Matta-Clark :: The City as Studio

Panel Discussion :: The City as Studio

Thursday 28 January 28 2010
7:30pm (doors open at 7pm)

Art-based interventions in the community take many forms and can have a powerful impact. How alternative art spaces and creative interventions can empower both individuals and communities will be a focus of the discussion . The panel will highlight some of the initiatives that are taking place in St. Louis and other similar cities.

Panelists will include:

• Christy Gray, Executive Director, Whitaker Foundation, St. Louis, MO

• Theaster Gates, 2010 Whitney Biennial artist, Chicago, IL

• Juan William Chávez, Artist & Director, Boots Contemporary Arts Space, St. Louis, MO

• Mary Jane Jacob, Executive Director of Exhibitions, Sullivan Galleries, School of the Art Institute of Chicago

• Luis Croquer, Director, Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit

Photograph: Gordon Matta-Clark, Bingo, 1974. The Museum of Modern Art, New York; Nina and Gordon Bunshaft Bequest Fund, Nelson A. Rockefeller Bequest Fund, and the Enid A. Haupt Fund. Installation photography © Francois Robert.  Gordon Matta-Clark works © Estate of Gordon Matta-Clark / Artist Rights Society (ARS), New York.

Deffaa Residence -- stair

Deffaa Residence -- stair
Uploaded by Andrew Raimist.

Armstrong's design for this compact cubic white-painted brick house features a surprising vertical slice of glass blocks on the west face of the house. This wall is largely hidden from view on the exterior since it abuts a neighboring house rather closely. The other three exterior walls of the house are largely public and visible since the house is located at the end of a block on a corner, raised up from street level.

The consequences of creating this almost arbitrary cut into the brick masonry shell could hardly be more surprising. From the outside, the uninterrupted column of glass blocks spanning the first and second floors suggests the presence of a relatively large space with a high ceiling.

In truth, the house contains no such high, open airy space. Rather the slot admits light to the narrow stair beginning at the far side of the living room and climbing steeply toward the center of the house where it is surrounded by sleeping quarters, bathroom and an outdoor terrace.

The house's interior isn't particularly flooded with natural light although a grouping of windows at the southwest corner of the living room does admit a healthy dose of light.

Nevertheless, the visceral shock of the vertical slash at the stairs is all the more gratifying for being unexpected. The light admitted in this corner penetrates to the core of the house, lighting and orienting the staircase as a primary organizational feature within the home.

Armstrong's desire to keep the glass blocks clear of any structural or visual interruption from the interior results in some unusual cantilevering of a second floor bedrooom, held up over the point of maximum tension where the stair turns ninety degrees and a support post would normally be encountered.

In fact, the original construction drawings for the house (in plan, interior elevations and stair details) Armstrong indicates the use of a round wood post at this location. Perhaps he realized once the framing was underway that the post was not structurally necessary given the rigid framing of the floor diaphram (including 14" and 7" high steel 'I' beams to maintain the open column free areas of the living and dining rooms.

Instead, a curious sense of open lightness appears where it would be least expected. Far from being a generic white International Style cube, the house creates a spatial and structural puzzle of interlocking rooms and elements.

The use of a simple bent bar of solid aluminum provides just the right contrast, complementing the unusual cut out of the wall and overhanging unsupported ceiling.



Photographs by Andrew Raimist.  Architectural drawings courtesy of the Harris Armstrong Archives, Special Collections, Washington University in Saint Louis.

Ethical Society -- seating

Ethical Society -- seating.
Uploaded by Andrew Raimist.

Armstrong worked with the congregation's building committee to select the fabric for the auditorium seating for the Ethical Society. How the selections were made and how the colors were distributed throughout the very controlled, axial, symmetrical space is rather marvelous.

On the one hand, it is a great surprise to the visitor who sees only the painted metal backs of the theater style seating upon entering the space. Only after searching for a place to sit or perhaps upon leaving does a visitor realize the playful use of color and texture.

A few years ago when the copper roofing was replaced, a leak damaged the seats and wood finishes. True to their dedication to the building, the membership reinstalled the colorful fabrics according to their original distribution.


Photograph: Andrew Raimist.

(re)Presenting G. Matta-Clark

The current exhibition of Matta-Clark’s work at The Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts has been very thoughtfully and carefully designed and presented.  A critical part of this effort involves the printed and on-line graphics.  Subtly, yet powerfully, the typographic composition and brochure layout reflect many of the concerns and methods employed by the artist.

The freely distributed brochure immediately presents the recipient with hints of the kinds of procedures and experiences that are central to Matta-Clark’s practice.  The splitting of the all cap text using a modern, simple non-serif font puts his work into a formal context immediately, that is, disruption and alteration of standardized modernist design practice.

The inversion of 'Urban Alchemy' from 'Gordon Matta-Clark' creates a sense of uncertainty and imbalance.  There is already a degree of unclear sense of proper orientation to the earth and gravity.  The slippage of the dark bar of the 'H' in alchemy into the vertical of the 'K' in Matta-Clark suggests the kinds of geometrical slicing and interchange you are about to experience.

The inversion of 'Upper' from 'Level' adds a new dimension to the graphic play placing the two sections of upper case text inline, but inverted from one another.

If you look carefully, you’ll notice that the cut letters are not consistently altered throughout the headline and caption text.  Sometimes E’s are sliced and other times remain whole.  Taking these modifications down to the level of the bold titles for the captions reveals the extent of the thought and care of this method.  It’s not simply deployed willy-nilly.  Rather, the geometry of the project often informs the typographic slices.

Good examples of this correspondence between almost unnoticeable alterations to the captions are:

• Day’s End: the slice through the letter ‘y’ relates to the diagonal cutting Matta-Clark inflicted on the end wall.

• Pier In/Out: an almost unnoticeable cut in the capital letter ‘P’ reflects the small section taken from a much larger structure.  The caption for the image depicting the building from which the section was extracted remains uncut.

• Conical Intersect: The slice through the capital letter ‘C’ suggests the creation of a hole through the center of a curved surface which reflects the geometrical relationship of the building fabric and the conical void cut into it.

Appropriately, the “Other Works on View” follow the graphic color scheme and fonts used in the rest of the Matta-Clark brochure, but without inversions or cuts in the typography.

The folded structure of the brochure in half creating a stiff handout that opens with a central split.  As the reader further opens the piece, the overall structure becomes more flexible and malleable.  To use it while perusing the gallery the visitor is subconsciously folding and refolding the panels to offer the proper panel in relation to the architectural space in which they’re located.

The idea of the parallel presentation of comments from the artist / anarchitect Matta-Clark with a quotation from the building’s architect Tadao Ando reveals a fascination with creating particular sorts of openings in buildings, but the concept doesn’t appear to inform the gallery presentation in an clear and deliberate manner that is immediately obvious to the exhibition viewer (or the brochure reader).

An exchange on maps and Matta-Clark (made public)

Sanborn Map from Urban Review STL blog

Following is a brief exchange of comments between Andrew Raimist (author) and Steve Patterson (Urban Review STL blogger) regarding the beauty and efficacy of Sanborn maps.

Andrew Raimist
I love these old Sanborn maps.

Steve Patterson

I have to watch myself when I go into the site with the maps because it may turn into a 3-4 hour trip.

AR

yes, i know exactly what you mean.

have you seen the Fake Estatescreated by Gordon Matta-Clark he researched such boundary maps to find left-over slivers of unclaimed property and purchased and documented them.

SP
Is that part of the current exhibit [at The Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts]?

AR

yes, absolutely. he bought spaces that are 8" x 100' and photographed them, as well as inaccessible spaces trapped between lots.

SP

I've thought about doing that before. I was thinking more the rant against our city govt than an artistic statement.

AR

in my opinion, his work was grounded in social and political criticism presented in the context of art. not so much as objects of aesthetic appreciation as critical tools for unveiling the stupidity and blindness of our institutions.

Odd Lots: Revisiting Gordon Matta-Clark's Fake Estates

Mid-Century Modern Design . . . for Kids !

Kid Made Modern  
By Todd Oldham
Published by Ammo.
Length: 192 pp.
ISBN: 978-1-934429-36-5.
Intended audience: Age 8 & up (& up!).

This activity / craft / art book is inspired by the great Mid-Century modern designers — including Isamu Noguchi, Alexander Girard, and Charles & Ray Eames — as the basis for dozens of creative activity.  Tutorials introduce particular techniques including full-color photos of kids engaged in these creative activities.

Designer Todd Oldham shares his love of mid-century design ideas and transforms them into creative, colorful, and thought-provoking projects for kids.  Oldham was originally a couture fashion designer with boutiques in New York and a commentator on MTV's House of Style.  Oldham has designed dorm room furnishings for Target.  He's presently developing a television program based on his earlier book Handmade Modern.

This book features the use of inexpensive, recycled, and easily accessible materials for the projects.  Easy step-by-step instructions illustrated with photographs makes this a great source for creative inspiration during the cold, blustery days of winter.  The book is ostensibly a craft project book encouraging children to produce their own handmade art, it simultaneously introduces them to the greats of modern American design of the last century.

If you click on this sentence, you can download the pattern pages for creating a Noguchi-esque paper cut-out sculpture.

Kid Made Modern includes projects inspired by Alexander Calder, Jack Lenor Larsen, George Nelson, Paul Rand, and Mary & Russel Wright (in addition to the iconic designers noted above).

This inspirational do-it-yourself book could be a great gift for aspiring young artists.

re: Arch Grounds Design Competition

Following is a letter to the editor published in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch from architect Laurent Jean Torno, Jr. of Laurent Jean Torno, Jr. & Associates.

Open vigorous — not limited — competition for Arch grounds

That St. Louis and the National Park Service would contemplate a semi-closed competition based on a review of resumes and brain-picking is astonishing in its timidity and lack of confidence. This is an opportunity to unleash a vigorous and intense competition of ideas, open to all comers.

Eero Saarinen probably could not have submitted a compelling resume at the onset of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial competition, though his father, Ellel, might have. And Eliel Saarinen almost certainly would not have made a preselected list of finalists based on his resume for the Chicago Tribune Tower competition. His extraordinary second-place finish launched his very distinguished career in America.

Harris Armstrong was a fine St. Louis architect, but his resume would not have earned him a chance at the Jefferson Memorial competition. He was one of five prize winners, none renowned firms or individuals. Many major firms failed with their attempts.

Maya Lin won the Vietnam Veterans Memorial competition as an architectural student. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial and the Arch are two of the most elegant and profound monuments of the 20th century. Both resulted from competitions open to all, as was the Tribune Tower competition. The Flight 93 National Memorial and the Oklahoma City National Memorial pale in comparison.

No individual or elite group can divine which individual or firm embodies the most imaginative and creative talent.

Walter Metcalfe Jr., former Sen. John Danforth and other leaders of the effort to make the Gateway Arch grounds more exciting and accessible deserve our thanks for that vision and very considerable effort. It is time to raise that vision to another level: Prepare a succinct competition program, appoint a distinguished jury, sweep away the middle-men and unleash an intense and open competition of ideas. St. Louis and the National Park Service deserve nothing less.

Laurent Jean Torno Jr., University City

Laurent Jean Torno Jr. & Associates

I concur with many of Mr. Torno's comments.  A two stage competition with open submissions from a relatively widely defined group would be a much more inclusive an desirable beginning point.  For example, the pool of qualified applicants could include all registered architects, landscape architects and urban design professionals.  Submissions could be limited to designers in the United States or could be extended internationally.  Prizes could be offered for the best designs with the guarantee only that they be included in the final round of submissions along with other preselected candidates.

An exhibition, conference and publication of the results of such a competition could have many benefits to the design community in general, Saint Louis in particular, and the Arch Grounds most importantly!

Matta-Clark's Bingo :: gallery talk

Gordon Matta-Clark is one of my heroes.  He had the balls, brains and brawn to physically attack buildings and to forever alter our perception of building demolition, its inherently stimulating, fascinating nature, as well as the social, political and economic implications of the progressive aspects of modernist urban planning (aka, urban renewal).

When I heard this exhibition was coming to the Pulitzer Foundation I was truly excited.  I'd read about his project Splitting from the early 1970s many years ago while an architecture student at Washington University in Saint Louis.  His simple act of slicing a house in half was alternately confounding and exciting.

I wasn't quite sure what to expect at the opening, but was thoroughly impressed and energized by the work on display.  It was a great event where I met several friends and made some new ones.  The Pulitzer's web communications specialist Amy Broadway had a small Flip mino on a tripod that she used to record visitor's thoughts and reactions to the show.  She noticed me chattering away up on the balcony overlooking the main gallery and stopped by to capture my architecture-related ramblings.

In the past, I've avoided being "on camera", preferring to be the one looking through the lens capturing images.  This brief encounter with speaking into a surprisingly diminutive black plastic device offered me a much more positive, exhilarating experience especially when compared to the massive black and white television studio cameras I'd used way back in high school when exploring my AV interests.

When the Pulitzer asked if I'd be interested to speak about one of the pieces on display as part of their "Frame of Reference" series I was simultaneously flattered and excited.  I immediately knew the piece I was most fascinated by was Bingo represented by three wall sections in the main gallery along with a series of photographs documenting the sequence of Matta-Clark's deliberate carving into the side wall of that red sided house.  His decision to leave the central square remaining, hanging in space, after having removed the eight other wall sections surrounding was wonderfully playful and insightfully critical.

I interpreted the nine-square grid Matta-Clark superimposed on the house in light of the architectural theory/propaganda he learned while a student at Cornell University's School of Architecture during the 1960s.  One of the chief theorists at the school was Colin Rowe, a writer and critic famous for his essay "The Mathematics of the Ideal Villa" (1947) which related the abstract grids behind Palladio's Classical villas from the time of the Renaissance and Le Corbusier's 20th century modernist villas.

SLAM expansion is back on !

The David Chipperfield designed addition to the Saint Louis Art Museum in Forest Park is now back on track.  The 200,000 sf black modernist addition will have its ground-breaking ceremony on Tuesday 19 January 2010.  John D. Weil, president of the Museum's Board of Commissioners commented via press release, "This expansion is our generation's contribution to the future of this great St. Louis institution."

This expansion will increase the museum's gallery and public spaces by 30% and more than double the parking available.  A below ground 300 car parking garage will be located below the addition which will be situated on a landscaped plinth.  The building will feature a fully accessible entrance on its north facade overlooking Fine Arts Drive.

The building cost has been established at $130.5 million.  In addition, a $30.5 million endowment will be provided resulting in a total cost of $161 million dollars.  The museum already has $145 million commitments and will raise the addition funds necessary for the expansion through private philanthropy, foundation support and proceeds from the sale of tax exempt bonds.  While funding from taxes are critical to the museum's operation, no tax monies will be used for the museum expansion.

The building's design follows an open plan, with natural daylighting throughout.  Wings extend out in all directions while the connection points to the existing Cass Gilbert designed structure have been sensitively and deliberately designed to minimize the potential for incompatible, inappropriate disjunctions.  This course is wise, honest and direct.  The earlier addition to the museum designed by Venturi Rauch Scott Brown seemed to have been thoughtfully and deliberately respectful to the original Beaux-Arts structure, however, the lack of a direct visual link above ground created some awkward spatial conditions where the circulation intersects adjacent to the Museum Shop and Cafe.  In addition, their decision to remain detached visually and physically from the original building resulted in a truly ungainly, dysfunctional sculpture court surrounding an array of acrylic skylights.

The new Chipperfield design rightly contrasts sharply with the existing limestone and brick exterior of the original 1904 museum.  It features full height black polished concrete panels that include Missouri stone aggregate as well as full height glazing.  The honesty and directness of approach bodes well for the addition in contrast to the superficially decorated, modulated brick modernist office block the earlier addition ultimately became.

Watching the construction of this new museum addition will be a special opportunity for architecture, construction and art enthusiasts.  The project promises to be a jewel in Forest Park's landscape with its modest scale visually and its injection of new vitality to the areas south and east of Gilbert's historic structure.

Leonie, the film

A forthcoming film of great interest to modern design enthusiasts this season is Leonie.  A portrait of Léonie Gilmour (played by Emily Mortimer) and her life in Japan raising her children Isamu and Ailes during the early decades of the century.  The film, presently in post-production, is directed and produced Matsui Hisako (松井久子).

Filming took place from April through mid July, 2009.  Shooting locations include in Kagawa, Japan, Santa Ynez, California, and New Orleans, Louisiana.  It is expected to be released in 2010.

Isamu's father Yonejiro Noguchi (野口米次郎 Noguchi Yonejirō) was a distant, detached figure during this period of their lives in Japan despite Leonie's critical support of his published writing when he was struggling to make a name for himself in the United States.  At that time, around the turn of the century, she was his editor, translator, lover and confidant.  Her support was essential in his efforts to present his writing to an English speaking audience.

One of Yone Noguchi's early successes was The American Diary of a Japanese Girl published in 1902 after being serialized in monthly installments during 1901.  It was purportedly the diary of a "Miss Morning Glory", but presented an outspoken, strong 18-year old woman visiting the US for the first time.  The book presented her as the antithesis of the image presented of Japanese woman popularized in stories such as Madame Butterfly.

Yone indicated his intention to marry Leonie before the end of 1903 on a plain sheet of paper, writing, "I declare that Leonie Gilmour is my lawful wife. (signed) Yone Noguchi."  Many years later wrote of his desire for a "young American Woman" in a poem:

With a young American woman,

I took a walk in New York's Central Park.

(It's now some twenty long years ago.)

"Let's walk in the dark, dark place, " I told her,

And we stepped in the shadow of the trees where no one passed by.

The chill of the winter night pierced by body,

I could not even hear the sound of the wind.

(Oh, how ashamed I am of my irresponsible curiosity.)

I told her of my love for her,

And I even promised her many things.

I squeezed her hand,

And touched it to my mouth.

Yone subsequently proposed to (and was rejected by) another American woman writer before leaving the US for Japan in 1904 when war erupted between Russia and Japan despite Leonie's recent pregnancy.  He left the US in August 1904.  Their son Isamu was born on 17 November 1904.

Leonie and Isamu moved to Japan in March 1907 following letters from Yone to Leonie requesting that they join him in Japan.  Unknown to Leonie, Yone had already married a Japanese woman with whom he had set up a household.  Thus begins the strange, conflicted story of Isamu Noguchi's life.