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Wolfgang Buttress's UK pavilion for the World Expo 2015 in Milan, relocated to Kew Gardens in June 2019
Rocks, bricks, mud, clay, pebbles, dirt...you name it...this wall had it. I love the texture of this wall.
Sophia Al-Maria: Taraxos
“ * - Every asterisk a star. Every star a clock. Every clock a chime. Every chime a warning. Waking a cell, then a seed, then the germ of a weed getting ready to flower. – Sophia Al-Maria
Sophia Al-Maria considers the dandelion an emblem of freedom and resistance, as each seed has the potential to become an agent of resilience and change. Inspired by the life cycle and geometry of the dandelion (taraxacum officinale), the sculpture taraxos is a model for understanding and listening to the world.
Taraxos is a meditative place for anyone to slow down time for themselves. Visitors can sit beneath and stand amongst a constellation of 12 metal achenes, which take the form of futuristic dandelion ‘seeds’, and listen to the sculpture. Activated by the wind, the sculpture can also be played by touching the stems which are covered in copper, a material selected for its antimicrobial qualities.
At the top of each achene the asterisk* appears as shorthand symbolising a dandelion seed’s bracts, below it is inscribed into the ground in reference to the navigational tool of a meteorological wind rose. The punctuation mark of the asterisk* is a motif in Al-Maria’s work which emerged from her screenwriting practice in which the asterisk indicates rewriting and revision. The central node of taraxos is a piece of reclaimed titanium from an airplane. This durable yet light material, ideal for air and space travel mirrors that of the seemingly fragile airborne dandelion seed.
The Serpentine x Modern Forms Sculpture Commission focuses on Serpentine’s immediate environment as a space for artists to engage with the landscape of the park.
Sophia Al-Maria was selected for this new public sculpture commission by Hans Ulrich Obrist, Artistic Director, Melissa Blanchflower, Curator, Exhibitions and Public Art, Serpentine and Nick Hackworth, Director, Modern Forms.”
Text © The Serpentine Gallery 2021-22
Facing northeastward and looking at the western corner of the building formerly known as Morton Liquor.
To see the whole-facade context for these cladding panels, check out the the Part 19 image. On it, they are situated at far left.
Having already issued two lithico-philosophical magna opera on the Morton Gneiss used in this edifice (see the link above as well as this post), I can now show a couple of nice close-ups that illustrate points made in those earlier tractates. Here's the first of them.
Nothing is more spiritually edifying for a writer than to quote himself as an authority, especially when it's clear no one else ever will. So watch out; here I go.
In Part 19 I noted that in this building as elsewhere
the [Morton Gneiss] cladding panels have been set into the facade . . . without any obvious intent to create book-matched or even slightly coordinated patterns on a scale larger than each individual section.
From this I conclude that this rock type
will be used only on its own terms, and in reference to nothing else, including itself. Each square or rectangle of this stone is its own primordial cosmos caught before it began to organize itself into recognizable structures.
All that is evident in these panels.
Still, at this point I'm getting leery of trying to disambiguate the Morton's components of different ages. (Remember that this "gneiss" is actually a migmatite composed of not one rock type but several). These components are:
- The paleosome, this migmatite's original constituents: gneiss derived from tonalite and granodiorite, dated to 3.524 Ga; and an undated amphibolite derived from komatiite.
- The neosome of subsequently added ingredients, which are gneisses derived from a pegmatite and various other granitoid intrusions. These date from 3.37 Ga to 2.619 Ga.
The problem on most nicely polished exposures like this is that it's obvious that all these components are of a highly social nature and have blended together all too well. The two portions that still can look somewhat distinct are the black amphibolite clasts (not present in this photo, alas) and the pegmatite. The second of these is identified by its huge, pale feldspar crystals.
The best example of the pegmatite in this shot is the uppermost of the panels that are completely visible. Running across its bottom is a nice vein of this coarse-grained granitoid. Can you dig those funky dark dots of ferromagnesian minerals?
To see the other photos and descriptions in this set, visit my Magnificent Morton Gneiss album.
Palazzo Ducale
4:38 PM on October 22
Canon EOS 20D, 24-70 mm | ¹⁄₂₀₀₀ sec at f/4.0 at ISO 100
© 2005 Mark Gillespie, all rights reserved | File:2A_051022_137
Serpentine Pavilion 2022 Black Chapel by Theaster Gates
“Designed by Chicago-based artist Theaster Gates, the Serpentine Pavilion 2022 Black Chapel draws inspiration from many of the architectural typologies that ground the artist’s practice.
The structure, realised with the support of Adjaye Associates, references the bottle kilns of Stoke-on-Trent, the beehive kilns of the Western United States, San Pietro and the Roman tempiettos, and traditional African structures, such as the Musgum mud huts of Cameroon, and the Kasubi Tombs of Kampala, Uganda. The Pavilion’s circularity and volume echo the sacred forms of Hungarian round churches and the ring shouts, voodoo circles and roda de capoeira witnessed in the sacred practices of the African diaspora.
Black Chapel is a site for contemplation and convening, set within the grounds of Serpentine in Kensington Gardens. The structure’s central oculus emanates a single source of light to create a sanctuary for reflection, refuge and conviviality. The project mirrors the artist’s ongoing engagement with ‘the vessel’ in his studio practice, and with space-making through his celebrated urban regeneration projects.
Drawn to the meditative environment of the Rothko Chapel – which holds fourteen paintings by American artist Mark Rothko in Houston, Texas – Gates has produced a series of new tar paintings titled Seven Songs for Black Chapel. Creating a space that reflects the artist’s hand and sensibilities, seven paintings hang from the interior. In these works, Gates honours his father’s craft as a roofer by using roofing strategies including torch down, a method which requires an open flame to heat material and affix it to a surface.
As part of Serpentine’s dynamic summer programme, the Pavilion becomes a platform for live performances and public convenings. An operating bronze bell – salvaged from St. Laurence, a landmark Catholic Church that once stood in Chicago’s South Side – is placed directly next to the entrance. Pointing to the erasure of spaces of convening and spiritual communion in urban communities, the historic bell will be used to call, signal and announce performances and activations at the Pavilion throughout the summer.
Gates’ Serpentine Pavilion 2022 Black Chapel is part of The Question of Clay, a multi-institution project which comprised of exhibitions at Whitechapel Gallery (September 2021 – January 2022), White Cube (September – October 2021) and a two-year long research project at the V&A. The project seeks to investigate the making, labour and production of clay, as well as its collecting history, through exhibitions, performance and live interventions, with the aim of generating new knowledge, meaning and connections about the material.”
All text © Serpentine Gallery 2022, see: www.serpentinegalleries.org/whats-on/serpentine-pavilion-...
Customized ALPOLIC ACM Panels Revitalize Hyundai Dealerships Nationwide, Fabricated and Installed by Architectural Graphics Incorporated, Virginia Beach, VA
Panel Manufacturer: ALPOLIC
Architect: Hyundai Motor Corporation of Korea
Location: National
Completion: Ongoing over the next 5 years
image courtesy of © Mark Rhodes for Mitsubishi Plastics Composites America
Customized ALPOLIC ACM Panels Revitalize Hyundai Dealerships Nationwide, Fabricated and Installed by Architectural Graphics Incorporated, Virginia Beach, VA
Panel Manufacturer: ALPOLIC
Architect: Hyundai Motor Corporation of Korea
Location: National
Completion: Ongoing over the next 5 years
image courtesy of © Mark Rhodes for Mitsubishi Plastics Composites America
ALPOLIC ACM Panels Give Modern Appeal To Ontario Gas Chain Pioneer/Verve, Fabricated and Installed by Flexx Corporation, Cambridge, Ontario, Canada
Panel Manufacturer: ALPOLIC
Architect: Lintack Architects Inc.; Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Location: Ontario, Canada
Completion: March 2012
image courtesy of © Flexx Corporation
Image © Susan Candelario / SDC Photography, All Rights Reserved. The image is protected by U.S. and International copyright laws, and is not to be downloaded or reproduced in any way without written permission.
If you would like to license this image for any purpose, please visit my site and contact me with any questions you may have. Please visit Susan Candelario artists website to purchase Prints Thank You.
• No painting required
• Will not rot, check, splinter, or warp
• Insect resistant
Please contact us for details:
289-291-9006
info@decorinnovations.ca
Renovators about to work on a church in Santa Fe, NM, had made a great effort to pile their scaffolding and work materials in an organised way, allowing me to have fun with the camera.
Artist: Ai Weiwei at The Royal Academy of Arts London 2015
In 2008 the municipal authorities in Shanghai invited Weiwei to build a studio in
Malu Town, Jiading district, at their cost. The federal authorities then overturned the agreement and ordered the building to be demolished.
Despite the authorities’ attempts to prevent Weiwei from accessing the site during the demolition he managed to obtain some of the original
building materials to make ‘Souvenir from
Shanghai’.
Artist: Ai Weiwei at The Royal Academy of Arts London 2015
In 2008 the municipal authorities in Shanghai invited Weiwei to build a studio in
Malu Town, Jiading district, at their cost. The federal authorities then overturned the agreement and ordered the building to be demolished.
Despite the authorities’ attempts to prevent Weiwei from accessing the site during the demolition he managed to obtain some of the original
building materials to make ‘Souvenir from
Shanghai’.
Classic beauty
Permanent Luster
Flawless Quality
Cleans Like China
these are new-old stock ftom the 1940s and 50s. Ah, things were all looking up, and plastic was the miraculous substance that was going to replace all those fussy materials like glass, ceramics, stone, leather, cloth, metal, paper...EVERYTHING! We will never have to clean, repaint, repair or touch again. Just throw away and replace....cheap!
Oh if only they could see 75 years ahead and see 1. Plastics do wear and degrade in the sun and with time....enough to be useless but not enough disappear from Earth. Essentially all the plastic EVER made is still here on Earth. Yep, every tomato wrapper, potato chip bag, eyeglasses frame, Tupperware container, straw, twist tie etc.... is still here somewhere. 2. Tastes/styles change too fast and plastic just eases the ability of people to change styles even more quickly and wastefully. 3. Plastic materials made to look like...say wood...look...like...well, plastic. Vinyl siding, plastic, farmhouse interior doors, plastic window frames and mullions, fences, faux cast-iron trim, plastic lighting etc...have become what people think wood metal glass and stone look like. All the beautiful components of old houses, such as clapboard had a purpose. The fake wood siding, fake mullions, fake stone chimneys all have no function. I'm a bit romantic about things having purpose and find modern housing to be utterly soul-less, and having no vernacular of their own. They are simply posers.
As a side note...my PhD advisor was a chemist at DuPont trying to figure out how to make plastic materials...like siding...withstand photodegradation. Unsatisfied he left in the 1960s and used his knowledge of photochemistry to create a new cancer therapy known as Photodynamic Therapy (PDT) which is still used to treat 10s of thousands of people per year. And plastic siding still has a 10-20 year lifespan before photodegradation renders it bleached, brittle junk. It looks like phony crap and the promise to "never paint again" is only true because it will have to be replaced. The junk siding will sit in a landfill for the next 5-10,000 years slowly degrading into toxic compounds.