'When the peaks of our sky come together, my house will have a roof.' Paul Eluard.
architect/urbanist/artist/painter Daniele Cesari (1983, Ferrara, Italy) tries to capture what is unseen – but nevertheless experienced or imagined – within a city and its architecture. The result is a fascinating image of the energy of hidden phenomena; whether the streets are deserted or crowded…..
Alito e Vento
recently published: the Metabody Journal of Metacultural Critique, nr. 1. the Metabody project is an EU-supported project and will last 5 years, i.e. from 2013-2018. It covers various disciplines : music, dance, architecture, media, etc.; but above all “the context of the project is an unprecedented control society, with the onset of Big Data as new economy that aims to reduce all reality to traceable data” .(p.4) TU-Delft’s Hyperbody Lab represents the Architecture section. The Journal, accompanied by a dvd with works, prototypes and subprojects is available via the website.
After his first smog-project in Being, artist/designer Daan Roosegaarde – based in Rotterdam – now focuses on his own city. Supported by a crowd-funding action he plans and designed a 7 meter Smog-Free Tower in Rotterdam, to be completed in September 2015. After being presented in Rotterdam the tower will travel to other countries. Participants/partners that donate at least € 50,- receive an object containing the dust taken from the air; for € 250,- you can wear it as a ring: techno poetry………….. Let’s hope the tower will remain and/or others will follow……
Until August 2nd. this year nobody should miss the beautiful exhibition in Munich’s Haus der Kunst of Louise Bourgeois’ ‘Cells, Structures of Existence‘ , a series of intimate spaces created in a decade between 1998 and 2008, just 2 years before her death in 2010. The `Cells’ represent the remembrance of her life and – in particular – childhood. They show a remarkable ability to transfer memories and events
into spheres recognizable for many; with simple materials – in particular doors rescued from e.g. her studio – the small spaces become a reference to often lost experiences.
Yesterday, Sunday March 16th. an interesting exhibition was opened at RAM-Galeries in Rotterdam. Works of Luc Deleu (TOP-Office), Kas Oosterhuis (ONL/Hyperbody), Tomasz Jaskiewicz and others illustrate the possibilties for an adaptable and ‘interactive’ architecture; an architecture as interface. Especially revealing is the fact that part of Deleu’ work was already actual 20 years ago and is maybe more relevant today. the same evening the ‘Canvas Connection‘ showed Deleu’s work and personal choices on tv.
Last Nov. 7, 8 and 9th. in Namur /Belgium, the KIKK-festival was held, subtitled the Next Utopia. On the 7th. lectures/presentations by e.g. Paolo Cirio, Evan Roth, Usman Haque. Some others to my taste a bit off course regarding the theme; nevertheless again fine examples of ‘what will be the dreams of tomorrow?’
Friday 25th.October, the New Institute Rotterdam; a 3-hour seminar by artist Stelarc and philosopher Henk Oosterling as part of the exhibition Biodesign. Despite several attemps by Oosterling to try to get past the issues of art as such the whole afternoon remained somewhat one-sided. Connecting technological developments to art while some of them have possibilities in society is declaring art as individual statement – no problem there – while disregarding its enhancive options in society. But fascinating it was: growing an ear on one’s arm.
To me, one of the most impressive works on the Biennale Venice 2013 is/was the short film by Neil Beloufa; Kempinski. A 14-minute film shot in Mali in which the imagination plays an important role. “the buildings are in light form, there are no settled doors in it. So, we enter where we want. we go out when we want and how we want“. (As far as I know this film is not distributed yet.)
Saturday, May 18th. at Korzo Theatre the Hague: two ‘disturbing’ fine lectures by Warren Neidich and Joe Davis, both moderated by filmmaker/visual artist/witer Frank Theys. Both focused on the hybrid forms between art, technology and science, providing disruptive examples of the boundary between the known and the uncharted, Organisation: Artscience
Chris Salter referring to Arakawa&Gins Reversible Destiny-project during a discussion on Displace 2.0:
“the general concept was that as we get older, we tend to lose sensory acuity – we lose our sense of smell, of taste, of tactile feeling. By designing architecture that would literally confuse the body, distort the same perceptual habits that you get used to day after day, one might prevent death – not literally, but metaphorically in the sense that death is really about falling into the blandness and lifelessness of routine.”
His project was presented at Todaysart Festival in 2012, theme this year was “the search and the loving for the undiscovered”. Let’s proceed………………..