The Art of Money

The United States Treasury has recently released the new design of the $100 bill that will go into circulation February 10th 2011. As the highest value domination and most counterfeited bill, The New York Times has provided a report on how the new bill is expected to cut down on counterfeiting. Additional colors and objects have been unnecessarily added to make the design more complicated and abstract. The government has also made a video demonstrating its new decorative features.

When Design Isn't Faithful

Robert Grudin's new book Design and Truth analyzes an interesting viewpoint on design. He goes through history pointing out the flaws in design and noting that when projects have poor outcomes it is often times because the designer is not true to their original design. This happens when politics, power and money enter the concept.

One of the most interesting examples he looks at in his book is the World Trade Center. Minoru Yamasaki, the architect of the World Trade Center in NYC originally proposed two 80-story towers, but in order to increase their profits, the developers demanded 110-story towers. If the project could be the world's tallest buildings,the developers could have more space to rent out and charge more for that space. Thus according to Grudin, Yamasaki altered his design to have more space by centralizing the escape routes to one on every floor instead of having three spread throughout the floor. Grudin states that because the designer did not stay true to his original design, the buildings were made taller with less escape routes.

Grudin then states that it is possible that if the building was true to its design and not built at this grand height, it may not have been a target for Al Qaeda. An even if it was, if the designer was true to the design, there would have been more escape routes and possibly more people may have survived.

The author expresses his modernist ideology that "form follows function" and writes an extremely compelling argument about design's responsibility.

Field Operations Wins Santa Monica's Park Competition

A $25 million park project for the Santa Monica Civic Center is expected to start construction in 2012. Located in a vast lot across from Santa Monica High School, will be a one acre cultural and civic square for various events. The site's remaining six acres will be used to create a spacious open park and walkway. In addition, a mixed use housing development is expected in the future.

In a competition between firms including Gehry Partners, Peter Walker and Partners, Studio Works and SWA Group, the panel selected the New York based firm Field Operations. The firm was not selected directly by the City of Santa Monica but by a panel including USC's Architecture Dean Qingyun Ma, UC Santa Barbara's chancellor and campus architect Marc Fisher and landscape architect Ken Smith. Field Operations was chosen because it "offers an understanding of the connectivity of the park to its surroundings, its major circulation elements, and local horticultural imperatives, along with a focus on designing a signature civic park."

Shanghai Expo to Open on May 1st

First Day of Trails at the Gates of the Expo


China is making headway as a world superpower with the 2010 Shanghai Expo to open May 1st and run until Oct 31st. This 184 day expo in China is the first expo hosted in a developing country and is expected to have 70 million visitors. The concept behind the expo is "Better City, Better Life" and is the largest world's fair to date.

Unfortunately the Expo trails, http://en.expo2010.cn/a/20100421/000001.htma preview for 200,000 Shanghai residents, was a disappointment for many. The food was overpriced and there were extremely long lines at every attraction. Many visitors said that it was uncomfortable and inconvenient, making it difficult to appreciate, or even see, the few pavilions that were open for trials. Before the opening days China will strive to make adjustments in time to be fully prepared for the crowds on opening day. The ten-day trial run gave a sneak-preview to Shanghai's newest building projects and China's pavilion, the main attraction.

Most countries will be showcasing their most recent developments including Iran, Korea and Myanmar.

Iran's pavilion features architecture inspired by ancient Iranian art and modern Islamic life. The building is themed "Blending Diverse Cultures in the City" and divides the pavilion into three parts: Iran's past, present and future. The consul-general of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Shanghai stated that Iran hopes that China will see the two nation's similarities and the expo will help build a relationship between Iran and China.

Directly next to Iran's pavilion is North Korea's pavilion themed "Prosperous Pyongyang". Pyongyang literally means "flat land" and is the name of the nation's first capital city. This will be the first time North Korea has participated in a world expo. With this said their pavilion's architecture has three national characteristics, including a flowing river representing the Taedong River, a 13 foot model of Pyongyang's Juche Tower and replicas of Jiangxi's tomb murals and cave paintings.

One environmentally focused pavilion is by The Union of Myanmar, or Burma, who named their pavilion "Better Urbanization with Harmonized Eco-System." The architecture features a courtyard suspended over a stream and the pavilion is decorated in bright colors with Southeast Asian design elements.

Different from designs featuring natural resources, Spain pays homage to traditions with there pavilion themed "From the City of Our Parents to the City of Our Children." Extravagant, yet true to its theme, Spain has created a giant animated baby that will greet visitors as they enter the pavilion.

Years of planning and now only days away, the world awaits what other pavilions will showcase on the opening day.

The Interiors of Hollywood's Leading Ladies

Carole Lombard
Ginger Rodgers
Bette Davis

This month Architectural Digest took a look at the interiors of the ladies that made Hollywood glamorous.

Icons like Carole Lombard bought her first home in 1934 and made it a space for herself in the most feminine way, making it obvious a single woman occupied the home. Her designer William Haines became the interior designer for the stars after decorating this Hollywood Hills home for a good friend.

Similarly, Ginger Rogers acquired her first home after the separation from her husband and she set out to create her childhood dream house. This Beverly Hills home was complete with a movie screening room and her own soda fountain, an amenity she claims she could only get if she built it herself.

Bette Davis on the other hand didn't chase her dream house, but lived in about 75 homes during her life. In her autobiography she wrote that the city made her want to push the buildings aside to let the sunlight in. Space is perhaps what she was seeking in the multiple homes and never quite found enough of it.

The Shiny American Dreamworld

Pearl Bedspread, Hartland Mansion
Tiffany Studios Dragonfly table lamp, 1902

The gaudy American Aesthetic has recently been defined by artist and writer Stefany Anne Goldberg through a timeline demonstrating how handcrafts met the factory.

Why is it that rhinestone denim jackets are popular country clothing or gold grills with rhinestone studs are seen in the mouths of pop culture icons? Where did the spinner rims originate? Goldberg writes that Americans are attracted to shiny things because it recalls a type of dreamworld. They are attracted to the shiny forms of new cars and jewelry and by imitating fine materials, the fantasy associated with beauty is brought to the masses. A plastic rhinestone instead of a rare gemstone also shimmers and possesses the same light reflecting qualities. Thus the production of fine materials in the factory made it possible for individuals without money to enjoy the fantasy of awe-inspiring extravagance.

The Arts and Crafts movement was the foundation for imitation and Louis Comfort Tiffany was the vehicle that transported beautiful things into the middle-class home. His stained glass gave the appearance of a European handcraft yet was made in a factory, thus the price was affordable. This accessibility changed American design and was the seed for American "bling" and the reason why iconic places such as the Hartland Mansion exist today. The mansion was decorated with a glue gun and many trips to the craft store, creating a shiny environment that emulates the abundance of Versailles. This venue is used for a wide range of events, all that enjoy the grand rooms filled with gold, silk and pearls at an affordable price. The Hartland Mansion is the epitome of the shiny American dreamworld.

More recently, the development of linoleum flooring is a craft that has made its way into many homes. It can appear as an imported tile or a rare wood, but is in fact a type of plastic. Similarly, Home Depot sells the popular white picket fence in sets of five plastic pickets that latch together. Now everyone can have their white picket fence without the expensive cost or maintenance of wood. The American Aesthetic is thus the accessibility of beautiful looking materials.

Quebec's Beaux-Arts Expansion Design Competition

OMA's winning design
Proposal by BIG and Fugère Architectes

Quebec's Beaux-Arts is looking to expand the museum and recently held a design competition. One of the favored designs was submitted by the Danish firm BIG in partnership with Fugère Architectes, which features a sloping green roof that people can walk on. In a model it appears as a large rectangular box rising from beneath the earth's surface into the air. This innovation features large floor-to-ceiling windows with a sharp angle upwards creating the form of the roof's incline.

The winning design was created by OMA and features a design more reflective of the unity of the park, the museum's existing three buildings and the nearby landmarks in the city. This fourth building will be next to St. Dominique church and will be constructed of three blocks stacked upon one another that decrease in size and are angled to create a progression from the Parc des Champs-de-Bataille towards the city.

This competition demonstrates to architects world-wide that more and more, designs are admired for their site specificity rather than conceptual precedence.

Renewing Pritzker's Reputation

Ryue Nishizawa and Kazuyo Sejima
New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York, 2007
21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, Japan, 2004

Instituted in 1978, the Pritzker Prize set out to be the Nobel of architecture awards. The Pritzker family, owners of the Hyatt Hotel chain, sought to establish this annual award by honoring individual careers. For decades the prize has been slightly controversial because it applies competitive standards to creative efforts.

The 1991 award caused an uproar when the award went to Robert Venturi but not his wife and partner, Denise Scott Brown. The Pritzker jury at the time stated that the prize was given to individual practitioners, not firms. Even more upsetting for followers of Scott Brown, was in 2004, when the award went to the first woman, Zaha Hadid - an award many felt rightly belonged to Scott Brown.

But this year marks a departure from past winners in that the Pritzker was awarded to the duo of the Tokyo-based firm SANAA (Sejima and Nishizawa and Associates). They are an unusual combination of a female-male pairing being that they are not married to one another. Interesting enough, female Kazuyo Sejima is the senior partner.

With this aside Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa have developed a type of innovative architecture that stands out for its ability to be extremely expressive within the confines of minimalism. Yet most importantly they have been able to apply their efficiency learned in Tokyo to the United States with their design of the New Museum which fit into the tiny mid block site and cost a mere fifty million, contrasting most big-city museums that easily run over $200 million.

Not only are their buildings fit for the high taste of Manhattan, but SANAA has also been able to adapt their architecture for people who aren't avid museum goers. Their Kanazawa museum is a low-rise circular building that is intended to attract townspeople with less experience of museums. The round building was designed to be inviting and accessible.

This type of land economy and financial efficiency marks SANAA as the firm of the future, as well as their ability to adapt to various clientele.

Rebuilding Architecture: The Key to Recovering in Haiti

When a natural disaster destroys the built environment of a country with 80% of its population living under the poverty line, options for recovery are limited. Ideally, when a natural disaster hits, three steps are carried out in very distinct phases of emergency response, relief and rebuilding. Emergency response takes place within the first 24 hours, emergency relief is over the first year, and rebuilding goes on for an additional ten years after the event. Rebuilding can create jobs in construction and manufacturing which can increase the amount of skilled labor, and decrease unemployment rates. And most importantly, new building efforts can provide schools for the children.

This is a perfect scenario of rebuilding but Haiti's lack of money and minimal government action slows the process further, and currently their next generation is facing the reality of a future without education. Several social and political obstacles contributed to the nation's poverty level before the earthquake and are now magnified, threatening Haiti's existence.

In 2008 the mayor of Port-au-Prince, Haiti's capital, stated that 60% of the buildings were "shoddily built and unsafe in normal circumstances." It is no wonder why, with a 7.0 magnitude earthquake, their buildings crumbled killing thousands. This was a known problem that was not responsibly dealt with by the government, similar to the levees that needed to be replaced in New Orleans, but was ignored the proper funds to rebuild until it was too late.

A major problem in Haiti is the absence of construction standards, thus buildings are often erected with simple blocks of concrete, and on January 12th when the earthquake hit, their buildings turned to rubble. Due to their inadequate building techniques, Haiti was more devastated by this 7.0 magnitude earthquake than Chile was on February 27th with an 8.8 magnitude earthquake. Chili estimated less than 500 causalities where as Haiti is suffering from over 200,000 causalities. The major difference between these two areas is the use of reinforced concrete. Because of the expense of steel and nonexistent building standards, Haitians are not required to use reinforced concrete and thus these frail buildings are responsible for the large number of casualties.

Additionally, the earthquake was extremely destructive because so many people were concentrated in one area. As the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, the little opportunity that the country does have is centralized in the overpopulated capital Port-au-Prince, a city made for 500,000 people, is now congested with over 3 million inhabitants.

But the citizens of Port-au-Prince are not organized or skilled to make a positive impact on the situation. Four months after the disaster, the recovery process is not evident. One cannot tell the difference between the images of the dilapidated structures on January 12th and now. Katie Couric reported that President Rene Preval estimated that it will take at least three years to clear away the rubble and debris from the earthquake and only then will Port-au-Prince be able to begin rebuilding. It will take this long because there are no development companies in Haiti, therefore, no machinery or construction tools to haul away the rubble. In addition to the absence of physical tools and skilled labor, Haiti does not have access to building materials nor do they have any government organizations in place to orchestrate disaster relief or rebuilding. Likewise, the nation has no trade to generate their economy to pay for such necessities.

At this point Haiti is completely dependent on aid and relief from surrounding nations. But even the United States, one of the most developed nations in the world, government relief has not proven to be practical or reliable, as evident in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. In this case, the over-priced formaldehyde trailers that FEMA purchased in response to the disaster, are now being sold for “pennies on the dollar” to the middlemen who will resale the toxic mobile homes to those who are still without shelter years after the event. Additionally, the U.S. Government spent over $7 billion on the trailers, an extremely expensive temporary shelter that in no way assisted in rebuilding the area. These were loaned for a set period of time, and were recently confiscated from the inhabitants because the time period had expired. Although this did provide shelter for a period of time, the money spent did not help ignite redevelopment or employment after the crisis.

Cameron Sinclair, founder of Architecture for Humanity, states that a majority of aid funds are acquired within the first two months of a disaster. After that, the event disappears from news headlines and the area’s progress is halted. Just as in 2001 when the United States diverted funds from updating New Orleans' levees to help fund the war, it is only a matter of time until there is another project that needs aid and Haiti will stop receiving money altogether. If this happens in the near future, it will leave Haiti with nothing but a few tarps. There economy will not have been developed and a majority of their population will not have any guidance towards employment or education.

With this said 40% of the nation is under 18 years old, therefore aid and relief funds need to focus on educating the youth to give the country any future at all. According to USC Architecture Professor Scott Mitchell, children must get back into school within the first two years, otherwise the area will result in what we see now – children flooding the streets with no where to go.

Most of the school buildings have been deemed unfit for occupancy and now tarps drape wooden frames on sites close to where schools once stood. As of April 6th, schools in Haiti reopened abiding a government mandate. Unfortunately, the amount of children attending these morning school sessions varies dramatically. According to one of the program managers for Architecture for Humanity, the physical situation of the schools is uncomfortable and the make-shift classrooms are unequipped with teaching materials. The wooden frames were nailed together so close that once the tarps were placed on top, the enclosed area resembled a maze. Additionally the tarps trap heat, increasing the temperature several degrees above the external temperature.

The remaining schools that were not demolished in the earthquake have been turned into refuges for the homeless. But the buildings that are still standing seem to be the government's only option for providing necessary shelter. The Ministry of Education has been receiving petitions for the removal of homeless and for the schools to be re-possessed for education. But the amount of schools still standing are not enough to educate the city's children and it is estimated Haiti will need a six to ten year rebuilding phase, leaving the majority of an entire generation uneducated.

Because there are limited funds and temporary housing is just that, temporary, every project needs to move Haiti towards economic self-sufficiency for the future. Haiti's society needs to be completely restructured to provide jobs, housing, economic stability and most importantly, education for the nation's next generation.

Peter Haas, founder of Appropriate Infrastructure Development Group (AIDG), claims that architecture can spark an economic miracle and revitalize the Haitian nation. By immediately using emergency funding to implement building projects such as schools, local jobs will be created and help natives learn skilled trades. As Cameron Sinclair stated, the amount of funding is limited and will not continue to be fed to Haiti much longer, thus money needs to be spent wisely on projects that will benefit the future rather than serve as a band-aid. Instead of sending temporary relief shelters that will be turned into inadequate permanent homes in the future, aid relief should focus on designing architecture to rebuild the communities by identifying individual goals and national pride which will in turn lower unemployment rates and break the cycle of poverty.

An option being explored for this congested and over populated city is decentralization. In order to decentralize the mass of Port-au-Prince the relief funds should enact building and transportation projects to provide a means of employment to lure people to the outskirts. Ideas expressed by Frank Lloyd Wright and Ebenezer Howard provide the basis for creating functioning multi-centered cities, which can be applied to redevelop and rebuild Haiti from the ground up with a system of organizing the populous with employment and education.

Crystal Embellished Chairs by Swarovski

9 X 10: Swarovski Elements at Work
Konstantin Grcic for ABET LAMINATI: Crystaline collection – crystals with laminate
Doshi Levien for MOROSO: Paper Planes – crystals with upholstery

Swarovski Crystal Palace recently commissioned a collection of furniture and interiors called 9X10: Swarovski Elements at Work, and involves ten designers whom were paired with nine manufactures.

London Designer Doshi Levien presented his chairs with crystal inlays this week in Milan. The designs are very streamline and have an industrial flare in form and shape, but the crystals add a touch of elegance and ornament.Levien's paper planes made it a point to create a functional piece where the crystals have an understated appeal. Levien states that it was important to play with the contrast of the reflective crystals and the light-absorbent wool upholstery.

In addition to furniture, another designer, Konstantin Grcic, created a geometric laminate pattern that reminds me of tiny crystal chandeliers. The marketing director for Abet Laminati states that with an innovative process, they were able to create a completely new material. Laminate is traditionally made with paper and resin compressed with 90kg of pressure, but in order to not crush the crystals and also integrate them into the fabric, Grcic had to create a new system of compression. These panels will be seen exclusively in Milan at the Triennale.

Milan's "Design Vertigo" fools the eye

Felice Varini’s anamorphic perspective painting
Beta Tank's Beta Space


For the 2010 Design Fair in Milan, Design Miami and Fendi collaborated to create an installation called "Design Vertigo" at Spazio Fendi. A space usually used for models to parade up and down the runway, Spazio Fendi has been transformed into a transgressive design theater filled with design that calls upon the viewer to digest the visual spectacle.

Rather than an intriguing use of materials in the live-demo "Craft Punk" that was showcased last year, the designs created this year rely upon perspectives that are unnatural to the eye and put a new meaning behind "functionless art." The painting above by Felice Varini can only been logically viewed when seen from a specific vantage point.

Lacking logic but focusing on innovations, the Berlin artists group Beta Tank created a black and white installation with geometric patterns that create optical allusions. The floors and walls are accompanied by large bouncy balls that roll throughout the space.

Functionless art has been berated before and it will continue to be but rAndom International's wall installation only becomes an optical challenge when the viewers movement throughout the space inflicts it. This wall installation is in the dark with diagonal light that moves in a vertical angle up the wall. The wall is composed of light weight rectangular panels hung form the ceiling that move slightly as the crowds pass by.

This year's artists set out to create a show that encourages a deeper understanding of the human body and our perception. I think this show is powerful in the sense that it is only as interesting as the person's experience within the space. These are not designs that a trend setter will deem fashionable and we will suddenly re-experience on every street corner and magazine, this is design that capitalizes on site specificity and ideology.

The Cubby House

main living space
reflecting closet

Coined as The Cubby House, the Australian studio of Edwards Moore remodeled an apartment in Melbourne with a design influenced by Adolf Loos's Raumplan concept from the 1920's. Loos claimed "ornament was a crime" and believed design should be simple and functional. The Raumplan concept aims to create continuous living spaces and a flow throughout a structure, avoiding traditional room divisions.

On this upstairs renovation, Moore has done just this. In the Cubby House Moore has used press board as the main material in creating functional spaces in places usually used for decorative furniture. For example, in a master bathroom, one often finds an antique commode holding the sink but in Moore's design, press board is used to make open cubbies within the carpentry framing the sink. Press board is also made into functional space in the kitchen creating cubbies areas that would otherwise dead space. The simple material allows for the wood to be replaced at an inexpensive price at any time.

Walls are minimal and when they are used, they have a major functional component, such as the rotating closet that serves as a room divider. Similarly, one large wall is made useful along the living space with floor-to-ceiling cubbies. This house creates functional design in an innovative way that turns simplicity into beauty.

The Bahia House

In Salvador, Brazil, the native architect firm Studio mk27 has recently completed the Bahia House which uses traditional vernacular to create a modern home in this warm tropical climate. The house offers spaciousness as well as intimacy as the design tears down the barrier between inside and out.
The exterior walls consist of sliding latticed panels that allow for air flow while keeping the bugs outside. The house has a clay tiles on the roof and wood slates on the ceiling, a local Brazilian building standard used for years. The architect makes note that the building process does not use "state-of-the-art gadgets" but instead continues the traditional architectural methods of Brazil, before we became so dependent on technology.
These large wooden panels were actually brought to Brazil by the Portuguese and show an Arabian influence. The house is centered around a large patio with these lattice panels called Mashrabiyas and allows for an open atmosphere between the built environment and the natural environment.

The world does not need another chair, unless...

Memory chair, designed by Tokujin Yoshioka for Moroso

This Wednesday Milan's annual furniture fair will open to an estimated 300,000 visitors. With declining attendance due to the global economy, the designers are posed with new obstacles that defy Milan's tradition of "making things look good". Design needs to be more of a critical process according to British designer Ilse Crawford.
Designers now have to contend with higher expectations: sustainability, digital technology and most importantly, producing objects for the people who use them. For years there has been a huge disconnect between the designer's ideology and their product's function in society. The Milan fair has been consumed with the looks of beautiful objects for the sake of an artist's creation. But now, the economy and global need for design is higher than ever before. The designer's name and price-tag to a chair from the fair is having less value and designs are making precedence with their adaptability to today's need. The New York Times states that there won't be anything special at the fair, "it will be mediocre at best and a pointless waste of resources, at worst". Going green as a trend needs to end and sustainability needs to become a vital aspect of every design.
Hopefully this year will mark a change in beautiful looking things, to objects that incorporate innovative technology. The creative director of Moroso, the Italian furniture company notes that design is in a negative situation and it will be a slow process to recovery for the furniture world because there is a "more cautious approach to spending". But, in my opinion the economic downturn is a relativity good thing because it is adding pressure for designers to not just stamp their product with bogus eco-friendly labels, but to actually become sustainable in manufacturing because it will eventually be the most cost-efficient way to design.
The world does not need another chair unless it is "innoavtive, beautiful, sustainable, expressive and useful".

Eames Auction Halted

This past Thursday an auction was scheduled to take place at the Wright auction house selling the design archives of John and Marilyn Neuhart. The now elderly design historians have collected photographs, documents and film categorizing the design developments of the Eames' furniture. This is one of the largest private archives documenting the mid-20th-century furniture designers work and was estimated to sell for $150,000 to $200,000. During the last forty years, their archives have amassed to over 100 binders documenting the exhibitions and Eames office space.

But four days before the auction was to be held, the ownership of the items in this 60-page inventory list were contested by Lucia Eames who claimed that the archive was family property. Last week, the Designer’s daughter filed a lawsuit and the archives were removed from auction. The Neuhart’s stated earlier on that they were fighting the economy (because of low endowments, museums are not interested in the collection), and they ultimately want to find a good home for their collection.

The Art of Designers' Tear Sheets

Many interior designers, product designers and textile designers rip, tear and shred magazine pages for inspiration. Looking at beautifully decorated rooms, artist Page Laughlin paints these masterpieces making them more magical than before. She describes her work as "creating an illusion" and revealing the process of production.
Her delicate work seems blurry at a glance but once your eye focuses, you will see she highlights certain aspects of the room, for example the clearly painted fabric showing every detail. This is ironic because often times a certain fabric serves as the foundation for a room's inspiration. The texture in her paintings offers her viewers this illusion to see beyond and provoke inspiring visuals. She explains that her current work focusing on high end design magazines, giving her the ability to paint the "fantasies of materialistic beauty".
What I enjoy most about Laughlin's work is the evolution of a 3d space into a 2d rendering that doesn't diminish the experience, as photography is often accused of.

Pompidou's Regional Outpost in Metz

The popular Pompidou Centre opened in 1977 in Paris and has since then become one of the most visited art galleries in the world. This legendary museum has recently opened up at another location in northeastern France. The design of the Popidou in Metz was chosen through a design competition seven years ago by Shigeru Ban, Jean de Gastines and Philip Gumuchdjian. Nearly three years after its orignal completion date, the gallery will open its doors next month.

A city off the tourist track will now attract visitors all over the world, reviving the city of Metz. The building is designed with an extraordinary amount of glass, steel and concrete that creates a space exclusive to the Pompidou name yet adhering to the modern trends of high ceilings for large installations (an eye capturing aspect modeled after the Tate Modern). Most importantly, the building's views serves to frame the city's most notable monuments including Jurgen Kroger's central station. The gallery is a mere two minute walk from the central station, making the visit to the Pompidou-Metz, all the more convenient.

The exterior design was inspired by Chinese hats and bridges where the interior of the plan maximizes the viewing of the galleries with "seamless spaces", uninterrupted by columns or supports.

The Sitting & Staring Artist

Abramovicz and Liftig
A view looking down upon the performance


Currently on view until May 31st at MOMA is the artist Marina Abramovicz, showcasing herself in a 700-hour performance titled "The Artist is Present". The artist sits in the center of the room at a table with an empty chair across from her. Visitors to the exhibit are invited to come sit across from her as long as they wish, but people must not talk to her. The audience is directed to be respectful and silent, only sitting and staring as long as they would like.
As odd at this may sound, the exhibit is getting quite a bit of attention. People are engaged by the idea to interact with an artist on this level. Abramovicz first preformed a similar exhibition in the 1970's with Uwe Laysiepen, her lover at the time. But this time instead of staring into the eyes of her partner, she accepts anyone who comes to the floor.
Abramovicz sits in the center of the room wearing heavy long gowns. Large spotlights shine down on the artist, the table and the often occupied chair across from her. The thick and heavy dress the artist wears in combination with the spotlights causes her to perspire a lot. One visitor recounts that the glare of the bright lights block out the crowds creating a surreal experience.
Intrigued by the opportunity, another performance artist decided to partake in the experience by dressing up like Abramovicz and sitting in front of her the entire day. Anya Liftig called her performance sitting across from Abramovicz, "Anxiety of Influence".
Abramovicz's performances tend to evoke extreme emotions and tempt the viewer to feel the various emotions she feels in the performance. These grueling performance tests that Marina Abramovicz endures is evident by the "artist's screams and moans".

2010 Whitey Biennial

Edgar Cleijne and Ellen Gallagher
Michael Asher
Babette Mangolte

This year's Whitney Biennial in New York City is the museum's 75th annual exhibit and is said to represent the museum's past, present and future in the art world. The exhibition incorporates multi-media, paintings, drawings, installations and live performances.

An internationally acclaimed artist, Babette Mangolte moved from France to New York in the 1970's and works primarily in film and still photography and has submitted an extremely interesting installation entitled "How to Look..." which comprises hundreds of black and white photographs.

As much as art tends to have no limits, Michael Asher has found one. His proposal for the Biennial was to have his exhibit open twenty four hours a day for one week, but due to human resource limitations and legalities the exhibit has been shorted to three days. His work has been described as "logical or symbolic inversion of an explicit institutional condition". His imagination and creativity earned his the Bucksbaum Award which is given every two years to a Whitney Biennial artist.

Described as an "immersive film environment", Edgar Cleijne and Ellen Gallagher have produced a space with sliding panels and abstract images projected on the walls. In the center is a rotating John F. Kennedy bust. The panels sliding on the wall are made from wood, steel and resin, an interesting combination of materials that interacts with projections. I am particularly eager to see the space because of its mesh of abstraction and iconic. With JFK's extremely recognizable head in the center, I'm sure it fools the audience into trying too hard to make sense of the projections on the wall.

As much as this year's exhibit is sufficiently smaller than previous years, the politics are certainly present. Curators Francesco Bonami and Gary Carrion-Murayari are not shy about expressing their political views and the cover of this year's catalogue is President Obama wearing a cowboy hat. It is no coincidence that Edgar Cleijne's and Ellen Gallagher's furthers this expressiveness of a renewed era.

The Biennial opened February 25th and will continue through May 30th.