David K. Ross

This exhibition of contemporary photography highlights construction sites as an ephemeral and often neglected stage in the documentation of the built environment. Curated by Reto Geiser, the installation at the Sonnenturm (solar observation tower) presents works by Tibor Bielicky, Stefano Graziani, Marianne Mueller, and David K. Ross to reflect the building site as a pivotal moment in architecture at the intersection between the invisible and the visible. The installation is on view through July 11, 2025 at Collegium Helveticum, Swiss Institute for Advanced Study, ETH Zurich, Schmelzbergstrasse 25, 8092 Zürich, Opening hours Mon–Fri, 12:30–16:30, admission is free.

As an architectural abbreviation, the mock-up is designed to be demolished and as such carries a definitive expiration date, one that usually coincides with the completion of the building it emulates; it is a monument to iteration and contingency. 🔗 Read more on profiler.world #profilerarchitecture

Archetypes, by David K. Ross, documents full-scale architectural mock-ups as they appear on construction sites and testing facilities worldwide. A form of proxy architecture, the mock-up is frequently comprised of disparate elements from a single building project. Windows, curtain wall systems, or material samples often find themselves brought together in an assemblage that bears more resemblance to public art installations than to architecture. Built to a scale of 1:1 and assembled to assist with particularly difficult construction details, the mock-up aids in the overall understanding of how a building’s components will appear or function. 🔗 Read more on profiler.world #profilerarchitecture

I originally posted this one year ago. I pulled the original (trolled by pro-russian wankers) and am reposting here today on this saddest of anniversaries. As we all know, the situation in the US and in Ukraine has worsened in many different, but alarming ways. Here’s hoping the US wakes up and that Ukraine holds up. #slavaukraini A thought experiment: 
 Q: What if, instead of invading Ukraine, russia had been able to violently and illegally occupy a similar area in contiguous America? A: An area equivalent to all states on, or near the US border with Canada would now be under foreign control. As in Ukraine, these US territories would include major cities, invaluable cultural assets, universities, transportation networks, industrial, tech, and financial centres, abundant natural resources and, of course, a sizeable proportion of the population. And if this had happened, three years after occupation, do you think anyone in the US would be saying: “You know what, we’re happy to bow to these demands. Of course trump knows what’s best for us. Let’s just settle. The russian federation can keep Idaho, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Dakota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin. No problem. 

Oh, and while you’re at it, help yourself to all of our natural resources, in perpetuity. “

Not more than two hours after the official end of Friday morning’s Air Alert, the good people of Lviv were back at their daily lives. Walking dogs, shopping, visiting churches, living. Latin Cathedral, Lviv, December 29, 2023.

Kleptographic. This week’s long post on Substack. Link in bio. “I have long had an impulse to turn other people’s photographs into “my” photographs. And why not? All the hard work is already done…”

Grey card Today’s post on Substack is about a card that is grey. Link in bio. “The most important thing to remember about using a grey card is to remember to use your grey card.”

November in Tartu This week’s long post on Substack. Link in bio. 
“Getting out bed has never been my favourite way to start the day.”

Museum of One Today on my Substack. Link in bio. “Should you wish to expand your collection of pith helmets, Napoleonic kitsch, implements of unknown function, or self-help literature authored by has-been daytime TV stars, and you happen to be anywhere in France between June and September, you are in luck, for this is the high season for les puces.”

Accident. Today’s Substack post: Images made by my iPhone, without my permission. “In the strictest sense [these images] are not so much accidents, as accidental.“ About The Received Image project: “A few images mined from my archive will be delivered directly to you on a thrice-weekly basis. No grand theme or pronouncements, simply images which I think you might like to find in your inbox — an appropriate gesture given the language of early photography. As Kaja Silverman has noted, before the 1880’s, the verb most commonly used to describe the act of making a photographic image was not to take, but to receive.” ⤴️ Link for The Received Image is in bio (Linktree)

Verona, April 2023 57 beds and counting. Thoughts and images on a life peripatetic. More via The Received Image. Link in bio