Sent
"In the time that has elapsed since Sent began, the world has changed and these questions have grown in urgency and relevance - with each postcard imbued with the potential to catalyse many future projects.Yet this box of ideas is itself a project that is fascinating in how it blurs the digital with the physical, reflects our contemporary condition, and connects us to friends, strangers and, above all, ourselves."
- Manijeh Verghese
Co-curator, British Pavilion at the Venice Biennale 2021, Head of Public Engagement at the AA, London Mayor’s Design Advocate
Also available at:
- BTWN LNS, Sydney, AU
- Australian Design Centre, Sydney, AU
- Kinokuniya, Sydney, AU
- Bookshop by URO, Melbourne, AU
- Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane, AU
- Architecture Association Bookshop, London, UK
Sent (2019-2021) is the collection of 100 ideas about space. From Sydney (Gadi), founding editor Sophie Lanigan collected 100 ideas from contributors from various places around the world, from different viewpoints and perspectives, from within the architectural and design community and beyond it.
Each idea was sent as a postcard - first digitally on Instagram and now in printed media. Beyond any critical or poetic position - Sent is about a community brought together through the spirit of generosity and kindness. Sent has the privilege of one hundred views from the extreme present, first posted digitally and now on paper. The three-dimensional thinking in each idea locates and articulates an experience of the world with more precision and care. In addition to time and space, contributors reflected on the environment or access or affordability or dreams or any other way of understanding that was important to them. The strict format of the project, a textual and visually economical postcard, made big ideas accessible and gives small ideas a platform.
Once all 100 ideas were collected, the ethos of Sent was appropriated into pedagogy for the Architectural Association Summer School 2021. Sophie Lanigan and Anna Tonkin lead Unit 7 - With Love, - which sought to approach the world with an attitude of care and inclusion, understanding the built environment as a medium for post-pandemic healing. Like Sent, With Love, placed equal emphasis on writing and drawing. The unit operated as a place to experiment with how to communicate the quality of space with love.
With the conclusion of Summer School, the material from the project was brought together into this little box, designed by Ben Hutchings. Sent the publication launched with an exhibition at Abstract Thoughts Gallery on Oxford Street, Sydney on 3 December 2021 -two years after this project began.
Sent is a true collaborative project and includes so many wonderful people who have generously shared their way of seeing and skills with the project - it is evidence of the power of collective work, sharing and care. In addition to sharing various ways of thinking about space, Sent created a space for ideas to be disseminated, whether digitally, through education, or in printed media. The final postcard in this box has been left blank and we invite you, the reader, to keep the project alive and send that final postcard from a special place or your point of view, with love.
Sent has been part of the following exhibitions:
Solo:
Abstract Thoughts Gallery - 12/21
Group:
Mori, Lewisham, 06/22
Semi-Permanent Art Book Fair, Carriageworks 05/22
Melbourne Art Book Fair, NGV 03/22
Australian Design Centre 02/22 - 03/22
Australian Centre of Contemporary Art 12/21 - 03/22
New Generations Festival, Rome and Florence 06/21 - 09/21
Sent Contributors
Alice McCosker
Alicia Pozniak
Alisha Lee
Alyin Gürel
Amelyn Ng
Andrew Copolov
Andrew Perich
Andrew Toland
Angela Pattison
Anna Ewald-Rice
Anna Tonkin
Anthony Hodgkinson
Baracco + Wright Architects
Belinda Smole
Ben MacIntosh
Benjamin Jay Shand
Benton Ching
Blake William Jürmann
Bridget Nathan
Brooke Lazarus
Callum Craigie
Calvin Po
Cave Urban
Chanelle Collier
Charlotte Malterre-Barthes
Chloe Henry-Jones
Christine Bjerke
Clement Luk Laurencio
Cream Projects
Dana Barale
Dani Meyerowitz
Daniel A. Barber
David Flook
Diana Reid
Edward James Luther Clarke
Eleanor Lyons
Eleanor Peres
Eliza Gosse
Emily Malek
Emily Priest
Eric Ye
Estudio Jochamowitz Rivera
Finding Infinity & Ash Keating Studio
F.O.A.M.
Formafantasma
Gabriella Boyd
Georgia Beaumont
Georgia Saxelby
Giselle Stanborough
Gracie Grew
Haley Violet Ball
Helen Lochhead
Hélène Frichot
Henry Chase Richards
Honey Long
Ira Ferris
Isobel Lord
Jack Gillmer
Jackson Birrell
Jake Starr
James Dolton
Janelle Woo
Jeffrey Phillips
Jess Scully
Joe Wilson
John Wardle Architects
Kimberley Hui
Laura Jade
Lee Stickells
Leslie Marsh
Liam Young
Lucas Volfneuk
Manijeh Verghese
Marni Reti
Martha Swift
Mary-Grace Brunker
Mason Kimber
Matthew Aylmer
Max Volfneuk
Michael Mossman
Miriam Osburn
Molonglo
Nicholas Raap
Olivier Bellflamme
Oskar Johanson
Outside Development
Penelope Cain
Peter Andrews OAM
Prue Stent
Rebecca Faulkner
Rhiannon Brownbill
Richard Leplastrier
Roger Zogolovitch
Rory Hyde
Safa El Samad
Sam Woods
Second Edition
Studio Shu
Simon Robinson (OFFICE)
Sophie Hutchinson
Sophie Lanigan
Sophie Swift
Sophie Willison
Tane Andrews
Taylor Mitchell
Tiffany Liew
Tom Davidson McLeod
Tosin Bamidele
Vera van Maaren
Victoria King
Vladimir Fanshil
Zoe Elena Horn
Hardcover A6 Box
Limited Edition of 500
100 loose postcards with additional booklets and leaflets
125 x 172mm
ISBN: 978-0-6485032-3-1
Printed and made by hand in Australia
Founding Editor: Sophie Lanigan
Editor: Anna Tonkin
Co-Published with Post-Post-
Design: Ben Hutchings
I acknowledge and pay respect to the Gadigal People of the Eora Nation, on whose stolen land I live and work. I pay respect to past, present and future elders.