Psycho Buildings (artists take on architecture) at the Hayward Gallery (28th May – 25th August 2008)

admin — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 09:30:59 +0000

After emptying all the money out of my pocket to get into the Hayward (always an expensive trip!) I walked into Ernesto Neto’s ‘stone lip, pepper tits, clove love, fog frog, 2008′. At first glance looks like a spider web gone mouldy, and it smells like it too! I am truly disappointed. The structure looks like it is held up by weird misshapen plywood legs akin to those that kids use for dinosaur models that you can buy in flat pack at the natural history museum. The only thing that I want to do apart form burn it down is touch it and you are not allowed to. I can however see out of the corner of my eye Michael Beutler’s multi-coloured gargantuan maze titled ‘sandwiches, dobbels and burgers’. This is a true intervention; he has even left his tools inside the construction for you to see the inner workings of his favella, and let you know how he has managed to produce his huge framework. The sheets of tissue paper stuck to wire frames. This is man who was brought up on Lego. The interaction of the different colours layered by the building let some lights permeate through and others are block inducing a darkened more calming atmosphere on the inside. As you look deeper into the structure you find that there are holes where people have tried to test the building, how strong is the
paper? I think this is the most insightful aspect of the whole show. The
interactivity, how far can you push things? What happens if?

This is definetly an aspect of the Austrian collective Gelatin’s ‘normally proceeding and unrestricted without title’ They have flooded part of the roof in the Hayward gallery in
order to create a boating lake. The interactivity is amazing, a truly audacious
activity, but most shocking and brilliant is their natural disregard for health
and safety. The construction is akin to a treehouse that you would create in your back garden. Utilising all the leftovers from the sofa for chairs, and cupboards for flooring. The boats are made from spare mdf and water dispenser bottles for buoyancy. Even more amazing is the fact that you can row to the edge and see people below. Fantastic! I am so glad that finally people are getting to experience art. They are taking
their lives in their hands and grappling with the content hands on. What more
can you ask of a day out? What more can you ask of an Artwork? Thank you
Hayward and thank you Gelatin.

Oliver Cloke» Psycho Buildings Hayward Gallery Michael Beutler Gelatin

Psycho Buildings (artists take on architecture) at the Hayward Gallery (28th May – 25th August 2008)