Now when the theme of the forthcoming ANNUAL ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN SYMPOSIUM is announced and before I familiarize myself with the specifics, please allow me to indulge myself in some wild speculation on what HUMAN DESIGN in this context may mean. Human design as a topic for the design hospitality symposium must be addressing the issue – so far untouched upon – of designing a visitor to match the extraordinary concept of interiors. A human staying at design hotels can’t just be any Joe Blow, an average-outlook man or a typical-taste woman. The Blows gravitate to regular hotels. The Blows are fond of dwelling in the places that contribute to their unremarkable self-identity. In turn, regular hotels like accommodating The Blows – the greater their number, the better – who, through transactions, reproduce such insipid institutions as well as stylistic mediocrity on the global scale. That’s what it is about – the symposium. Not! But perhaps should be.

I was talking to many owners of small private design hotels last summer… They were not indifferent to this issue and would answer my question without much of head-scratching. How do you imagine your ideal visitor? From the point of view of design interiors, he or she has got to be a design human… a person embodying a peculiar idea – not just anonymous statistics. Cut.

And now a bit of reporting from the streets of NYC with the scenes that are not too distant from the subject of my wild speculation on HUMAN DESIGN.

This is not what you think – not exactly. This is not NYC LOVE PARADE 2008 that swept the city on Sunday, June 29th - or what was it? What you see is a less known – totally unknown to me until recently – NYC DRAG MARSH that took place two days prior to the main LOVE happening. Now when I read about the MARSH, it turns out to have a stand-alone mission infused with a separate wisdom. And there is a real structure behind the event. Two organizations serve as a backbone for the activities – with this marsh being one of them: Radical Faerie and Church Ladies. In some respects, they resemble religious cults (though non-authoritarian) with the goal to liberate what’s called Queer Consciousness (note the capitalization). It is achieved through affirmation of difference. This affirmation of difference is what distinguishes this particular group of individuals (members are internally referred to as Divines) from the LOVE PARADE crowds merging from time to time to celebrate common similarities across the sexual spectrum. Radicalism of the former group implies a belief in exclusive uniqueness of the members’ situation, being, culture and spirit. Quite obviously, they are not a bunch of regular dudes and chicks.

I leave you with this old tune for now - redesigned to sound new: A Doorway (The Tenth Stage Dub Mix).mp3

Jorg Heiser (right) and Brian Sholis of Artforum negotiate a new definition of art – or the lack thereof.

Given the global circumstances of the moment – the ongoing UEFA European Football Championship – I cannot afford to miss this one: BREAD AND SOCCER: IN THE ARENA OF ART, a new exhibition at Austrian Cultural Forum in New York. With the topic transcending the formalities of art and appealing to the range of interests outside the strictly aesthetic circles, as if in anticipation of attention from sport enthusiasts unfamiliar with contemporary art theories, the exhibition I am an eager witness to is preceded in time and space by a presentation of a new book and a discussion concerning the eternally recurring question “what is art?”.

We know all too well what “soccer” is. In case you come from Mars, wake me up at night and I will have no trouble delineating it for you: It is a distinct set of rules applicable to a group of 11 persons in a limited (but rather generously so) space confronting another group of equal membership with an inflatable kick-propelled missile. Although incomplete, this description is cognitively sufficient to distinguish the phenomenon from, say, wrestling, defined by another set of rules applicable to two persons – usually muscular men – rolling around on the floor in tights, sweating, groaning, and screaming. No problem with soccer, but what is art? It takes an army of philosophers to define it, another army of similar types to fundamentally disagree with the definition, and no smaller totality of journalists to extensively comment on the YES/NO theoretical exchange. This process goes on for centuries. The resultant volumes written on the subject seem to only progressively complicate the matter and, in effect, infinitely delay the answer – to negate the very possibility of the answer.

But wait a minute. This impossibility to comprehend what are we dealing with – sometimes professionally (which means one’s daily bread) – is not something regretful. Far from it. Perhaps something opposite. Some philosophers, while discoursing on art, do everything they can to frustrate the others’ will to definition. Jorg Heiser’s recent book is an exemplification of this perplexive effort. The author of ALL OF A SUDDEN: THINGS THAT MATTER IN CONTEMPORARY ART is publicly vocal in his irritation with anyone who insists on having a bullet-point list of criteria from which one can safely deduce whether any given object qualifies as art or does not, and to what positive or negative degree. There is simply no such list and it is hardly envisioned in the future. There is no practical need for it. The answer has been missing for quite a while and – lo and behold! – “contemporary art has been booming like never before. There is more of everything – more artists, more collectors, more galleries, more art fairs, more museums, more biennials… with one exception: criteria with which the art of the moment can be understood, judged, praised and, if need be, damned”.

One question remains though: why should a viewer relate to whatever he/she encounters in the galleries or museums as to art and not to something else. If whatever is booming out there and booming just fine without the stupid list, why these indeterminate booming things should be listed specifically as art? If the demand for criteria is a testimony for the petitioner’s anal mediocrity, I wonder what sort of high intellectual virtue motivates and justifies this obsession with a single bullet point list? – art vs. non-art general checkmark. Not that I really care, though… I mean, no matter how you classify an object, its intrinsic qualities do not change.

Regardless of whether what is currently on display at Austrian Cultural Forum qualifies as art in the arena of sport, sport in the arena of art, all or none of the above, I find the exhibition at least intriguing. And now reading into the pieces paging through the ACF booklet makes them even more exiting. In one of the articles, Wendelin Schmidt-Dengler renders a phenomenological analysis of soccer observing that it is not the things themselves that get us excited, but the things that happen around them. The soccer is not about the game itself. It is about the screams of the spectators. Now let’s transpose this observation to see if we can account for the phenomenon of contemporary art: Art objects themselves are epiphenomenal to the events and interpretations that surround them. Not a preposterous juxtaposition: SOCCER and ART…

Monika Wührer facilitates a series of foosball tournaments as a contact point between professional soccer players, exhibition visitors, and fans… I am ready. Where is the ball?

Spencer Tunick strips 2000 people naked (again?!) at the stadium in Austria that now hosts the Euro 2008 soccer final. A video screenshot.

Remember? It is not the things themselves that get us excited, but the things that happen around them.

Tunick’s work “spreads a strong sense of community spirit” – according to Katharina Murschetz of Vienna’s Kunsthalle Wien art exhibition centre. I see how this can really be the case! Why is it that I never get invites to sign up for the shoots? Only sneaky viruses, megatons of spam on enlargement of body parts and discounted Viagra…

In an ordinary mode of thinking, the Future always figures as a conclusion. Constantly a step ahead of us, we can never actually live it. The Future never comes – or only as the fleeting Present. For that matter, it does not exist. The best we can do is to formulate it analytically, mounting our speculations on the current and prior experiences. Or on our imagination, which is also an extrapolative framework with our informed anticipations grounded in factual here and now and back then. But there is also an extraordinary way of thinking – an artistic mode, if you permit. Here the future is not a conclusion, but a basic premise. This may not strike practical minds as a helluva correct épistémè (excuse my English!), but it is surely poetic.

The Future as Disruption is a group exhibition at the Kitchen, one of New York City’s oldest non-profit art spaces. It features experimental works by nine multicultural artists who find inspiration and derive their creative methods – as well as their critical stances – from the Future (poetically speaking). The genre of science fiction provides these artists with a vantage point for looking at and criticizing contemporary society. The genre in all its various manifestations takes the artists beyond the paradigm of current technologies and established life-styles; and equips them with a new optics that renders a unique reflective perspective on the Present defined by today’s pressing issues such as consumerist culture, environment, and war. The Future as Disruption is a disruption of the Here-and-Now construct. From the point of the poetically premised Future, the Present as we know it does not quite follow. What follows in this logic is a different conclusion – also a poetic one, as you may imagine.. and darker than any realistic account.

Simone Leigh, Queen Bee, 2008. Terracotta, TV antennae, gold luster, graphite, and epoxy. This fantastic combo of primitive ethnographic material and high-industrial stuff – high-tech medical equipment and TV antennas – hints on something important related to race and gender.

Greater Area Protocol Map. Olalekan B. Jeyifous and Matty Vaz (a social scientist) look with horror at the not so far-fetched possibility of ultimate commodification of social, political, and cultural values.

Another possibility – and not especially festive – as explicated by means of an air compressor by Julieta Aranda: A Machine of Perpetual Possibility. This perfect machine (here I am zooming on to the inside of the installation comprised of a plexiglass box filled with sawdust that responds to periodic air blows) looks particularly menacing against its background imagery on the wall – a series of prints entitled There has been a Miscalcullation.

A fragment of William Villalongo’s The Reckless Eyeballers, 2008. Let me guess, it’s all about total and incessant visual control. Mind you, those omnipresent eyeballs on canvas glow in the dark – to metaphorically refer to omnipresent eyeballs that are not on canvas. “See something? Say something!” – a sign in the NYC subway soliciting watchfulness on the part of citizens.

Simone Leigh, Brooch, 2005. And it’s what it is: A giant brooch of terracotta bosoms surrounded by porcelain bananas… You’ve got the drift.

Building Connections is the 12th Annual K-12 Design exhibition at the NYC Center for Architecture showcasing the works of high-school students. On the one hand, these works are derivatives of pure enthusiasm, abundant youthful imagination and adolescent fascination with possibilities; on the other, they are fostered by the methodology that comprises thorough observation, research, reflection and collaboration as the students under the guidance of professionals in the field study their neighborhoods. The Center of Architecture introduces students to the imperatives of contemporary urban planning with sustainability standing as one of the central issues. This issue is addressed within a set of real-world constrains.

New York Times showcases Fashion of the Future – shirts made of eco-friendly polyester selling for as much as $10,000 and such. This sort of sustainability is somewhat exasperating, if you think about it beyond its hype. Just wondering how much energy I would have to irrevocably burn to earn this bulk of cash for a recycled pair of socks @ Barneys. For a more dramatic observation, let’s entertain a lower socioeconomic calculus that concerns the overwhelming majority of cases: it would take a bus boy at a restaurant some 2000 hours of unpleasant labor – with “unpleasant” meaning perceptually twice this long . The math takes into account the minimum wage of $5 that is far from being globally applicable. If this regime of labor is perfectly green as we myopically imagine it to be (no dishwashers, no dish liquids, no dryers and factories that produce and power all that machinery), how sustainable is this labor from the perspective of intrinsically human bio and mental resources? No one these days speaks of human internal ecology… Do we really contribute to sustainability of humanity by turning ourselves or less fortunate others into morons in the course of alienated and as mindless as physically tedious toil? I am confused. Sustainability with a $10,000 tag does not make much sense – unless there is a universally equal opportunity for an adequately compensable ($10,000/hour) self-sustainable and non-debilitating human performance in the economic sphere.

Behnaz Sarafpour’s shirt dress is made of organic cotton, $1,200, by special order. A vintage taffeta dress with lace overlay recycled by Libertine, $2,500. Maison Martin Margiela dress from its Artisanal line is made from vintage silk head scarves that were bleached, cut into strips and asymmetrically woven by hand. Price on request. Doo.ri’s cocktail dress is made of abaca, a fabric that is derived from the leaf stalks of a banana species native to the Philippines, $1,395. Marni smock dress is made of undyed cotton that was starched without using chemicals, $910. Giambattista Valli’s ruffled dress is made from biopolymer — a corn-based alternative to polyester, about $10,000.

From the press-release: “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 eleven 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…”

28 May 2008 - 25 Aug 2008 10:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Hayward Gallery
Belvedere Road
SE1 8XX, LONDON

When it comes to interior design, I have no intense enthusiasm for rugs. What are they good for? – except for absorbing spills, accommodating gums, collecting dust, and cross-breeding insects. On the second thought, though… You know, they are not totally useless accessories – depending on one’s occupational opportunities. Neither they are radically antithetical to style – depending on the manner one handles the situation.

A carpet manufacturer asks top photography schools to create a series of photographs to help celebrate the company’s 80th anniversary. And my help to choose the winner…

To be honest, with all those contestants out there, I do not see much of a competition. Most definitely, the winner is:

(c) Karastan: Maine Photographic Workshops

The point at which the inferno becomes a problem for a human soul is around 35C. I know that empirically. The inferno has been my climate for the last 3 or 4 days and not that I am under penance for my sins yet. In Manhattan, the temperature feels twice that number. It feels like a good third of my mind has already evaporated. The weather forecasters suggest staying inside, provided there is an air conditioner in one’s room. I have it. There is certainly another one – a short 15 minutes walk from my apartment. I’ll make it there - so I pray. New Museum, designed by Tokyo-based architects Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa/SANAA is a seven-story asymmetrical structure located at 235 Bowery between Stanton and Rivington Streets. The museum opened its doors to the public in Winter last year. So I am somewhat late. It depends how you look at it, however. It just as well may be that I am running a bit too early – though I am right on time for the discovery that this fine institution needs another year or two to ferment its spirit. Now from the inside, I can tell the museum is still probing its territory. If the place exhibits anything at this point, it is primarily itself. According to the sincerity of Richard Flood, Chief Curator, the opening art exhibition was rather epiphenomenal to the celebration of the building – the real event. And the celebration it was – considering that some people were paying 6 digits to have their names engraved in elevators… all over the interior and allegedly on toilets. It is my impression that today the fest keeps going the way it started half a year ago. It goes on for a reason as one of the Museum’s main challenges is to come to terms with its architectural environment. In the eyes of numerous critics, the building is off sync with the harmony of its neighborhood. There is a noticeable effort on the part of the administration and curatorial staff to demonstrate the opposite thesis. Or, perhaps, to affirm the difference. In any case, the ground level of the Museum is almost entirely allocated for a presentation of architectural works by SANAA (1998-2008). In a relatively short time, the firm evolved from a virtually unknown Japanese partnership to an internationally prominent entity with projects ranging from teapots, cafe tables and chairs to such as The 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art in Kanazawa, the Glass Pavilion at the Toledo Museum of Art in Ohio and, of course, the $75 billion New Museum to top the chronology of SANAA’s achievements. It is precisely on the ground level of the museum and the ground level only that I am allowed to take pictures. Not that I do not try on the floors above the ground (before I am warned against my photographic inclinations), but I do that more out of general politeness to Art, than out of interest to the current New Museum’s exhibition. In some parts it is raw. To make myself clear, this is not a judgment. Let’s be charitable: at this time all judgments as to the substance of New Museum are premature, perhaps.

SANAA represents a new generation of architects looking for new methods for site-specific architecture and using large glazed openings that dissolve the boundaries between interior and exterior.

The exhibition consists of study models, three-dimensional objects, photographs, and video films focusing on topics in-between art and architecture.

Model of the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL) learning center, Lausanne, Switzerland.

Zollverein School of Design, Essen, Germany (2003 - construction began 2005).

SANAA’s projects convey the idea of “atmosphere,” the sense of simplicity and transparency that has become their signature approach to design and achitecture.

Design food served in the New Museum’s NEW FOOD cafeteria with furnishings designed by Sejima + Nishizawa/SANAA. New Food’s cuisine is packaged in reusable bags that function not only to transport food but can also be recycled as stylish totes.

On the walls above the ground floor. A glimpse at the project “Dongducheon: A Walk to Remember, A Walk to Envision” - an act of rousing consciousness in individuals as subjects and social beings.

Looking down at the neighbourhood from a wraparound terrace of the Sky Room located at the top floor of the NM building. In addition to what you see on the photo, the space provides panoramic views of the Manhattan skyline. The room can be reserved for events for up to 200 people, or seated dinners for up to 120.

There are roughly two approaches to music – through traditional sound as that of trombone or violin, and, say, eccentric one as that of intonarumori. Built in 1913 by an Italian Futurist composer Luigi Russolo, this sound device would produce abstract noises to be included as decorative elements in musical compositions or for some other purposes. Since that time with the development of sound design technologies, the latter approach has taken on a life of its own. No longer merely a means to the external end, design of sound has become a type music as such, its alpha and omega. In the genre of ambient music, design often seems to be self-sufficient and exclusive of any other formal considerations: it initiates and by this very gesture effectively completes the definition of music. Here is a story to this phenomena: “The Tone Generation” - a series of 30 min radioshows available in MP3 format (1 more show to come - rss):

Artist/musician Ian Helliwell delves into his archive to look at the development of electronic music right across the world in the classic era of analogue technology. Starting in Europe and finishing up in the Southern Hemisphere, he is playing and commenting on vintage tracks from celebrated and overlooked composers/designers.

9. Canada.mp3

8. USA. Louis & Bebe Barron, Vladimir Ussachevsky, Milton Babbitt, Morton Subotnick, Haig Mardirosian, Raymond Scott and Gil Melle.mp3

7. Eastern European: Edward Artemiev with Yuri Bogdanov, Eugeniusz Rudnik, Bohdan Mazurek, Josef Malovec, Miloslav Istvan, and Ivan Patachich.mp3

6. Scandinavia: Rune Lindblad, Karl Birger Blomdahl, Ralph Lundsten, Else Marie Pade, Erkki Kurenniemi and Arne Nordheim.mp3

5. Holland and Belgium: Henk Badings, Henri Pousseur, Ton Bruynel, Leo Kupper, Tom Dissevelt and Kid Baltan.mp3

4. Italy: Luigi Russolo, Luciano Berio, Bruno Maderna, Luigi Nono, Vittorio Gelmetti and John Eaton.mp3

3. Germany: Walter Ruttman, Oskar Sala, Herbert Eimert, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Bernd Alois Zimmermann, Gyorgy Ligeti and Kraftwerk.mp3

2. France: Pierre Schaefer, Iannis Xenakis, Luc Ferrari, Pierre Henry with Michel Colombier and with Spooky Tooth, Ivo Malec and Bernard Parmegiani.mp3

1. Great Britain: Desmond Briscoe, Daphne Oram, Desmond Leslie, Tristram Cary, Roberto Gerhard, Fred Judd and Malcolm Clarke.mp3

Playing the Building is a 9,000-square-foot, interactive, site-specific installation by David Byrne (formerly the frontman of Talking Heads). Byrne transforms the interior of the Battery Maritime Building, a vast 1909 municipal ferry terminal in Lower Manhattan into a massive and complex sound apparatus. Visitors are invited to “play” the architecture. The central element of the installation is an old small church (of the SubGenius?) organ. Mechanically modified and electronically wired, it controls a number of devices attached to the structural features of the building — metal beams, pillars, plumbing, electrical conduits, heating, water pipes, etc. These features vibrate, strike, and blow. According to the press-release, Byrne will invite guest musicians to challenge his creation through a series of performances and jam sessions. Playing the Building replicates the artist’s earlier project involving an old factory in Stockholm. The Färgfabriken installation turned into a social apparatus generating a shared communal experience as people were taking turns playing the thing. Considering that everyone can take center stage, perform, and compose with their everyday surroundings, there is more to the pragmatic meaning of the installation: “In a small way it turns consumers into creative producers[…] It points toward a less mediated kind of cultural experience. It might be an experience in which one begins to reexamine one’s surroundings and to realize that culture — of which sound and music are parts — doesn’t always have to be produced by professionals and packaged in a consumable form.”

10 South Street at Whitehall Street, New York, NY
May 31 – August 10, 2008