Thursday, September 27, 2007

ARCHITECTURE for ART


Exhibition spaces have always been an exciting opportunity to involve innovative architecture. Many of the world's most prominent structures are utilized or designed for the exhibition of art. There are situations where not only is the exhibition the destination but so is the space that it inhabits. Can the architecture overwhelm the contents? Should the structure become just the background to what is exhibited? How can the importance of the architecture not dominate the art itself? The building itself can become a destination. References have been made where the architecture is actually unfriendly to the art exhibited inside. Here some might say that the architecture has become more important than the use it was designed for, art exhibition. A local example of art in architecture is the Project4 Gallery at 903 U Street, NW, Washington, DC. A well executed example of incorporating modern design within a historic structure, the architecture of the gallery is very distinct. The obvious integration of the new into the old has given a certain vibrancy to the building. In this case, not only does the architecture itself create interest, but so does the contents within the space. The interior space itself is a good example of modern architecture, yet it becomes a background to the art itself. The architecture utilizes modern materials and open spaces, which have a relative transparency allowing the exhibited art to become the foreground. The modern and innovative architecture creates a dynamic experience for its specific funcition, the displaying and viewing of fine art. The most current exhibit, Landscape/Star Wars On Earth by Cedric Delsaux, is itself an example of a collision of two very distinct entities. The work montages decaying Parisian industrial and suburban landscapes with synthetic Star Wars situations. As the gallery's architecture and art work together to make a cohesive experience, the entities within the photographs intertwine to become a single cohesive subject, with one entity supporting the other.

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