My name is Ajmir. I am 66% of my way through my degree in architecture. I focus my energy into understanding drawing, and often my projects are derailed and become purely theoretic, or centered around process. My last project, from which the J Hazen cover was designed by O!D, was an exploration into the value of the line on a drawing and its relation to the space it represents. It was entitled ‘Ontology, Space and the Architectural Drawing’. I toyed with the idea of ‘absolute negative space’, a concept derived from the artistic notion of negative space. The disparity between space on a drawing and space behind an architectural drawing lead me to explore this field through various drawing techniques. I explored the architectural and ontological term ‘spatiality’ through the two dimensional drawing, with the eventual outcome of extruding the process into a three-dimensional entity. Below are some excerpts from an accompanying essay written during the project’s course:

“The predicament of spatial representation and, more importantly, the architectural drawing, lies in the problem of distinction. The line is the principle point of discussion in the ontology of architecture because it is the succinct manifestation of architectural idea. It can relate to diagrammatic representation, three-dimensional computer representation, representation in the form of a model and so on. But a line drawn on a surface is termed as succinct because it discusses the ontology architecture through the formation and expression of distinction, substance and boundary conditions viewing space as territory unoccupied, uninhabited and metaphysical. An architectural drawing corroborates the intent of a drawing with the will of an architect through the use of lines, marks or any available inflection of drawing technique. This will, as described by Schopenhauer, constructed from the relationship between representation and Kant’s ‘thing-in-itself’ (noumenon), is analogised as the relationship between human will and human body. It is a phenomenon of consciousness, of course, and is experienced equally by all consciousness as a single Will. Inner experience is a manifestation of this in the noumenal realm, which is present somewhere about every being. Schopenhauer’s will manifests itself in ontology as the fundamental nature of the universe and everything in it, and commands the initial gestative stages between the architect and architectural drawings.“

“Spatiality references this three-stage relationship of thought, thinking and reality in an architectural drawing - thought and thinking are two distinct entities, and reality is their poetic embodiment. References that relate to universal entities or objects that are understood through attributes and connotations of these entities or objects will try to assert and fuel the discussion of space in a drawing. The references to other ‘somethings’ such as objects, attributes to objects, metaphors relating to objects, all aid the communication of an architectural creation. Distinction implies that thinking and thought share the same reference field, but are different as ontological entities, separation of context of thought and reality implies they exist in different fields of ontology. This, as discussed previously in the relationship between mind and matter, express simultaneously the properties of an architectural drawing. The notion of absolute negative space arises from the inability to describe unoccupied territory as a distinct architectural space because of the lack of context - it is a separate space belonging to a different ontological field of reference. Absolute negative space describes that which is not referenced in architectural depiction of a particular architecture due to the nature of the relationship between ontology and space. Regions in an architectural drawing that have not been tackled fully by considering the substances and their spatiality in relation to distinct entities of an architecture, and the organisation of mind – matter against the differences in fields of reference all fall into this category, particularly when and if there is no direct point of reference to matter or composition and non-presence are further explored in the series ‘Wounds 1-7’. Therefore the exploration of distinct entities in an architectural drawing examines the differences between inhabited and uninhabited territories that share fields of references relating to overlapping ontological stances.

The series of ‘Wound’ drawings attempt to discuss purely the notion of absolute negative space. The drawings in the series ‘Wound’ were conducted in quick succession using water drawn on paper, with the boundary between wet and dry marked with the squeezing of a pipette full of a mixture of Indian ink and scented Chinese calligraphy ink. The drawings are in only two dimensions, and discuss the boundary of objects in three dimensional space analysed and reduced by the eye into pure distinctions between ‘something’ and ‘something else’. The irrelevance of perspectival focus on the depiction of object is an outcome of this pure distinction between objects sharing the same ontological reference field. In analysing the purity of distinction of objects through the use of ink, the idea of difference of fields between objects conveys their qualities in depiction. The objects portrayed are different objects, however in depicting them in the same fashion show they share the same notion of ‘field’. The absolute negative space (in this instance captured by the slit) is the central wound left untouched by paint or pipette. This is the differentiation between unoccupied territory and inhabited/uninhabited space and their portrayal as separate entities in the same drawing. When thinking of this image diagrammatically, the absolute negative space is a region that is not possible to discuss on two planes, or perhaps in only the realm of metaphysics, and is left to assumption. That is, this space does not affect the quality or interrelation of composition, but still must be shown as a concern in the drawing. It must be shown because it gives the study of difference of fields a location in the sense that unmarked and space beyond is relevant, but not necessary for consideration in depicting objects. Overlaid are lines drawn by pen anchored four points relating to the quadrate, and the preoccupation of the architectural drawing to move towards the Cartesian notion of drawing. There are also three nodes drawn in absolute negative space, which are a means of discussing the objects’ meta-fields in connection with uncharted space. This can be analogised as the eye travelling over the drawing, and the concern for the way the eye travels over the drawing.”

My current project is a collaboratory project in association with the Mixed Reality Lab at the University of Nottingham and Cie Dorner (a team of performance artists) and involves an interaction of ambient acoustic elements to create sonic architectures that enter the realm of situation architecture and will be contained as part of an exhibition later on in the year in Nottingham, and possibly also Austria.

Ajmir Kandola
February 2007

IMAGES (click thumbnails to enlarge)

Image 1 – Wound.jpg
TITLE: Wound (2 of 7)
300mm X 210mm
Pen, Indian ink on cartridge paper




Image 2 – Montage (Untitled).jpg
TITLE: Montage (Untitled)
1200mm X 1300mm
Pencil, pen, Indian ink on special paper




Image 3 – Imaginary Pose (3).jpg
TITLE: Imaginary Pose (3)
300mm  X 210mm
Digitally Reworked Pencil Drawing




Image 4 – Photodraw 3A.jpg
TITLE: Photodraw 3A
300mm X 190mm
Pencil, Pen on Cartridge Paper Digitally Reworked










Images 5, 6 and 7 are called palimset 13, 18 and 19 respectively and are all digital format.