My Wallpaper is Cracking
Press
photos
March 16. April 7. 2001
Guillaume Leblon (F) / Italo
Zuffi (I)
Curator: Luca Cerizza
Leblon and Zuffi investigate
the dark side of modernist, utopian architecture, the subtle
anxieties linked to this architectural ideal of order and discipline.
Both artists establish, through simple interventions, an emotional
relation with interior spaces and the domestic environment, creating
feelings of uneasiness and imperceptible tension in the viewer.
Thanks to the site-specific works of the two artists, Sparwasser
HQ becomes the set of a crime story, without any bloodshed.
French artist Guillaume Leblon
(1971) presents the 16mm film Villa Cavroix,
(9 min., 2000). The villa, located in northern France, was built,
according to the design of architect Robert Mallet-Stevens, in
1932, and abandoned in 1986. The film documents a sensual and
slow walk through the ruins of the villa: only interior spaces
are visible, no total view is provided. As with other works by
Leblon, Villa Cavroix is a bittersweet tribute to concepts
of elegance and order; its commentary lies between nostalgia
and critical consciousness.
Pre (2001) is a slide projection by Italian artist
Italo Zuffi (1969). Similar to the works of Leblon, Zuffi approaches
architectural space in an emotional and abstract way, documenting
a few important details (floors, doors, windows, etc.). In the
projection, images of the space are mixed with monochrome images
and lines of text. The text describes a request made by one fictional
character to another: to walk around the edges of a swimming
pool, to take confidence in the space. Through subtle vertigo
and slight hallucination, Pre suggests a problematic relation
to the site. Zuffi also presents two new pictures, documenting
moments in the construction of a pavilion designed by Dan Graham:
a group of workers gathers around a wooden structure - what is
really going on here?
Luca Cerizza