Sand Helsel: X_Field

Sand Helsel is an artist and professor whose work has addressed the environments and communities of Australia and Taipei for the past 12 years. Helsel received her PhD from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology University (RMIT) in 2009 and is currently Professor Emeritus of Architecture and Urban Design at RMIT, and a prominent proponent of research-based ephemeral architectural practices in urban environments.

This archive documents Taipei Operations, part of the school’s “X_Field” (expanded field) program in urban studies. The project was directed by Sand Helsel with 35 students from the RMIT School of Architecture & Design and Tamkang University (Danjiang Da Xue) in Taipei. Also included is a precursor study of Land Art in the form of a three-volume postcard book, self-published in 1998. Helsel is a faculty member of the RMIT School of Architecture and Design, and a prominent proponent of research-based ephemeral architectural practices in urban environments.

According to Helsel, “The Asian city defies most conventional (western) urban analysis – identifiable structures and street patterns, or an easily traceable historical lineage – which often prompts generalist descriptions such as ‘dense’, ‘rapidly developing’, ‘chaotic’ and ‘ad hoc’. Taipei Operations provided an alternative model for examination, speculation, and projection, which was based upon an intimate connection to the material at hand, the city, as opposed to the imposition of a formalist overlay from above or afar.” This description was defined by Helsel as “not a language of hyperbolic qualifiers: extra-large or mega-Dutch; it is an opportunity to question our methods of engagement and provide an alternative to the master plan.”

The books and exhibition materials chart the observations and research of the students with all responses to the city considered equally valid. The mapping of their individual preoccupations, displayed on small individual panels, was considered “a type of forensic study in the search for clues that reveal hidden phenomena. The studies flip between small and large, from a personal reading to a universal understanding. A specificity of time and place is required in order to avoid generalization and simplification. Issues become identified, and patterns are revealed from within the system.”

• CAE1102: Richard Black: The Murray River and Tidal Garden Architecture The Richard Black Archive contains information related to X_Field, the name of an informal group of practitioners who work across the art and design disciplines. X_Field has organized a series of exhibition in Melbourne, Seoul, Beijing and Taipei.