You are currently browsing the tag archive for the 'Architecture' tag.
January 31, 2009 Walker Entrance
I’ve been running around like crazy lately. The process of moving to a new apartment is… more stressful than I remember. Unfortunately, I’ve not been able to update this blog as much as I would have liked.
Something good…
I’m beginning to shake off the frigid weight of winter and photograph again, with hopes of eventually building a portfolio of architectural photography.
While that is starting to simmer on the back burner, I am also beginning to expand on the dialog that was initiated with a post on Dec. 05. A post on Elysium, the blog of Colleen Mullins, caught the attention of another blogger… creating a trifecta of discussion about the role of the market in art production.
Check out the first question in the discussion here…
Stay tuned for updates…
Clinton Ave Public Space, February 2008
Americans are either in their cars, in their homes, or in shopping malls.
The sense of public space in the contemporary American city is so exceptionally abbreviated it seems that I am able to pass to and from work without ever really having to navigate a truly “public” place. I get up in the morning, and pass from my house to an abandoned street of private homes and get onto a bus that systematically seals me off from the public sphere passing outside. When I arrive at work, I migrate upwards into the sky-ways and am deluged by an array of private interests and intentions – starting with some corporate architect’s premeditated control of my movement and ending with the various retail establishments that pull me in to spend money.
There is never a sense of openness, possibility, or social exchange in the mock public environment I’m surrounded by. I guess I’m comparing this to the various public spaces I’ve spent time in – The Zocalo area in Mexico City or Central Park or the Museum Plein in Amsterdam. There is something that is distinctly lost when public space is mutated and downsized as it is in Minneapolis. Supposedly there is a new public space opening up – Target Plaza… next to Target Field… next to the Target Center.
Does it bother anyone else that we are so willing to have our open forum spaces co-opted by a corporation’s private PR interests?
With the above thoughts in mind, I intend to actually start doing some work again (keeping in mind, I can’t really make any prints until this time next year). A couple of goals for this project/direction:
- Research the history of the corporate sponsorship of art, architecture, and the public sphere.
- Photograph the spaces that constitute public space, in its abbreviated and shrunken state.
- Intervene in the dialog between the accessibility and inaccessibility of the public and private, corporate and free.
5B4 is featuring the rather amazing work of Guy Tilim. I couldn’t be more interested in his images right now. As a die-hard lover/admirer/photographer of the relics of Modernist architecture, Tilim’s images blow my skirt up, way up and over my head. LINK
I’ve been planning a major trip to South America to photograph Brasilia for two years. Seeing the viability, depth, and richness of Tilim’s work makes me want to punish my VISA card and buy some tickets.
Anyone out there up for a trip to a Modernist Utopia?
*****
There are certain things I’ve learned about myself over the last 3 months that continue to amaze me. Things like how many gin and tonics I can drink. How delightful an ice-cold Cornonita can while driving throught the desert in a Toyota Prius. And…
How much I like French-Speaking boys.
They’re dangerous. Alot like the haircuts and dancemoves in this Vive la Fete video for Touche Pas:
*****
Finally, the image of the day. I found this amazing building when I first moved here in 2005. Its been graffitied, burned, reviled, spit-upon, and imploded. With any luck, the condo-crazy gay men will NOT be able to knock it over to build yet another generic building.
I cannot think of anything worse than living in a city filled with wifey gay men who are home owners. Someone out there has to offer a smidgen of difference.
Long live the relic.
Implosion Room, 2007
