Beyond Kennicott : perceptions of threshold, conceptions of distance

Abstract

Threshold: The thesis explores descriptions of threshold. Threshold is not an ordinary space. It relates to the here and the there and the understanding of distance. It is the phenomena of distance, no matter how close things may be. It is also the phenomena of closeness, no matter how distant things may be. It is a perceptual and conceptual understanding of distance in terms of the here and the there at a moment when they touch. It is active and cannot be neutral. -- Kennicott: Kennicott is in Alaska. It is a silent collection of abandoned mining structures between a wide glacier and a range of mountains. It has trails. One that comes from someplace far up the valley becomes a narrow road that cuts through its center. This road then leaves Kennicott. Exiting along the straight line of the abandoned railroad, it descends toward a town and the terminus of the glacier where it must end. A river stops the road. However, on the far side it begins again and for sixty bumpy miles it covers the remains of the old mining railroad until, at its end, it passes through the mountain and the Alaska highway system begins. -- Project: The project presents an inhabitation of Kennicott. The actors are the tourists who come to this place. Inhabitation reflects a relationships between their activities and the context. It requires acts of construction. The act of construction creates the here, a place for activity, and describes a relationship with the context; the there. Construction mediates between the here and the there.