Category Archives: Archive
Thirty Six Shades of Prussian Blue
“Turnbull’s Blue—Antwerp Blue—Berlin Blue—Prussiate of Iron—Chinese Blue—Saxon Blue—Blau de Berlin”: Reading the world’s first artificial color. “Artists in the West had no reliable blue until the early eighteenth century.” A post on TripleCanopy by Joshua Cohen titled Thirty Six Shades of Prussian Blue offers a portrait of the colour, described as a “blueprint of its origins and use through chemistry, painting, photography,warfare, Holocaust and nuclear terrorism.”
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WHAT’S HAPPENING AT THE CORNER OF SOUTH DOWLING & FLINDERS STREETS IN SYDNEY?
In Spanish grammar, a written question is always preceded by an upside down question mark (¿) to alert the reader to the fact that the following words (or meanings as the case may be) are a question and not a statement.
UNMADE BED BILLBOARDS
New York September 2009 Felix González Torres The last serendipitous day of my trip in New York. Managed to (finally) see one of the sweetest artistic commentaries on sexuality and politics, via the vast, beautiful and wistful image of an unmade bed located on billboards throughout Manhattan. The work was by the late Cuban-American artist González Torres who [...]
CORNERS: THE BILLBOARDS PROJECT
At Sydney Customs House yesterday I unveiled the ideas and people behind a public art exhibit on the subject of corners. This was part of the Sydney Architecture Festival. The project consists of 2 public billboards at the intersection of South Dowling and Flinders Streets (Sydney) that forms the main eastern gateway into the city from [...]
STEVEN HOLL
New York 24.09.09 Out of all the major buildings of note in New York one stands out for me as perhaps the most interesting in its simplicity and restraint. A tiny V shaped gallery space on Kenmare Street across the road from The Corner Café. A collaboration between Vito Acconci and Steven Holl it is a [...]
FELIX GONZALEZ TORRES
New York23.09.09 I meet with Andrea Rosen from the Andrea Rosen Gallery, home of the Felix González Torres Foundation. The intersection that I made in my PhD between architecture, art, aesthetics, sexuality and politics can be attributed to his work. This connection made from a personal architectural perspective seems to be amongst those Rosen feels [...]
GEHRY & LIBESKIND
Toronto September 2009 The best thing about Daniel Libeskind’s recently completed Royal Ontario Museum is the exit. In comparison, Frank Gehry’s Art Gallery of Ontario (completed late last year) is a great surprise. Both buildings entail new insertions and the restructuring of 19th century buildings. Gehry’s early work is extraordinary because you could see him struggling to turn his [...]
VENICE BIENNALE
The shortlisting of the 2010 Creative Directors of the Architecture Exhibition at the 2010 Venice Biennale has just taken place. The search began in June, with initial Expressions of Interest now closed. 29 Submissions were received, of which 5 were short-listed to develop their concept further during the month of August. The winner is due to [...]
SYDNEY ARCHITECTURE FESTIVAL
The Sydney Architecture Festival is being held on October 5th. There are a series of both ‘formal’ and ‘informal’ talks scheduled during the day along with other events. These are all open to the public. I will launch the corners exhibition that I’ve just completed with 4 other collaborating architects. The public art exhibit was supported [...]
NEW YORK
A major creative influence for me over the last 3 years has been the work of the late Cuban American artist Felix González Torres. His work and writing helped me to deal with the self-reflective nature of the PhD and the ambiguity of perception. Finding a way to work within (and with) the conservative and hostile political [...]