My Name Looks Like Me: Space is the Place #9

Space is the Place #9

A private much anticipated first curated evening with J.Morrison.

J. Morrison is a regular collaborator/new family member of mine and has been presenting a rotating group of temporary art installations and performances. It's called SPACE IS THE PLACE and you can read about it here:

j-morrison.com

For this show, Space is the Place #9, James showed an interest in the economic state of the country by asking his architecture friends who recently lost their jobs to create a piece for his private opening entitled "Fuck Architecture".

This show is probably my favorite of the series. It was uncomfortable, funny, present, thought provoking and very well curated.

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Ryan Mendenhall

Hollyhock

xeroxed paper

On a recent visit to Los Angeles, the mildly impoverished and slightly shoddy stat of Frank Lloyd Wright's iconic modernist masterpiece Hollyhock House struck me as a barometer of the state of American architecture under the current economic conditions. This visit coincided with the planning of the Fuck Architecture project, and I could not resist contributing a small booklet to the show based on my experiences at Hollyhock.-- Ryan Mendenhall

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Jennifer Harmon

"Detroit #8"

Acrylic, Ink, I iodine and thread

This mapping represents the confluence of industrial decay, hud housing and luxury gentrification within a small section of Detroit's waterfront that lies within the shadow of the General Motors Headquarters building. Here, the canvas acts as the ground plane and is manipulated to imply different levels of development or decay.--J. Morrison

-I really loved tis piece. The black squares represented the new yuppie housing that was replacing the project housing in Detroit.

Children going to school.

The remark of the decay of the area, a nice touch.

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Jim Heimdahl

Separation Checklist

Stencil, paper, collage

Documents from his last employer

An interesting piece by Jim Heimdahl. I liked the size he chose for the letter to be. It made the document so personal and yet one couldn't help but find a dry, cynical humor about it.

Staff Reduction.

MUST be cleared.

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Wendy Klein

Untitled (1,000 houses)

plastic, hot glue, pencil

These small sculptures are made from 1,000 monopoly houses. A funny approach to the fall of the housing market. Not only were the pieces interesting as objects but the placement of the piece was dead on perfect, being placed by a large window overlooking the Manhattan Skyline.

It was hard to capture the placement of the sculptures, but trust me, it was perfect.

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David Kuykendall

Letters to a brick wall

paper, tape

A brilliant display by David Kuykendall. This piece consisted of 175 emails and cover letters seeking employment sent out over a period of one year.

They all had a similar group of openings:

"Your firm came to my attention..."

"I came across your post on craigslist.."

"I am a passionate, deeply focused...."

"I am writing you to discuss my interest..."

While I believe they were in date order, as you got to the end of the piece the search for jobs becomes a bit more far out from his original profession. I.e. Casino manager, hotel manager etc. A sign of the times and the need to become creative.

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Bureau V

Abacus

Mixed Media, books

The drawing's subject i Abacus, a site-specific performance and installation piece produces in collaboration with Lars Jan of Early Morning Opera that was commissioned by the Whitney Museum for its retrospective for it's retrospective, Buckminster Fuller: Starting with the Universe. The project was unfortunately cancelled due to financial constraints.- J. Morrison

-This was a great representation of the plummeting sales in the art world. And in a way I feel that it's similar to what is happening in the fashion world. It questioned the idea of environment, value and represented so many different aspects of luxury and displacement.

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Erik Brown

Independent Geometric Studies

44 lb. paper, melamine-coated MDF shelf

As an architectural designer/project manager for single-family residential projects, my professional work involved schematic and developed design variations, and detailed drawings for final construction. This series of paper models begun as a creative reaction to my layoff, or professional disruption, in February 2009. Personal focus shifted from detailed 2 D drawings to abstract 3D physical models: polyhedra and other Platonic solids constructed from templates and printed multiple colors. The geometric studies serves as a reaction to, and an escape from, my previous work's design constraints.

For this show, additional paper models are created on 44 lb. paper, printed in new color multiples, and reproduced as variations of Platonic solids. The color schemes are derived from digital photos of previous residential objects on a shelf. Architectural work is translated and transformed into geometric reactions and analogous representations.-- Erik Brown

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J. Morrison

Untitled (Vito Acconci Seedbed)

Mixed media installation, possible performance

Seedbed was a performance piece performed by Vito Acconci during January 15 - 29th 1971. Acconci lay hidden underneath a gallery-wide ramp installed at Sonnabend Gallery, masturbating while vocalizing into a loudspeaker his fantasiesabotu the visitors walking above him on the ramp. The motivation behind was to involve the public in the work's production by creating a situation.--J. Morrison

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Matt Azen

House of Cards

Paper business cards

Business cards from his former firm

The house of cards. A funny approach to wondering what to do with all your useless remains of a former life as an architect. Use your past skills for a new project. Build a house. Looked really sturdy and was large. I really liked it.

While looking at this piece I saw my friend and pattern maker for my Houndstooth line, Hannah, wearing an incredible vest.

I want it so bad.

Just stop already....

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Matthew Radune/ Logan Billingham

Brooklyn Endless

2' x 2' Translucent trash bags, industrial blower fan

The work "Brooklyn Endless" is more obelisk that architectural element. The title is a play on the lyrics from the Kraftwerk song "Europe Endless". Promenades and avenues, Europe endless, Real life and postcard views, Europe endless". Endlessness exists everywhere, although within architectural design it is commonly prohibited or unpopular.

The collaborations of Matthew Radune and Logan Billingham explore issues of haeccity, or the "thisness" of things, within architectural discourse. In their last work, "Breathing Wall", the "thing" explored was a wall, which was activated by electronic components, and attained the capacity to breathe. --Matthew Radune and Logan Billingham

James and his boyfriend Ryan standing underneath Matthew Radune's and Logan Billingham's temporary installation.