Lump House




The lump collector is fascinated by fragmented curved surfaces. “Anything, so long as it was an object of some kind, more or less round, perhaps with a dying flame deep sunk in its mass, anything-china, glass, amber, rock, marble-even the smooth oval egg of a prehistoric bird would do.” He dwells in the ambiguous forms of the lumps and constantly speculates on their origins…


*Quotes from Virginia Woolf’s Solid Objects






How were the lumps formed? This thought initiated a list of actions. Flexible materials were “stretched” around a rigid frame. Thin planes were “warped” as the paint was applied. Surfaces were “cupped” by inserting a wedge between the cuts. Lumps were “scooped” from a dense block. Thin strands were “draped” across an array of ridges.

When forces are applied from different directions, the surface creates a series of lumps, which initiates placemaking. Like the rims of sea glass, albeit fragmentary remain continuous.

The sea glass is the first object to be found by the collector while walking by the sea. The ambiguous edges are formed by the brushing of the waves. Situated on the shoreline, the architecture also became an artifact shaped by the sea. The waves gently brush against the mass, creating a subtle undulation in the mass. When approached from the land side, the architecture appears as a continuous surface. The structure is elevated to allow the passage of water during tidal changes. A path “pushes” into the surface, an invitation.

The space becomes more fragmentary upon entry. Surfaces were bent, stretched, scooped, and peeled to form spaces of inhabitation. The lump collector dwells between the fragmented moments of the surfaces and the continuous field of the mass.










copyright reserved Josh Ren 2022