Filed under: ****GO*******, architecture, film & video, talk/ lecture, urbanism
Architecture on Film
In The Pit (En El Hoyo)
28 September 2009 6.30pm 
In The Pit (En El Hoyo)
Winner of Best International Documentary at the Sundance Film Festival, this intimate and affecting look at the construction crew behind Mexico City’s Periferico Freeway charts the social reality at the core of over 10 miles of soaring reinforced concrete. Through objectively compassionate portaits of a miscellaeny of characters such as the wolf-whistling El Voyeur and the brusquely realist El Grande, the film charts the coarse life and camaraderie of the workers involved in the creation of a huge slab of the city, both floating in the air and submerged in the pit. The private life of urban infrastructure envisioned through a uniquely personal take on direct cinema, full of humour and grace.
Mexico 2006, Dir Juan Carlos Rulfo, 84 min
Trailer:
This screening will be introduced by Gareth Jones, Senior Lecturer at the London School of Economics and an Associate Fellow at the Institute for the Study of the Americas.
Tickets
£7.50 online
(£9.50 full price)
AF Members
£6.50 online
(£7.50 full price)
Concessions £7.50
Telephone
020 7638 8891
(9am-8.00pm)
Venue
Filed under: ****GO*******, architecture, art, exhibition, ideas, performance, technology, temporary, urbanism
It’s back! Info from Artangel below..
Photo: Courtesy Corvi-Mora, London
SEIZURE, sculptor Roger Hiorns’s brilliant blue crystal cave within a low-rise modernist development re-opens this summer on a housing estate near the Elephant & Castle. Over the course of several weeks, Hiorns encouraged the total crystal takeover of a one bedroom council flat. Blue copper sulphate crystals have grown over every surface of the space – walls, ceilings, floor and bath – to create a strange and compelling new world. SEIZURE, Hiorns’ first major sculptural project in an urban site, has earned him a nomination for this year’s Turner Prize.
Thursday – Saturday 11am – 7pm
Sundays 11am – 5pm
Closed Monday – Wednesday
FREE ADMISSION
For further information see artangel.org.uk SEIZURE is commissioned by Artangel and the Jerwood Charitable Foundation
Filed under: ****GO*******, Barbican, architecture, exhibition, performance, temporary, urbanism
Went to the opening last night – well worth checking out!
Look out for Celine Condorelli & Alexandre Bettler’s contributions. More info from Barbican below.
Barbican Takes Radical Nature to Hackney
Part of Barbican Art Gallery’s current exhibition Radical Nature – Art and Architecture for a Changing Planet 1969–2009, the experimental architectural collective EXYZT has created The Dalston Mill, turning a disused railway line and waste ground in Dalston into a vibrant rural retreat for the people of the area and beyond.
The fully-functioning, 16 metre mill is accompanied by a 20 metre long wheat field, a restaging of environmental artist Agnes Denes’ original 1982 pioneering piece.
Come and participate in one of the events or workshops, from theatre performances and bread-making to pedal-powered music and tea-time talks with artists.
DALSTON MILL EVENTS
Events are free and open to all unless otherwise stated
Capacity is limited to 20– 30, on a first come basis
Thu 16–Sat 18 July / 7pm and 8pm
Arcola Academy present: Kontakt
A series of one to one performances between 12 young actors and 12 audience members, Kontakt presents a unique opportunity to have an encounter with someone you’ve never met before and will never meet again. Tickets £5 available from the Arcola Theatre box office on 020 7503 1646.
Sat 18 July / 3pm
The Dalston Slice – Bread Currency
Come along and bake local currency made of bread, which you can spend only in a small selection of local restaurants, cafes, cinemas and theatres in Dalston. Join artisan baker Dan Lepard and the Collaborator’s Guide collective for this unique local event.
Free
Sun 19–Fri 24 July / 3–8pm
Dalton Talking
A series of Urban Psychoanalysis sessions, using a Talking Mill, by the emergency urban psychoanalysis commando unit, UPIA. This investigation into the urban unconscious of Dalston will be the first step in an extensive analysis of the city of London.
Free
Sun 19 July / 3–4.30pm
Feral Trade Tea Service
A talk and tea afternoon with Kate Rich featuring delights such as hand-traded tea from Bangladesh and sweets from Montenegro, accompanied by a travel report tracking these products from their source.
Free
Sun 19 July / 5–10pm
Magnificent Revolution
Pedal-powered music performance by Barbora Patkova. Bring your own iPod to eco-share your favourite tunes.
Free
Mon 20 July / 7pm
Elioth + Encore Heureux
Presentation by the Paris-based engineers and architectural collective who devised Wind-it, a project in which vertical wind generators are used in place of large horizontal windmills. Wind-it presents two solutions: either grafting the generators on to the electrical network or setting up new electricity pylons integrated with a renewable production unit.
Free
Thu 23 July / 2–5pm
Gahu Dramatic Arts
Dalston-based artists, Gahu, in association with the Trinity Centre Summer School and Tenants of the nearby Rhodes Estate, will use the Dalston Mill to create delicious African dishes followed by performances of African dancing, drumming, acrobatics and fire eating.
Free
Fri 24 July / 9pm
Dalton Talking presentation
A lecture about London’s unconscious based on the results of recent sessions at The Dalston Mill by UPIA, the emergency urban psychoanalysis commando unit.
Free
Tue 28–Thu 30 July and Mon 3–Wed 5 August / 2–5pm
Hackney Young Carers workshop
A series of creative workshops and events with members of Hackney Young Carers investigating issues surrounding sustainability, the natural world and the Radical Nature exhibition at Barbican Art Gallery. The event is closed to the general public.
Sat 1 August / 3pm
Full Dinner Design
Participants in this workshop by Alexandre Bettler (www.aalex.info) will be able to design everything from the cutlery to the baking trays which will then be used at a dinner cooked and served that evening.
Free
Sun 2 August / 3–5pm
Cake Decorating workshop
Jagdish Patel from the shop ‘Party Party’ on Ridley Road will lead a cake decoration masterclass. Participants need to bring their own cake.
Free
Sun 2 August / 6.30pm
EXYZT in Conversation
Nicolas Henninger (EXYZT) and architect/artist Celine Condorelli will discuss ‘pirate architecture’ as the practice of occupying a site, and how the inhabitation of space is a response to existing conditions.
Free
Thu 6 August / 5pm
muf architecture/art
Value what’s there, nurture the possible, define what’s missing. What is the role of public space in Dalston’s cultural life? An evening of celebration and debate.
Free
The Dalston Mill
Entrance by the Peace Mural on Dalston Lane, between Ashwin Street and Hartwell Street, E8
Bus: 30, 38, 56, 67, 76, 149, 236, 242, 243, 277
Rail: Dalston Kingsland
See some of EXYZT’s visuals on Flickr here
If you cant make it to the Radical Nature exhibition before 19th October you can see some of the exhibition in the video below:
See news from ICA below:
The ICA is now Free
From September 1, entry to our galleries and Bar Café before 11pm is free to the public.
The ICA is delighted to announce that from 1 September 2008 it will no longer be charging a day admission charge. You can now access a wide range of innovative arts, ideas and culture on the Mall for free.
This change to admission policy extends to all exhibitions and the ICA Bar Café before 11pm but not to ticketed events in the cinemas, theatre and Nash and Brandon Rooms. It has been made possible through the continued and generous support of ICA Members and Westminster Council. As we move into our 61st year we are taking an inclusive and embracing direction to bring together new artists and new audiences.
The first exhibition to benefit from this significant and historic step, is the ICA Auction Exhibition, a finale to the ICA’s 60th anniversary celebrations showcasing works generously donated from 36 of the most important and influential artists from the ICA’s history.
Other unmissable free highlights from the ICA’s September programme include Nobel Textiles, a brilliant week of exhibitions and events where five Nobel-winning scientists have been paired with five textile designers to extraordinary effect.
And with no entry charge until 11pm each evening, everyone is free to indulge in café culture with attractive food and cocktail menus at the ICA Bar Café, a stylish haven in the bustle of central London.
Going free: FAQ
Why Now?
Before 2008, because of our location on the Mall, we were bound to a complex licensing agreement which meant that we had to charge a day admission fee. Following the recent changes to licensing laws, the authority for the licence was transferred to Westminster City Council and the ICA is extremely grateful that they have now granted us permission to vary the terms of our license so that admission charge now only applies after 11pm.
What does this mean for visitors?
This means that all visitors have free entrance to all public spaces of the ICA including unlimited access to exhibitions and the café/bar area before 11pm. Admission charges only apply to ticketed events in the cinemas, theatre and Nash and Brandon Rooms.
What does this mean for members?
In addition to receiving the usual benefits including advance notice of events via e-mails, advance bulletin delivery to door, priority and discount booking on tickets and in the bookshop, free entrance at all times, private views and other special events, ICA members will now receive the additional benefit of a 10% discount at the ICA Bar Café as a special thank you for supporting us.
How can you afford to go free?
Our Members, funders and sponsors, including Westminster Council and Arts Council England have generously supported us in taking this step.
Don’t miss the World Press Photo Awards 2008 exhibition tour – details here. Well worth a look, the exhibition showcases incredible work from photojournalists around the globe. The complete collection is also available to view online at the World Press Photo Awards 2008 online gallery.
1st prize Contemporary Issues Stories, Jean Revillard
Makeshift immigrant hut in Calais, France, taken by Swiss photographer Jean Revillard for Rezo.ch
See press release below for more info..
PSYCHO BUILDINGS
28 May – 25 August 2008
The Hayward
As the highlight of the Hayward’s 40th anniversary season,
ten artists from around the world will transform the entire
gallery in PSYCHO BUILDINGS, running from 28 May –
25 August 2008.
The Hayward’s huge spaces will be filled with artist-designed architectural environments, which will spill onto the three outdoor sculpture terraces, radically altering the interior and exterior of the gallery. Inside a village made from over 200 dollhouses and a room frozen in a moment of explosive disaster are amongst the installations that will both enchant and disconcert visitors. Outside on the Gallery’s sculpture terraces, installations including a huge iridescent observatory and a working cinema will alter the exterior face of The Hayward. Visible from the surrounding area and across the Thames and illuminated by night, they add a significant public dimension to this major exhibition.
The ten artists are: Atelier Bow-Wow (Japan), Michael Beutler (Germany), Los Carpinteros (Cuba), Gelitin (Austria), Mike Nelson (UK), Ernesto Neto (Brazil), Tobias Putrih (Slovenia), Tomas Saraceno (Argentina), Do-Ho Suh (Korea), Rachel Whiteread (UK).
Borrowing its title from a book by the artist Martin Kippenberger, the exhibition brings together the work of artists who create habitat-like structures and architectural spaces that are mental and perceptual spaces as much as physical ones. The exhibition invites visitors to immerse themselves in a series of ten atmospheric, enthralling and unsettling installations. Combining architectural and artistic design with the use of light, colour and smell to trigger responses, these dynamic constructions actively encourage viewers to become adventurous participants. The scale and ambition of the exhibition means many of the artists will be working in the gallery for over a month in order to realise their installations.
Ralph Rugoff, Director of The Hayward and curator of exhibition “This ambitious exhibition takes the unique architecture of The Hayward as its starting point. The Gallery’s ‘brutalist’ concrete exterior and the sculptural quality of its spaces have always proved an inspiration for artists. The extraordinary international artistic response to Psycho Buildings shows just how challenging, exciting and playful the The Hayward can be. It is a fitting way to celebrate our 40th birthday.”
Brazilian artist, Ernesto Neto will create a spatial and sensory labyrinth for visitors to explore. A ceiling of transparent fabric will divide the gallery space into two halves, linked by several openings. By climbing up ladders to elevated viewing platforms, visitors can scan the floating landscape of the upper level and also view the lower level from a different perspective, as if through a layer of translucent skin.
Two artists, Marco Castillo and Dagoberto Rodriguez, form the Havana-based collective Los Carpinteros (The Carpenters). They are reworking their sculptural installation Frozen Study of a Disaster especially for the exhibition. The sculpture depicts the suspended moment of an explosion ripping through a series of rooms filled with furniture.
Mike Nelson is recreating his little seen installation To the memory of H. P. Lovecraft (1999), which transforms the gallery into a scene of utter rabid devastation, as if an unseen beast had freed himself from the space by violently clawing through the walls.
Slovenian artist Tobias Putrih will present Venetian, Atmospheric (2007), a beautifully created sculpture which is also a working cinema. Designed with curved wooden walls and a ceiling onto which twinkling stars and moving clouds are projected, Venetian, Atmospheric will place the spectator in an ever-changing environment. Situated on the sculpture terrace facing Waterloo Bridge, Putrih’s structure will show a specially-curated programme of films about artists and architecture.
Outside on another of the gallery’s sculpture terraces, the Argentinean artist, Tomas Saraceno will install a large shimmering air-supported observatory made of translucent, iridescent fabric. While completely transforming the facade of The Hayward, his domed sculpture will also provide an immersive experience for visitors who, upon entering the sculpture terrace, will be surrounded by an environment in which to observe the sky.
Korean-born artist Do-Ho Suh will present a major new sculpture, Fallen Star (2008), which features 1:5 scale model of the artist’s childhood home in Korea colliding into the New England apartment where he lived as an art student. He will also recreate Staircase (2004), a ghostly evocation of an apartment staircase that the artist fashioned from vibrant red semi-translucent fabric.
Rachel Whiteread’s will present a new, larger version of her acclaimed installation ‘Village’, which has never been shown in the UK. It brings together more than 200 dollhouses that the artist has collected over the past 20 years and is a radical departure from previous work. The dollhouses are arranged in rows as on a hillside, and each is illuminated by a single light bulb, creating an eerily atmospheric scene of a neglected village.
Atelier Bow-Wow, Michael Beutler, and the artists’ collective Gelitin will be creating major new installations for the exhibition.
The exhibition is curated by Ralph Rugoff, Director of The Hayward, in collaboration with the artists. The exhibition will be accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue produced by Hayward Publishing.
The exhibition is supported by Outset Contemporary Art Fund.
Psycho Buildings opens on 28 May and runs until 25 August 2008.
The Hayward, Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London, SE1 8XZ
southbankcentre.co.uk/visual-arts
Information and tickets: 0871 663 2519
Opening hours for The Hayward:
Open daily 10am-6pm, late night opening Fridays until 10pm.
Filed under: ****GO*******, design, exhibition, ideas, urbanism, wanted to go but didn't.. (or couldn't!)
Torino 10122
A project and competition, Torino Geodesign is first and foremost an idea which defines an extraordinarily large and productive field of action: self-determined design, produced in limited series by communities inside huge globalised metropolises.
Design arising from a community of users organising restricted mass production to rapidly meet specific sorts of limited demand destined for instantaneous diffusion.
Vital, energetic and deeply experimental design, produced using poor materials and technology deriving from informal economies, and often full of symbolic content.
Highly creative design, which moves beyond the restrictive boundaries of international luxury production and meets precise needs linked to immediate survival or to lifestyles under constant change.
The project Torino Geodesign revolves around the collaboration between 40 communities in the area and a similar number of international designers and Italian companies.
Focusing attention on people instead of objects, Torino Geodesign aims to trigger off new forms of business enterprise in various local communities by setting up an intricate network of relations in which there is a blurring of the distinctions between customers and users, manufacturers and beneficiaries of design. In a dynamic system, a far cry from the idea of free aid or support, the designer becomes the catalyst of all kinds of experiments and reactions deriving from new forms of interaction.
The challenge behind this complex mechanism, where the traditional division of roles between the commissioning client, the designer and the consumer are tested, subverted and recomposed, is of an obviously political and social nature. The project aims in fact to seek out new energy for the world of design and new models for the relationship between city dwellers and city administration based on activating collective energy.
The designers, artists and architects, chosen through an international idea-seeking competition, work together with the communities in a series of design workshops on varying themes identified through a flexible, experimental process (magazines, packaging, brand images, objects for large-scale production such as clothes horses for council housing, the reorganisation of public areas).
The prototypes – together with sketches, designs, film and photos of the entire process – flow into a major show, the evidence of a new systematic way of organising design.
OPENING HOURS:
Sunday – Wednesday 10-19
Thursday – Saturday 10-23
free entry
Filed under: ****GO*******, art, exhibition, film & video, photography, urbanism
Post-it City. Occasional urbanities exhibition at CCCB (Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona) until 25th May.
Image: Artificial Arcadia. Bas Princen
‘The Post-it City. Occasional urbanities concept designates different forms of the temporary occupations of public space, be they of a commercial, leisure, sexual or any other kind, that share the common feature of barely leaving a trace and of self-managing their appearance and disappearance.
By using the idea of Post-it City as the crux of this investigation we are trying to underline considerations of two kinds: the political potential the idea in itself has, and its methodological effectiveness for studying very disparate social and urban contexts.
Post-it City phenomena emphasise the reality of the urban territory as the place where distinctive uses and situations legitimately overlap, in opposition to the growing pressures to homogenise public space. In contrast to the ideals of the city as a place of consensus and consumption, temporary occupations of space reaffirm use value, reveal different needs and lacks that affect given collectives, and even promote creativity and the subjective imagination. Behind the reality of Post-it City, the metropolis reappears as a territory traversed by numerous dynamics and processes, but also by numerous subjects with a genuine political dimension thanks to the imaginative strategies of survival of their licit actions?intrusive and parasiticalones that often involve recycling.
From another standpoint, the temporary activities that contaminate public space with numerous para-architectural artefacts enable reflection on urban experience to redirect its attention towards the minuscule, thus correcting the arrogance of traditional architecture.’
Filed under: ****GO*******, architecture, art, book/ magazine, design, exhibition, symposium, talk/ lecture, urbanism
Conrad Shawcross
Space Trumpet, 2005
Birch ply, copper brackets, rivets washers , varnish
8.5 m x 5m x 5m
from: http://www.bartlett.ucl.ac.uk/architecture/events/lectures/lectures.htm
6.30pm Wednesday 16 January 2008
Darwin Lecture Theatre, UCL
Gower Street
London WC1
CONRAD SHAWCROSS
Selected for the annual New Contemporaries show while barely out of college, Conrad Shawcross is in the vanguard of British art. His sculptures are Heath Robinson machines, large, complex structures that fuse science with art. With his early work snapped up by the Saatchi Gallery, international shows and public commissions are lining up well into the future.
Often using subjects which lie on the border of science and philosophy, Conrad Shawcross’s structural and often mechanical sculptures, question empirical, ontological and philosophical systems ubiquitious within our lives. While at first appearing rational and functional, his often complex mechanised systems in the end deny all rational function and so the viewer is forced down philosophical and metaphysical avenues to deduce a ‘rasion d’etre’. From early works such as The Nervous System, 2002 – a monumental spinning machine that endlessly weaves a length of coloured rope into the form of a double helix, the shape of DNA – to his recent giant spiral work Continuum, 2004, the artist has attempted to visualize, among other things, the incomprehensible of human concerns, time.
Conrad Shawcross
Binary Star, 2006
mixed media
dimensions variable
