Vernacular Environments, Part 1
Clarissa Tossin, Monument to Sacolândia, 2010
Single channel HD video, cement bag architectural model, postcards
The presidential palace, Palácio da Alvorada, was the first Oscar Niemeyer building built in Brasília, Brazil's planned capital. A workers’ camp near the palace had shacks constructed from leftover cement bags, which earned the settlement its name: Sacolândia or Bagland. Located on terrain designated for an artificial lake named Paranoá, the camp was flooded in 1959 and its population relocated to the outskirts of the planned city. For Monument to Sacolândia, a cement-bag model of the palace, sitting atop a raft, was released on the Paranoá lake with the palace's gardens as backdrop. In addition, postcards detailing Sacolândia's fate were inserted into postcard stands in Brasilia.
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John Mason, Hudson River Series, 1978
Graphite on vellum, 18 x 24 in. (45.7 x 61 cm)
In 1978, John Mason made drawings and “Brick Modules” relating directly to a series of ten firebrick sculptures that were exhibited across multiple venues. These institutions included: The Hudson River Museum, Des Moines Art Center, Corcoran Gallery of Art, The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and University Art Museum, and The University of Texas. The drawings were published in the accompanying catalog and reflect the systematic and rational approach to his environmental works that were installed at two-week intervals over a period of three months. Like the drawings, the Brick Modules were used to develop and reflect the concepts for each installation.
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Alex Schweder, Architectural Advice for Performative Renovations by SOAP (Schweder Office of Architectural Performances), Ongoing performances since 2009
Alex Schweder has been performing SOAP (Schweder Office of Architectural Performances) since 2009, resulting in over 70 unique performances and/or photographic documentation. Schweder meets with participants to work collaboratively to design performances that, when enacted at home, change the ways that occupants perceive their spaces. Often, physical alterations or expansions of the home are not possible due to factors such as costs, leases, and zoning. Moreover, conventional renovations do not address the psychological and relational issues that make people think they want to change the physicality of their spaces. Observing this, Alex Schweder has invented a new type of creative practice he calls “Performance Architecture” wherein he works with everyday domestic actions to transform the ways spaces are used. Each new use of the space is an artwork, bridging the disciplines of architecture and performance art.
On June 24th, a limited number of sessions will be available at Edward Cella Art & Architecture. Initial conversations are free, but can be taken further to commission a unique, instructional painted photograph which depicts Schweder in situ, dressed as the participant. Please contact the gallery for reservations.
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MICA-TV, CASCADE/Vertical Landscapes, 1988
Video
Collaborating with artists Dike Blair, Dan Graham, and musician/composer Christian Marclay, MICA-TV crafts an ironic ode to the urban and suburban architecture of the contemporary American cultural landscape. Visually breathtaking, CASCADE/Vertical Landscapes is constructed as a continuous parade of vertical camera movements and image layering. Integrating the humor and specific visual and aural deconstructions of their collaborators, MICA-TV borrows “found” sound and images from pop culture to trigger associations and memories. Consumer products and junk food fall like pop cultural debris through a vertical corridor of postwar cathedrals—shopping malls and urban arcades. Structured as a continuous flow of verticality, seamlessly edited and scored, this witty display both critiques and celebrates the contemporary American landscape as inscribed upon the collective unconscious. Producers/Directors: Carole Ann Klonarides, Michael Owen in collaboration with Dike Blair, Dan Graham. Music: Christian Marclay. Executive/Creative Consultant: Peter Caesar. Editor: Peter Eggers. A co-production with U.K.’s Channel 4, for the series “Ghosts in the Machine.”
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