Gordon Matta-Clark: Open House exhibition

Curated an exhi­bi­tion of film works of Gor­don Matta-Clark at Melbourne’s Arts Cen­tre, 10–24 Octo­ber 2009, as part of Mel­bourne Inter­na­tional Arts Fes­ti­val 2009.

The instal­la­tion fea­tured four works; Open House, Split­ting, Bingo Ninths, and Tree Dance, along exploded sketches by Matta-Clark, inter­preted as large wall draw­ings by Tony Garifalakis.

From the accom­pa­ny­ing essay:

The four works pre­sented in this exhi­bi­tion exem­plify dual tra­jec­to­ries in Matta-Clark’s prac­tice, both of which can be thought of along the lines of inter­ven­tion or inter­rup­tion: the first in terms of the exist­ing built envi­ron­ment, and its sur­faces, and the sec­ond in terms of social flow and interaction.

Gor­don Matta-Clark: Open House

Expe­ri­ence the work of an artist ahead of his time – one whose com­mit­ment to sus­tain­abil­ity and social con­tact appears increas­ingly vital today

Gor­don Matta-Clark was an Amer­i­can artist who rose to promi­nence in the early 1970s, hav­ing devel­oped a com­plex prac­tice that encom­passed archi­tec­tural inter­ven­tion, pho­tog­ra­phy, film, instal­la­tion, per­for­mance and social interactions.

Despite his early death at 35, he has emerged as one of the most influ­en­tial con­tem­po­rary artists of the post-minimalist gen­er­a­tion. Open House presents a suite of Matta-Clark film works that engage with the home. His rad­i­cal and strik­ing alter­ations of empty sub­ur­ban houses high­lighted the rapidly dis­solv­ing Amer­i­can Dream.

Together with these works of ‘decon­struc­tion’ are his works of fancy, where unex­pected objects – a tree or a rub­bish skip – become dwellings or con­vivial spaces. Part per­for­mance, part sculp­ture, these works illus­trate Matta-Clark’s the­o­ries of ‘anar­chi­tec­ture’, and are a fas­ci­nat­ing insight to his expan­sive prac­tice, one which ques­tions the role of the artist, the insti­tu­tion, and even the art object itself.

Cov­er­age:

Ray Edgar, “Beyond the facade”, The Age, 2 Octo­ber 2009. link

Robert Nel­son, “The Artis­tic Abode: designed to enter­tain and threaten”, The Age, 15 Octo­ber 2009. link

Megan Back­house, “Domes­tic Tales”, Art Guide, Jan-Feb 2010. link

“Seen the art? Tell the world!”, The Age, 19 Novem­ber 2009. link

Broadsheet.com.au link

UHH.com.au link

Kollektor.com link

Inframe.tv link

Photo: Gor­don Matta-Clark, Pro­gram Two (1971–72), cour­tesy Elec­tronic Arts Inter­mix (EAI), New York