Architectures aren’t containers for human needs – but needs and humanities are being generated by architecture. Buildings aren’t neutral boxes for communities, but communities are being formed and governed by them. – Kai Schiemenz
PayneShurvell are currently showing a collaboration between Berlin-based artist Kai Schiemenz who produces walk-in sculptures or ‘containers’ which invite the viewer in, and the architects Casper Mueller Kneer, (the White Cube Bermondsey) based in London and Berlin. In a timely exhibition. Kneer examines the role of stadiums, auditoriums and associated architectures – historic, contemporary and imagined buildings, all of which organise crowds in circular ways.
The power of architecture organising human relations and social processes through the articulation of built form is particularly poignant in the typology of stadium buildings. Embracing large masses of enthused people in the form of a ring, architecture becomes a critical participant in the shaping of this crowd, its experience, control and arousal. Social and built geometries reverberate in tandem. Architecture is both stage and main actor.
For Islands of Swarm, Schiemenz will display selected excerpts of his stadium archive, a constantly updated archaeology of images; stadia, arenas, auditoria, amphitheatres and associated architectures – historic, contemporary and imagined buildings, all of which organise crowds in a circular fashion. The display of the archive will be customised specifically to PayneShurvell gallery.
This will be shown with Mr Hyde III, the third iteration of a spatial sculpture originally conceived as the display/host for the stadium archive but now emancipated from it and existing as an object in its own right. The sculpture sets up new viewpoints and organises the visitor’s spatial experience and the gallery’s flow – a micro-architecture that involves the viewer, modifying both the gallery space and the reading of the archive.
The exhibition is part of PayneShurvell’s A German Summer series of events and will be linked to Concrete Geometries, an ongoing Research Cluster at the Architectural Association, the world’s most influential school of architecture. During the exhibition, which runs throughout the Olympics, there will be talks and seminars. Dates to be announced.
Kai Schiemenz
1966 born in Erfurt. Lives and works in Berlin. 1992-98, Study of Visual Cultural Studies, UdK Berlin; 1999 Master’s class in Visual Cultural Studies under Prof. Lothar Baumgarten, UdK Berlin; 2000 Gasag Promotion Award, Berlin; 2001 and 2004 Working grant from the Senate of Science, Research and Culture of Berlin; 2004 Projects Grant Kulturfonds; 2005 fellowship from Villa Aurora, Los Angeles; 2006 Grant of the City Madrid; 2007 catalog grant, Stiftung Kunstfonds; 2008 Artist in Residence, Monash University Melbourne; 2009 1 year residence in New York City (alias PS1 residency program).
2010 International Garden Festival International Garden Festival; Berlinische Galerie; 2009 – Kappatos Gallerie, Athen; Harburger KV; Buga Schwerin; 2008 – Skulpturen Quadrinale Riga; Villa Romana, Florenz; Kappatos Gallerie, Athen; Auswärtiges Amt, Berlin; 2007 – Galerie Fahnemann, Berlin; Kunstraum München; club Transmediale, Berlin; Open Space, ArtColone; 2006 – INVISIBLE CITY / IDEAL CITY, Zamosc (PL)/ Potsdam; Westfälischer Kunstverein; Pori-Art-Museum (FI); Madrid Procesos; 2005 – Westfälischer Kunstverein; Kupferstichkabinett Berlin; Badischer Kunstverein; Robert Birch Gallery, Toronto; Galerie Koch und Kesslau, Berlin.
Casper Mueller Kneer
Casper Mueller Kneer Architects was established in 2010 to combine the experience of architectural practices Büro Jens Casper in Berlin (German Architecture Award for Concrete 2008, BDA Award Berlin 2009, The Chicago Atheneum Award 2009) and Mueller Kneer Associates in London (AJ Corus 40 Under 40 Award, the most promising young architects in the UK). Casper Mueller Kneer understands the act of building as a cultural practice, reflecting on the tangible material organisation of space as well as the immaterial and negotiable realities that shape it. Recent projects include White Cube Bermondsey, the critically acclaimed conversion and extension of a 1970s warehouse into new galleries and associated spaces for Jay Jopling / White Cube, an award-winning project that was labeled “the Tate Modern of the for- profit art world” by the Guardian.
Casper Mueller Kneer is based in London and Berlin. The office’s work is supported and critically evaluated through academic and research activities.
www.caspermuellerkneer.com
Concrete Geometries
‘Concrete Geometries’ is an interdisciplinary research initiative at the Architectural Association School of Architecture investigating the intimate relationship between spatial form and human behaviour through open calls, exhibitions, talks and publications. ‘Concrete Geometries’ is directed by Marianne Mueller (Casper Mueller Kneer) and involves over 30 international participants from art and architecture. www.concrete-geometries.net
Kai Schiemenz Casper Mueller Kneer Islands of Swarm13 July – 22 September 2012
PayneShurvell 16 Hewett Street, London, UK EC2A 3NN Opening Hours
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