Action (C4-11) – Maxim Laroussi
Maxim conceived a building in relation to how I work. This privilege has had its moments of crisis and we have marked our resolve in blood.

Wednesday, 1st April, 2009

‘Let it Bleed’
For many years I worked in a communal workshop in Dublin’s docklands, then spent several more working alone in two studios in Temple Bar. In September 2007 I asked Dominic Stevens for advice on building my own studio and he recommended I talk to Maxim. It was an interesting conversation from the start and we discovered a common reference point in James Turrell, an artist who works across the spheres of architecture and visual art. The opposition of containment and openness in Turrell became an early touchstone for what we wanted to achieve.

Imbued with optimism and armed with a clear plan we headed down the road to calamity and misadventure. The gap between an idea and its realisation is an interesting and difficult one and our mantra “every problem has a solution” has been tested many times. We discovered another shared reference point – a refusal to quit. The finished building will be the product of our hopes and anguish combined.

The final pour for the concrete structure was on the first of April 2009. We hardened ourselves against superstition by casting our blood within the fabric of the building; with this ‘action’ we made our own superstition and are now encoded within the structure. Preparations for our ritual included a visit to the Blood Donor Clinic to make a less symbolic offering.