There is a house on Arsenal, a few blocks off of Pestilozzi ( I know, I can't spell it!) that is entirely wrapped in paper. The paper has a chain as a graphic.
The house and fence next to it are wrapped. It looks like a new house under the wrap.
House is on the (I think) North side, I'm terribly with directions.
Anybody know what's up with this?
I think you're talking about this installation art piece: RFT link.
Rain. Sleet. Broken sewing machines. They are but a few of the obstacles New York artist Leeza Meksin has encountered since arriving to St. Louis last week for her biggest installation to date: wrapping an entire home in her medium of choice, spandex. Despite the setbacks, Meksin and her team of assistants -- including two siblings and Washington University art instructor Lauren Adams -- plan to complete their "House Coat" project in time for Friday's opening. As of yesterday afternoon, half of the home that Adams rents at the corner of Arsenal and Iowa streets was draped in the 800 yards of gold-chain-patterned spandex, which Meksin designed and ordered directly from a South Korea textile mill. And, already, the exhibit is eliciting the reaction Meksin hoped it would, prompting conversations of both bondage and extravagance.
^Not really. From an art perspective, it's a whole different esthetic. Not being a writer, however, I'll leave it for someone else to explain.
The house looked great last night during the SGC event. It really looks best while lit-up at night, but that's probably not going to be an every-day thing.
framer wrote:^Not really. From an art perspective, it's a whole different esthetic. Not being a writer, however, I'll leave it for someone else to explain.
The house looked great last night during the SGC event. It really looks best while lit-up at night, but that's probably not going to be an every-day thing.
Not really. It's wrapping a building. Sort of as if one were to wrap the, oh I don't know, Reichstag in Berlin or the Pont-Nuef Bridge in Paris.
Saying it is the same thing is kind of like saying every oil painting is the same thing, or every country music song is the same thing, or every historical fiction novel is the same thing.
For instance, if we were talking about the Mona Lisa by Leonardo, and someone said it's the same thing as Warhol's Marilyn portrait, then the only thing we could say is similar is that both paintings are portraits (and some people even disagree over that). However, it's been pretty clearly established that the Mona Lisa is a commissioned portrait by a wealthy Italian for his wife, celebrating their new child and home. Warhol's portrait, however, is conceptually and aesthetically connected to celebrity, fame (and Marilyn's infamous mortality). They're even produced differently -- one in classic oil painting style and the other in mechanical silkscreen (which feeds back into ideas about how these two paintings are actually very different, in intention and production and audience reception).
Anyways, I think this project on Arsenal is really cool and I am happy to see such an inventive temporary installation in our city!
I agree with Central Scrutinizer. No one should even think about painting a fresco on a roof again. Michaelangelo already did that... and why do all these idiots keep painting still life of flowers. Don't they realize that Vincent van Goh already painted sunflowers?
I think anyone who hears or sees a wrapped building is automatically going to think of Christo. The painting comparison doesn't apply here as paint is merely a tool to produce the subject. In conceptual work such as Christo's the wrapping and building are the subject. If they wrapped the house in dirt or leaves or gold, etc. one would still think of Christo. It's the actual "wrapping" and process that is the art. Think of the spandex as the paint, if you use that tool to wrap a house you cannot help to think about Christo. I'm sure the artists know this. Nothing in the art world is totally new anymore...it's pretty much all been done before in some form or another. We most likely won't ever see a Christo building in STL and he certainly wouldn't use gold chain graphics on his materials. The house does look cool and it's neat to have people working so hard in STL on these projects. More power to them!
Plus, since it's coined as a "Graphics" thing that instantly puts it in a different category than "Fine" art...in my opinion at least. Some of my art friends would kill me for saying that by the way.
stl-lover wrote:Saying it is the same thing is kind of like saying every oil painting is the same thing, or every country music song is the same thing, or every historical fiction novel is the same thing.
For instance, if we were talking about the Mona Lisa by Leonardo, and someone said it's the same thing as Warhol's Marilyn portrait, then the only thing we could say is similar is that both paintings are portraits (and some people even disagree over that). However, it's been pretty clearly established that the Mona Lisa is a commissioned portrait by a wealthy Italian for his wife, celebrating their new child and home. Warhol's portrait, however, is conceptually and aesthetically connected to celebrity, fame (and Marilyn's infamous mortality). They're even produced differently -- one in classic oil painting style and the other in mechanical silkscreen (which feeds back into ideas about how these two paintings are actually very different, in intention and production and audience reception).
Anyways, I think this project on Arsenal is really cool and I am happy to see such an inventive temporary installation in our city!
You would be correct if I had said it was the same thing.
This is a little late since the thing came down this past weekend, but what is up with this comment?
"According to an artist's statement, the chains are a nod to hip-hop culture and a way of flaunting fabulousness to the neighborhood."
and this one
"I like to say this is similar to the Zapatista movement in Mexico -- when they covered their faces, they revealed the social inequality in rural Mexican villages," Adams wrote in an email."
"Hip-hop culture" and "Zapatistas?" That is seriously pretty offensive. I'm going to go blare country music and coat that artist's house in confederate flags since she is white.
putkcbackinks wrote:This is a little late since the thing came down this past weekend, but what is up with this comment?
"According to an artist's statement, the chains are a nod to hip-hop culture and a way of flaunting fabulousness to the neighborhood."
and this one
"I like to say this is similar to the Zapatista movement in Mexico -- when they covered their faces, they revealed the social inequality in rural Mexican villages," Adams wrote in an email."
"Hip-hop culture" and "Zapatistas?" That is seriously pretty offensive. I'm going to go blare country music and coat that artist's house in confederate flags since she is white.
Sometimes a red circle is just a red circle. Or something like that. Art criticism often goes over the top.
A friend of mine is a lawyer who happens to have the owner of this house as a client.
Apparently the people who wrapped the house are renters -- and did this project without permission from the owner, who is concerned about how this may damage the building. Stay tuned for legal actions coming soon to a courthouse near you.
We need more people wrapping rented houses in this town, if you ask me. I say this as a property owner, too. Now, they should of asked for permission, I wouldn't sue them. LAME.
warwickland wrote:We need more people wrapping rented houses in this town, if you ask me. I say this as a property owner, too. Now, they should of asked for permission, I wouldn't sue them. LAME.
I'd start by having them wrap those awful McMansions out in Wildwood so the rest of us wouldn't have to look at them.
