Architecture can hardly be defined as a purely artistic or a purely technical practice. The point of departure of our architecture ≠ art programme is the question of whether architecture is or is not art. By posing this question, we enter the very core of the problem of architectural creation - that is, we question the very definition of architecture. How should we think of architecture today? How (if at all) does architecture enter the field of art, and how (if at all) does art enter the field of architecture?
Museum of Architecture and Design, Ljubljana
Tuesday, 20 May 2014, at 7 pm
Should we not re-think architecture, its role in contemporary society and its place in our everyday lives? Why not think about architecture as a process and not only as a finished product? Couldn't we then re-form the process such that it would produce a space for constructive change? I would suggest that we articulate the existing theories and methodologies for critical interpretations and articulations of architecture in relation to current sociopolitical challenges and concerns. In that case, we will need to examine the social aspects of living environments manifested in art as well as in architectural contexts - that is, a cross-disciplinary approach to creating works, one that leads to a socially engaged practice and brings together art, architecture and other spatial disciplines.
Apolonija Šušteršič is an architect and artist. She graduated from the Faculty of Architecture in Ljubljana (1992) and in 1996 finished her postgraduate studies in art at the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam. From 2003 till 2008, she worked as a professor and the head of the Monumental Department at the Royal Institute of Art in Stockholm. In 2013, she completed her PhD studies at Lund University, Malmö Art Academy in Sweden. She has exhibited extensively, including at Moderna Museet, Stockholm; the Berlin Biennale 3; Moderna Galerija, Ljubljana; the Generali Foundation, Vienna; the Tirana Biennale 3; Muhka, Antwerp; and the 12th Biennial of Architecture, Venice. She develops artistic, architectural and participatory projects for and within public space, including: Home Design Service (Casco Projects, Utrecht, 2001); Garden Service (with Meike Schalk, Edinburgh International Festival, 2007); SUNSETCINEMA (with Bik van der Pol, Luxembourg, 2007); and Community Pavilion Hustadt (Bochum, 2011).
The lecture will present a short survey/review of some of the intersections of visual arts and architecture. It is precisely as intersections that topics such as form, image, genius loci/site-specific, economy, architectural/performative dispositif say most about the relation between architecture and the arts. The essential question that runs as a common thread through all the comparisons/differentiations is thus not "Is architecture art?" or "What is the relation of architecture to the world of art?", but the presupposition underlying all these questions: "What mechanisms are at work in both so that a relation/difference can be established in the first place?"
Tomo Stanič graduated from the Faculty of Architecture in Ljubljana in 2010. He is currently studying sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design and is a PhD student of philosophy at the Faculty of Arts in Ljubljana. In 2011, Studia humanitatis published his monograph entitled Arhitekturni gledalec (Architectural Spectator). He has been an editor of Praznine (a journal for architecture and art) since 2010.
Locations:
Museum of Architecture and Design, Fužine Castle, Pot na Fužine 2, Ljubljana
Museum of Contemporary Art Metelkova, Maistrova 3, Ljubljana
Moderators: Maja Vardjan (Museum of Architecture and Design) and Urška Jurman (Igor Zabel Association for Culture and Theory)
Programme managers: Vid Zabel and Urška Jurman (Igor Zabel Association)
The Architecture ≠ Art programme is being prepared by the Igor Zabel Association for Culture and Theory in collaboration with the Museum of Architecture and Design and the Museum of Modern Art + Museum of Contemporary Art Metelkova. The programme is supported by the ERSTE Foundation.
