The Way Beyond Art: Architecture in the Expanded Field

As a part of the series The Way Beyond Art, the Wattis Institute presents Architecture in the Expanded Field, designed and curated by Ila Berman, CCA director of Architecture, and Douglas Burnham, CCA adjunct professor and principal of envelope a+d. This exhibition will examine the emerging "expanded field" of architectural installation through a self-reflective, immersive, and didactic exhibition structure. The exhibition is inspired by "Sculpture in the Expanded Field," a seminal text written in 1979 by the art theorist and critic Rosalind Krauss. In her essay, Krauss analyzed sculptural practices emerging at the time that were moving beyond the limits of traditional sculpture and into the realms of architecture and landscape. The boundaries between art and architecture have continued to blur over the past three decades, giving rise to a series of works known as installations whose conceptual, spatial, and material trajectories have produced a new and expanding network of relations between the domains of architecture, sculpture, interiors, and landscape. Installations have enabled architects to explore architectural ideas, experiment with emerging technologies, and distill perceptual and experiential conditions without the limitations imposed by the permanence of architecture. Architecture in the Expanded Field will explore the realm of installation art and architecture across a broad terrain of practices, ranging from the immersive environments of Ryoji Ikeda, Tomas Saraceno, and Philippe Rahm to the deconstructions of Gordon Matta-Clark and the spatial distortions and tectonic manipulations of Softlab, Numen / For Use, Gramazio & Kohler, and theverymany. The exhibition will have two components: an immersive full-scale installation (both within and outside the gallery) and a didactic "surface" component that will present the mapped expanded field of architectural installation. Founding support for CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts programs has been provided by Phyllis C. Wattis and Judy and Bill Timken. General support for the Wattis Institute provided by the Phyllis C. Wattis Foundation, Grants for the Arts / San Francisco Hotel Tax Fund, Ann Hatch and Paul Discoe, and the CCA Curator's Forum. Info: 415.551.9210 or www.wattis.org