July 12, 2011

#5

WEEKLY REPORTANGEL ORENSANZ FOUNDATION

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Angel Orensanz Buries The Berlin Wall

World Cultural News Rem Koolhaas: A World Simultaneous Master

Hot from the ArchivesTangible Sounds,Orensanz at Studio 54

At Orensanz FoundationDrawings collection

Hot From The ArchivesTangible Sounds, Orensanz at Studio 54

Exploring the vast archive of Angel Orensanz’s works, this week we travel back to 1985 and take a look into the exhibition presented at the fabled Studio 54. From February 4th to February 11th, the installation Tangible Sounds was on view at the discotheque site, best remembered as an absolute fixture in the New York nightlife of the 1970’s and early 80’s. Interestingly enough, the exhibition could be visited both during the day and at night, as part of the nocturnal events of the nightclub.

Tangible Sounds was an installation involving sculpture, light and music elements. It comprised large-scale tubular sculptures made of steel and aluminum, painted in many colors and with sound interaction. This series of cylinders were installed in bunches around light pillars in up and down motion. The final touch of the whole piece was the drumsticks like metallic wands, available for the visitants to resonate them against the sculptures. Thus, the public actively added a loud, resounding rhythm to the already existing visual rhythm created by Angel Orensanz.

This work follows up and relates to Orensanz’s artistic practice with both indoor and outdoor sculptural installations. Namely, the six totem-like steel pieces placed in the urban complex erected by the architect John Portman in Atlanta, Georgia, or the steel installation Time’s Sonority (1972).

Tangible Sounds showed once again the close relationship of his creative work with the architectural spaces, questioning the functional nature of the building where it is installed. At the same time, the environment constructed with the combination of lights and metallic, colorful cylinders visually resembled a maze like forest that in turn invites the viewer to take a wandering, interactive visit.

This evocation of trees with industrial material has always been a defining characteristic of Orensanz’s oeuvre. In doing so, the artist acted like choreographer or conductor, arranging his various resources in the space while probing with shape, color and material. The result was a powerful sculptural lay out that activated Studio 54’s space in a twofold way, engaging in a dialectics between autonomous and complementary character in relation to the narratives and as a e function of the venue.

The installation, that triggered great interest and public attendance, was a commission of the well-known venue partner founders --Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager--, through Robert Isabell, a fixture during the Studio 54 most popular years as the innovative event planner and designer of the wild nocturnal parties. He was also acquainted with the Angel Orensanz Foundation space, as he was hired to work on Sarah Jessica Parker’s wedding in 1997, celebrated as a secret, yet sumptuous, ceremony. Isabell also brought to the Foundation building a dozen of the most prominent museum galas and social celebrations of the nightlife of New York during the 1990’s. “The king of the event world”, as Anna Wintour of Vogue described him, he was able to take any space and make magic in it, in the same way as Angel Orensanz achieved a magical transformation of the Studio 54 dancing room. A contingent, highly suggestive artwork inserted in an outstanding setting, layered with past memories and echoes.

To have a look at the video registered at Studio 54, click here.

Tangible Sounds at Studio 54

Tangible sculpture

Tangible Sounds at Studio 54

World Cultural News Rem Koolhaas: A World Simultaneous Master

It seems to me, that Rem Koolhaas and the German philosopher Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz (Leipzig, 1646 – Hannover, 1716) have a lot in common. He is famous for his incredible multi-tasking abilities. Although he tended to do many things at once, no task was done half-heartedly. His brain was able to function intently on various planes; Leibniz was a philosopher, politician, scientist and mathematician.

Remment Lucas Koolhaas was born in Rotterdam, Netherlands in 1944. Like Leibniz, Koolhaas has proven to be a mastermind multi-tasker. He concurrently juggles four professional tasks: architect, writer, designer, and theorist of architecture and society. Their one disparity lies in their travels. Leibniz spent his life teaching and researching in three countries: Germany, France, and England. Maybe it was his adventurous demeanor, but Rem Koolhaas has lived and practiced architecture, design, urban planning, global cultural management, and macro sociology on five different continents. He speaks many languages, works diverse political systems and administrations; and understands various construction codes, architectural traditions, and cultural idioms. Although he seems to be at home everywhere he goes, New York has remained his favorite playground. In his work, Delirious New York (1978), he seems to convey the breath and length of his persona, setting the pace for his forthcoming career.

In 1975 Koolhaas founded his London office, Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA). Koolhaas constructed a powerful team: Elia Zenghelis, Zoe Zenghelis and Madelon Vriesendorp. Soon after, Zaha Hadid, a young and eager student of architecture joined, allowing the business to flourish. OMA soon presented an international surge in a dozen new creative and administrative urban fields, making him one of the first and most global professionals in his field.

With the momentum from the OMA, Koolhaas was

asked to participate in the 1980 Venice Biennale, by Paolo Portoghesi. They named the exhibition, Presence of the Past. It was only two years after he had researched, written, and designed Delirious New York. The publication allowed Koolhaas the proper forum to express his imaginative and creative thoughts and practices.

From there, his projects only grew. Soon after the Biennale he applied his conceptual method to a master list of world projects: The Kunsthal Rotterdam (1992), the Seattle Public Library (2003), Central China Television Headquarters and the Shenzhen Stock Exchange in Beijing; and currently, a commission for 111 First Street in Jersey City. Incredibly, Koolhaas was well versed in all these different cultures, allowing him to have valuable input on these projects.

Koolhaas Cronocaos Exhibition last Spring at the New Museum. image © designboom

Koolhaas has also written some vital theoretical works: S,M,L,XL (1995), a 1.376 page book combining essays, manifestos, diaries, fiction travelogues, and meditations on the contemporary city. His new vision for the city is what he calls “the generic city.” The generic city is not planned; Koolhaas believes that it simply just happens. Everyone and anyone can be an architect, design, and create. This utopia envisions a city where all progress, identity, architecture, and streets are things of the past, essentially removing all traces of authenticity. Koolhaas writes, “Relief…it’s over. That is the story of the city. The city is no longer. We can leave the theater now…”. At the beginning of his career, in Delirious New York we can see these ideas starting to develop, but by this time, his generic city is fully formulated.

In 2006 he founded Volume Magazine with AMO and the C-Lab of Columbia University. AMO, which is devoted to the investigation and performance of media, has been provoked by projects such as the Central China Television Headquarters in Beijing and the Shenzhen Stock Exchange in the China capital as well. Slowly but surely Koolhaas is conquering the globe.

More relevant to us, are his New York endeavors, namely, The Prada Project. Koolhaas is redesigning the Prada stores of New York, Los Angles, and San Francisco. Koolhaas explains, “expansion can also be used for a permanent redefinition of the brand...the epicenter store becomes a device that renews the brand by counteracting and destabilizing any received notion of what Prada is, does, or will become.”

Even closer to us is Cronocaos, Rem Koolhaas’s exhibition at the New Museum during spring 2011. Cronocaos was first shown during the 2010 architecture Venice Biennale: “The ultimate example of what can happen to an aged city when

it is repackaged for tourists.” In New York, the show was housed in a former restaurant-supply store next to the museum in the Bowery. To highlight this transformation, Mr. Koolhaas and Mr. Shigematsu kept the supply store’s yellow awning, painting the show title over the old worn lettering. Inside, the architects drew a line down the middle of the space, transforming one side into a pristine white gallery and leaving the other raw and untouched.

Gottfried Leibniz introduced controversial concepts and developments in all his fields. Leibniz, along with René Descartes and Baruch Spinoza, was one of the three great 17th century advocates of rationalism. His work anticipated modern logic and analytical philosophy. He made major contributions to physics and technology. He worked hard to bring about new visions of “unification” for Europe. His scientific projects (mostly his calculating machine that could execute all four mathematical operations), along with his philosophical and diplomatic enterprises, forced him to travel and extensively in London, Paris, Amsterdam, and throughout Germany. The London Royal Society was especially tough on Leibniz, seeing as their own scientist, Isaac Newton was his competitor. The French Court was no better with Leibniz. A German philosopher raised in the French court, and other Europeans courts, was seen a suspicious. Murmurs of his plans involving France in the conquest of Egypt and other fantasy plots penetrated the court. Like Leibniz, Koolhaas is a well-traveled European man. He has manifested, and marked, his territory all over the world. In 2001, he even suggested a new European flag, after the signing of the treaties of Nice. The flag resembled a bar code, bringing to life the idea of a visual language. Koolhaas has been an influential man throughout his time, and will continue to transform not only modern architecture, but theory as well.

Koolhaas Cronocaos Exhibition last Spring at the New Museum. image © designboom

Angel OrensanzBuries The Berlin Wall

It has already been 49 years since the construction of the Berlin Wall; and 22 since its dismantling. Although no one seems to remember, the Lower East Side of Manhattan used to be brimming with German culture. Through all this time, the Angel Orensanz Foundation in New York has managed to keep the memories of this German past alive.

Angel Orensanz just returned from Berlin after developing a piece of art, which utilized the ruins of the once famous Berlin Wall. His aerial displays of fabric were asked to be included in the “Open Air Gallery Fest”, which took place from July 3rd-July 11th. His playful atmosphere, and interactive art, allowed for a performance rather than the typical expect static art.

In 1989 we celebrated, together with the Consulate of Germany, the fall of the Berlin Wall and the reunification of Germany with a concert of major German musicians and poets. The heart of the Festival was the celebration of Heinrich Heine’s poetry and historical vision. Angel Orensanz presented encyclopedic exhibitions of his work in Dusseldorf, Cologne, and Berlin for the last three decades.

He contributed a festive display of his sphere art through the Brandenburg Gate to commemorate older crossings that he took between the two Berlins during the partition.

The Angel Orensanz Foundation in New York has always presented timely German cultural shows. Our first show in Lower Manhattan was called: “The Germans of New York (1840-1920).” In the winter of 1987, we traced the impressive contributions of the German community in New York through photographs and charts. There contributions to our melting pot throughout the 19th and 20th centuries were recognized in this three month exhibition.

Rainer Warner Fassbinder’s Garbage, and The City and Death (1989) was performed for the first time on our stage. We premiered the opera, Heinrich Heine: The Dopplegänger with American Opera Projects (2000), as well as other remarkable cultural events. Angel Orensanz wanted to continue this important cultural precedence by contributing to the current arts scene in Berlin. He brilliantly addresses, in a personal and unpublicized way, our two century old dialogue of the city.

Angel Orensanz performing next to The Berlin Wall. image © Charlotte Martínez

At OrensanzDrawings collection

Angel Orensanz undoubtedly has a unique style. His ambitious exhibitions exude color, innovation, and excitement; barely avoiding sensory overload. Alejandra Pinto, a talented interior designer practicing since 2005, set out on a mission to rescue Angel’s drawings. She is currently living in New York, studying Interior Design at Parsons School of Design. In putting together the exhibit, Pinto sought to manifest Angel’s style while simultaneously experimenting with new mediums and methodologies. The culmination of her procedure, in May 2011, produced a new style which she has named: Vintage.

Angel has an innate ability to make a piece of art that would otherwise look outlandish, seem as though it belongs. He has installed brightly colored poles on bridges, lining highways, and even at the center of traffic circles. Nature seems to have miraculously molded itself into his work, almost welcoming its presence. Pinto seems to have mirrored this exact strategy. Although many of his drawings are done in blue or black, she carefully fashioned the plexiglass drawing displays around the pre-existing architecture and balcony, as if it they had always been there.

Pinto chose to place the exhibition on the third floor of the Angel Orensanz building. As you climb the stairs, there is a change in the air. There is an energy shift, you feel as through the world is below; and you are somehow privy to a secret. The vaulted roofline allows you to sense a transition, the old Gothic building and layout mimic Angel’s creative talents.

Like Angel’s works, Pinto incorporated slender clorful cylinders, creating a veil between the outside world and the art. The plexiglass walls which frame the drawings magnify the deep blue wall which stands behind it. Orensanz himself compared his paintings to, “large windows into vast landscapes that disappear into the skies.” Pinto’s work seems to encapsulate the window motif flawlessly with the stark black frames contrasting the plexiglass wall.

Angel has explained that much of his work pertains to various emotional states. His works span five topics: head, mind, forest, dreams, and clouds. Each painting conveys the impending unknown that seems to plague Angel. Looking at Pinto’s layout for the exhibition, it is impossible to ignore the intensity of the drawings. Yet, she spaces them out in such a way that the human eye can internalize and grasp his fundamental message.

Often, Angel’s work incorporates nature and movement, essentially bringing objects to life. Although the exhibit is confined to a small room, Pinto managed to incorporate Angel’s natural abilities. The transparency of the plexiglass, along with the way it was molded to the balcony, gives off the illusion of movement and fluidity. Pinto has succeeded in created a space fit for the expansive drawings of Angel Orensanz.

Alejandra Pinto has previously worked in both commercial and residential settings. Although this project expanded her repertoire, she has worked with the Angel Orensanz Foundation on other projects utilizing her skills as a spatial planner and an artist.

Drawings collection on the third floor of the Angel Orensanz Foundation

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