great view? You frame it of course! From here on in, we began our plan to enhance the mundane, allowing the log for our bridge to perfectly slice the land from the trees and sky, framing the landscape. We thought the pivot was necessary so Stasys can access through with the excavator when he needs to.
Many new techniques were learnt through the process of building the foundations, and we found that without a strong team, it was a tough job to tackle. Digging, filling and fixing into place was the mantra. The ritual of charring the wood for longevity was one of beauty, involving watching the wood ever so slightly catch fire and have the smoke whistling out. Figuring out a pulley system took some pondering, but we settled with a hand winch which took off a lot of the weight from the log when reeling the rope in. It was a great success after a few attempts with smaller models of different variations, each bringing us closer to our final choice.
Re-visiting the Ranch and seeing our pivot bridge merge with the landscape and inhabitants over time will be interesting to document as our future plans involve enhancing the area around it bit by bit, perhaps having different stations which frame the landscape from their own viewpoints.
StoginÄ— Faezeh Fathi, Richard Ford, Declan Ralph After completing our third ranch visit to work on the Stogine, our movements had become so familiar that we were given the opportunity to realise the on-site time scale of the project thus far. The build time had been only 5 weeks spread over the three years. Around three of these 5 weeks were spent finding, cutting and preparing material parts. Following our familiar construction processes, this summer saw the Stogine grow by another bay, fully roofed. On arrival, the site was different to what we remembered. Nature had started to take over, the structure becoming home to new inhabitants and overgrown with tall grass. An archaeological-like clearing of the site revealed our ground work from previous years. The taming of the adjacent willow thicket had opened up new and unexpected views out towards stonehenge and the sleeping barn.
The first steps this year were to familiarise ourselves with the inventory of pre-cut columns and roof timbers, each part bearing its own notation. Some preparation time was taken to apply a wood preservative to the timbers as they lay waiting in Barn 2b. Some processes were reiterated, the holes in the foundation stones widened. The site had slowly settled around the stones and under the weight of the existing two bays of the roof house, and some re-calibration was necessary. The metal plates which were to foot the columns were carefully measured, and fixed at a datum level.
These behaviours of the site topography meant it was very difficult to work to the precision we perhaps expected to when we started the project in 2016. We did not allow ourselves to become too focused on exact measurements, and adopted a rather one step at a time working method whilst on site, allowing us a flexibility to react and adapt. Having experienced the project over a small number of weeks yet stretched over a few years, we gained an appreciation for the setup of the site and preparation of materials and not just the labour in constructing the Stogine. The construction of the single bay could only be achieved quickly and within this year’s time frame due to this careful preparation work.
StoginÄ—
A usable space Although the on-site build time has only been about 5 weeks, the project has been live for three years now, and needs to start being used according to its original aim; a storage area for precious timbers and valuable tools vital in the running of the ranch. The duration of time, along with the emerging scale of the space allowed us to imagine deeper into its usability. Standing in the semiincomplete space impressed upon us the magnitude of covered, usable volume that has been created. It feels massive. Going forward, the first thing the space needs is a flooring treatment. Not only for storage quality but also to prevent the overgrowth occurring during the unattended times of the year. The second thing vital to its use as initially intended would be a more solidly enclosed zone for tool storage. These two steps would bring the project up to complete utility within the three bays constructed.
The impromptu bracing used has helped delineate the modular space; these inadvertently informing divisions considered temporary initially, have helped us think about the more permanent layout of the roof house. They have also stoked a discourse in regards to the entrance and exit of the space, how it reveals itself to the ranch inhabitants, and the way in which the flow of work and wonderings could be catalysed in this site area in future sessions. Although the Stogine may have potentially met its capacital needs at this present moment, the future may bring further challenges and requirements; the unconstructed final wings serve as a future expansion option if they are so desired. If not, they are allowed to retain their air of reverse archaeological remains, maintaining the site’s ambiguity in age with recoverable foundations hidden annually by the wild native flora.
At the time of this books printing, a month after the end year’s ranch session, further work on the stogine had continued with Kristina and generous local craftsmen. A floor of weed barrier, stones, and pallets proved the thoughtful resourceful nature of the Ranch. Timbers have started to be selected, stored and exhibited as a stack wall.
line insertion_linear garden
Nasios, Kristina
The simplest of gestures. The line, connects or divides. This line* is destruction, this line is generation. Concieved around mid-day on a lonely stroll exploring the periphery of the Ranch, with hands behind my back, it was there - the only rectalinear thing, the window of the sleeping barn shouted, ‘Hey’ and I thought: project and scale to fit, perspective. A line of clarity in the natural. This is my mark, a human scar, here: the heart of my thought, to bridge one place to/from another, to destroy and make this soil thirsty for new life, to open up a wound/ womb for the seeds of a new garden, an offering to the Ranch. The linear garden of colours, smells and seasons. * 23m long by 2m width.
https://vimeo.com/292458328
attempting to capture a second in time this moment of clarity a linear line...
5-180 second sculptures
Kristina Kotov
Every year I try to capture a few moments to recognise ...something transient- fleeting. This year it was the watering of the linear garden, wild oregano- the first planted line- of 7. It was hot- it was about to storm, and we carried the water buckets regardless, to ensure our replanted woodland plants had a chance to taking to their new home. The water from the well seemed eager to return to the
ground, splashing, leaving their individual marks on the dry clay. These sculptures began to appear a few years ago, timeliness keeps varying, this year they are fugitives of memory. If these splash sculptures in the topgraghy of the caly didnt fry up in the blistering sun, they were usurped with the rain spatter, suddenly, from nowhere, as if waiting for us to complete the planting, to water the new garden. This could be any landscape really, except for the line...
Slow Time Niall Healy
The Ranch is a slow place. The landscape and buildings dictate a pace which encourages moments of pause and reflection. Time has its own special quality there. Joining the Summer Sessions this year has been a return to the Ranch after almost a decade. My previous visits contributed to the construction of accommodation in the Sleeping Barn. Crafting the materials to create the space crafted a deep connection with the place. It leaves something of it in you and you in it. In the period since my last visit the atmosphere of the place has not changed but the landscape has evolved to include bold projects to subtle interventions remembering past Summer Sessions One of the most striking changes is the Barn2B project, which conceals its scale of achievement in its simplicity and sensitivity of execution. The only clue to its boldness of scale are the index marks stenciled in white by its reassembly curators set against the carved index marks of the original craftsmen who built the barn on its original site beyond the Ranch. Observing how the placement of the Barn2B is measured against the memory of the place,
the territory defined by the buildings has changed the perception of centre and scale and ones reference to place in the landscape is redefined. Still, the redefined quality of place remains familiar. These incremental changes over time seem to melt into the history of the place and settle comfortably into the landscape. The beautiful and subtle linear garden, initiated this year by Nasios, sits within, what was for me, a new context and makes reference to a route which is defined by its relationship between the Sleeping Barn and Barn2B. Over time will it also melt into the history of the place, and in doing so will begin to register and evolve with the passing of the seasons. In an attempt to record the quiet quality of the place, the ‘slow film’ seeks to capture the still quality of time at the Ranch. It can be best described as a photograph with movement in a one-minute exposure in an attempt to allow the viewer to inhabit the scene. The slowness which records the static views of the buildings in the landscape gives way to a document of the work of this year’s Summer Session participants. Their work over time will also melt into the history of the place leaving something of them in it and it in them.
https://vimeo.com/292595955
Recipes of the Ranch Summer Session 2018 Faezeh Fathi, Kristina Kotov & everyone This is the first iteration of the culinary & gastronomic delights of the Ranch. Many meals are improvised, delicately prepared, slow cooked and/or simmered. Cooked in the kitchen, on Stonehenge, and this year in Marc 1. Meals arise from intense discussion or urgency on how to prepare for all of us on site in the evenings. Some of these recipes come about like magic of a few ingredients ‘left in the fridge’ to astounding, never-to-be repeated flavours, remembered viscerally and moments eaten, the light and sometimes shear silence of consumption and appreciative sighs, others not so smoothly, but we all try.
Stomach Anatomy Apron, George Maciunas, Fluxus Room, Vilnius Contemprary Art Center (Ĺ MC).
Lunch arrives pretty magically prepared- from the village, with all necessary trimmings: 2 courses- soup and main of locally prepared foods plus the staple of sour cream, dark bread and sauces.
Soups: Vegetable soup w/ ear dumplings Gherkin and barley Sauerkraut soup Šaltibarščiai (cold beet soup) Sorrel Beetroot soup Chicken soup
Mains and collections: Aubergine & yoghurt_fried Aubergine & yoghurt_BBQ-ed Grated potato with minced meat & turmeric Grated potato and yoghurt Grated potato and onions Lasagne Hungarian Goulash Scrambled egg and tomato Hot Pot Coca cola chicken Morrocan sheep 3 day chicken Sardine pesto pasta Chicken -cooked in all the seasoning found at the bottom of the spice box Meat with dates and raisins Aubergine, pepper and fresh tomatoe pasta Forest picked mushrooms Cabbage rolls stuffed with rice and pork Shashlik Spaghetti bolognase Chili con carne Pizza Entrecote beef (cooked on Marc 1) Cepelinai (zeppelins)
Deserts: Apple crumble Ice cream Banana floats (boats) Marshmallows Linksmučiai (white chocolate mushroom cookies).....cont’d
Cucumber and Yoghurt (Mast-o-Khiar)
BBQ Aubergine & Yoghurt (Borani Bademjan)
Persian Mashed Potato salad (Salad olovieh)
- Cucumber - Yoghurt
- Aubergine - Yoghurt - Seasoning
- Potato - Peas - Gherkin - Mayo - Butter - Seasoning
Finely chop cucumber into cubes and mix with yoghurt then add salt and paper.
Wrap the aubergine in foil, place it on a tray and leave it by the fire until its cooked. Once cooked, allow the aubergine to cool down before mixing it with yoghurt. Finally add salt, pepper and garlic.
Boil a few potatoes then mash them with a little bit of butter, add salt pepper for seasoning. Whilst the mashed potato is cooling down boil peas then add to the mashed potato. Chop the gherkin into small pieces and add to the mix. Finally add mayo to the mixture. Enjoy with bread or on it’s own.
Lasagne
Apple Crumble
- Onion - Pepper - Mushrooms - Courgettes - Potato - Tomato - Minced meat - Seasoning (turmeric, salt, pepper, garlic powder, parsley)
- Butter - Flour - Sugar - Cooking apples (hand picked from the tree) - Cinnamon
Grate lots of cheese. First chop onions finely and put in pan mix it with minced meat and garlic Slowly add all the other ingredients one by one. Start cooking the ingredients one by one in a large pan. In a separate pan of boiling water start adding the lasagne sheets and then lay them on the tray. Cover the first sheet with the lasagne mix followed by a handful of cheese on top. Repeat this process until the top of the tray. On the last layer, add as much cheese as you can!
- Honey (from the market) Mix flour and sugar then add the butter mix well into a crumble. Cut the apples into small cubes then place them on the baking tray. Sprinkle a little sugar then add the crumble on top. Finally add a dash of cinnamon and blueberry on the top and cover the tray with foil. Place the tray next to fire, and let it cook for 35min until its golden. (Best enjoyed with a scope of vanilla ice cream on the side.)
a celebration of spirit: There was a latent energy of the site that lingered into the migration of places chosen for projects. The site felt almost new as low growth had been removed in late spring, roots upturned to dry out of fast growing willow and water flows cleared and deepened to encourage a steady current with overflows. By the time we arrived our spring maintenance of this landscape management had taken hold, after a very wet winter and spring turned to dry and increasingly thirsty landscape by mid summer. The wind could move across the Ranch, less stagnant water collecting on the site and the ecosystem of mosquitoes and other small critters dispersed. Long views opened, reflections appeared on open water, the sky no longer segregated to ‘above’ peppering the ground surface. With these spring earth moving endeavours, archeologies had revealed further layers of geology of the Ranch. The locations of the projects drifted into these newly revealed moments, inhabiting them for the first time in the Ranch’s timeline. The site appeared at dawn for most of us, and sleep gnawed into late mornings of breakfast followed soon by a hearty lunch. Activity seemed to begin only after this meal was digested. As much as we tried to rise early, it seemed the best way
A sincere thank you to all for participating this year, especially Jeffrey Adjei, Nasios Varnavas & Niall Healy for reasons so many, support of what the Ranch has woven over the years - a space for experimentation with humour, altruism and spirit. Thank you to veterans Declan and Fay for arriving early to start preparing the site for visitors, Nasios and Niall staying a few days extra to clear and clean. We nearly got there. A big thank you to Stasys and his family for all their support and encouragement to continue to run these sessions: helping with transfers to and from the site, securing materials and advice for various details, project resourcing and other everyday conundrums. With this catalogue production, thank you to Richard and Declan for their help to collate and discuss the participants’ own made spreads editing and making adjustments as the project spreads arrived. Seeing projects through makers own lenses is vital to this catalogue recording each year’s projects. Hope we did an ok job. Thank you to Jeffrey for his calmness and commitment to our social well-being, his experience of the sessions, the coordination of the archival images to be shared amongst all the participants +++. And finally though not lastly to Jacob for his finely captured introduction to this year’s event. Thank you to UAL Chelsea for the opportunity to exhibit at the MA Interior and Spatial Design show as a launch for this catalogue: the penultimate before our 10 year anniversary in 2019 and UCA for supporting this event year on year as an autonomous landscape studio. © Images copyright by all participnats of this LT Ranch Summer Session 2018 Kristina Kotov
artistic director VšI LT Ranch Stuciai, Lithuania https://ltranchspace.blogspot.com/ inst: @lt_ranch_space
LT Ranch was to allow the collective body to build itself into its natural energy flow. Activity though would continue until late evening as the days’ light was generous. Meanwhile the draw bridge slimmed and the woodland horizon was gently marked and lit, viewing benches constructed, expanding and readjusting its thickness. The Roof House, once unearthed, reached usable status as the third bay was constructed and the kilns of Marc 1, 2 & 3 drew breath from deep in the earth on their red clay mound. The linear garden was measured and plowed with a borrowed plow from a generous neighbour of Stučiū hamlet, brought to life to rake the thick horizon-tal line. The intensity of project development, the keen spirit of continued iterative efforts: sketch, draw, remake, cook and recook, carve and peel, burrow and shovel was verbally charged. Attracted and distracted with the projects occuring, meandering to others to witness, debate, quip, and lend a hand, observe and offers of commentary endless. Each project is settling at the Ranch with a ‘see what happens’ over time longing. Humour and political debate seemed the subjects of usual days between the making and the cooking of this landscape while investing in architectural gestures in a spatial field.
ISBN Softcover: 9780464773825