Paper short abstract:

Through a series of art works responding to sites of enthusiast modelling, this paper explores processes of improvisation and emulation in the fabrication, display, dormancy and adaptation of models, considering the possible critical potential of the model re-activated beyond its original purpose.

Paper long abstract:

Modelling is a practice deeply connected to the formulation and communication of our dreams about the past and the future, generating tangible expressions of possibilities. As notions of the Future, and the arc of progress associated with Modernity arguably no longer hold, what now is the role of such practices? The context of amateur and enthusiast model making offers a distinct insight into personal interpretations, hopes and projections, in that the model is created primarily for the satisfaction of its maker.

What can be learned from a contemporary reading of such under-represented practices? How can a responsive art practice articulate the role of the model (as object) and the processes of modelling as spaces of knowledge production and critical potential?

A series of art works take existing models or sites of modelling as a starting point; from a participatory work in which engineers, academics, and the researchers parents interpret of instructions for an Egg shell made into a 'Working Model of Submarine' (source: Every Woman's Encyclopaedia, 1910) to audio visual works made during a residency at a Model Rail Enthusiasts Club. This paper reflects on insights generated through these works, exploring modes of activation present in the life-cycle of the model; processes of emulation, improvisation, fabrication, display, and re-activation are examined as means of knowledge generation or critique. Svetlana Boym's notion of the 'Off Modern' provides a particular point of orientation for considering the possible critical potential of the model re-activated beyond its original intended use, or audience.