The Morning Line
Matthew Ritchie with Aranda/Lasch and Arup AGU
Commissioned by Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary
October 3rd, 2008 – January 11th, 2009
Location The Morning Line:
Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporáneo
At the 3rd Bienal Internacional de Arte Contemporáneo de Sevilla (Biacs) curated by Peter Weibel with co-curators Marie-Ange Brayer and Wonil Rhee
After three years of intensive collaboration between artist Matthew Ritchie, architects Aranda\Lasch and geometric/structural designers from Arup AGU, Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary is proud to inaugurate The Morning Line at the 3rd Bienal Internacional de Arte Contemporáneo de Sevilla (Biacs). Curator Peter Weibel dedicated this year’s Biennial entitled Youniverse to the possible convergence of art and science, and invited the foundation to present its second Art Pavilion project in Seville.
The Morning Line is a groundbreaking architectural project, designated by Ritchie as a porous “anti-pavilion”, both ruin and monument, a drawing in and of space, an open cellular structure. To devise an architectural language where geometry and artistic expression are intrinsically united, the New York based architectural duo Aranda\Lasch and specialists from Arup AGU designed a construction element called “the bit” whose shape is derived from a truncated tetrahydron. The bit can be reconfigured in to multiple architectural forms, scaled up and down within fractal cycles to any imaginable size, potentially even to the size of the universe.
The collaborative investigation between artist, architect and engineer aimed at creating a structure which consists of drawings in space, and the creation of a site where the solid architectural form can disappear. This is based on a coherent sign system derived from Ritchie artistic research. In linguistics, such a process of expressing language through symbols is referred to as “semasiographic”. The Morning Line, therefore, is a semasiographic building structure.
“The project is not only about geometry, it’s about expression. There is nothing else in the project besides Matthew Ritchie’s visual language.” (Benjamin Aranda and Chris Lasch)
Unlike traditional architectural pavilions, the structural language of The Morning Line is mirroring the structure of the universe and basing its eloquent visual language on cosmological theories. New developments in physics and cosmology are implored throughout its visual design. In particular, the Ekpyrotic theory of Neil Turok and Paul Steinhardt, both consultants to the project, are referenced as possible interpretations of reality.
Central to The Morning Line is its “sonic identity”, which was created by Matthew Ritchie in close collaboration with the Music Research Center at York University. Its main element is an interactive installation that will respond to the presence and movements of visitors by emitting customized sounds from an everevolving sonic library. Six distinct indoor / outdoor soundscapes are controlled via a software environment that was designed by Tony Myatt and David Sheppard using sound spatialization techniques.
Two guest music curators, Bryce Dessner and Florian Hecker, invited a selection of leaders in the field of contemporary composition to create exclusive works for The Morning Line.
All of these will be premiered live on a sonic festival during
the opening ceremonies of Biacs and then be integrated into the structure’s library of sounds.
The Morning Line
Matthew Ritchie with Aranda\Lasch and Arup AGU
Commissioned by Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary
Architecture and design: Aranda/Lasch (Benjamin Aranda, Chris Lasch, Clay Coffey) with Arup
AGU (Daniel Bosia, Nicolas Sterling)
Music curators: Bryce Dessner and Florian Hecker
Spound Spatialization: Tony Myatt (Music Research Centre/York University), Aranda/Lasch and David Sheppard
Commissioned compositions by Jón Thór Birgisson in collaboration with Alex Somers, Bryce Dessner in collaboration with David Sheppard and Evan Ziporyn, Mark Fell in collaboration with Roc Jiménez de Cisneros, Bruce Gilbert, Florian Hecker, Lee Ranaldo, Chris Watson and Thom Willems
Animation and programming: Nick Roth, James Case and MRC York
Cosmology/science in collaboration with: Paul J. Steinhardt and Neil Turok
BIACS YOUniverse, 3rd Bienal Internacional de Arte Contemporáneo de Sevilla
Curator: Peter Weibel; Co-curators: Marie-Ange Brayer, Wonil Rhee
Duration: October 3rd, 2008 – January 11th, 2009
Biacs press conference: October 1st 2008, 11 am at Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporáneo (CAAC)
PRESS AFTERNOON at The Morning Line
Wednesday October 1st
1:00 pm – 4:00 pm Commissioner, artist, architects and musicians of The Morning Line meet the press
Location The Morning Line: Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporáneo
www.fundacionbiacs.com / www.caac.es
INFORMATION
Press Office
Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary
press@tba21.org / www.tba21.org
T +43 1 513 9856 29 / F +43 1 53 9856 22