1'000, 3
Miessen Pflugfelder
in collaboration with John McCusker
April 27 - June 5, 2010
Over the past years, Miessen Pflugfelder have developed an interest in utopian spatial typologies and narratives. At PROGRAM, they present part of a larger narrative, which manifests itself through a singular architectural experience. It opens up the potential interplay between physical intervention, sonic design, and sculpture as narrative devices in architecture.
Based on a fictional design for a quasi-religious typology, a Kunsthalle that unites the cities of Dubai and Düsseldorf, their installation produces a singular, non-visual, spatial experience – an installation which inquires the issue of perceived space versus physical reality, driven by a skepticism of Enlightenment’s architectural touchstone, the public institution. Resulting in what could be described as vacuous space, 1'000, 3 does not resemble a reformulation of past practices, but imagines religion beyond the point of content, as sheer spatial experience.
This backdrop of the Kunsthalle opens up various potential imageries, which are not part of the exhibition, but are placed and nurtured in the mind of the audience. Whereas the exhibition is set up as a solitary viewing experience, a set of background material regarding the larger project can be inquired and viewed at PROGRAM’s library.
Markus Miessen (1978) is an architect and writer. In various collaborations, he published books such as The Nightmare of Participation (Sternberg/Merve, 2010), Institution Building – Artists, Curators, Architects, and the Struggle for Space (Sternberg, 2009), East Coast Europe (Sternberg, 2008), The Violence of Participation (Sternberg, 2007), With/Without –Spatial Products, Practices and Politics in the Middle East (Bidoun, 2007), and Did Someone Say Participate? (MIT, 2006). His work has been exhibited and published widely, including at the Lyon, Venice, and Shenzhen Biennials. Miessen has taught at institutions such as the Architectural Association, Berlage Institute, Columbia and MIT. He has consulted the Slovenian Government, the European Kunsthalle, the Serpentine Gallery and the think tank WIRE. Miessen is the founder of the Winter School Middle East, a PhD candidate at Goldsmiths, and a Professor for Architecture at the Hochschule für Gestaltung, Karlsruhe.
[www.studiomiessen.com, www.nOffice.eu]
Ralf Pflugfelder (1975). Studied at the Universität der Künste in Berlin. Worked in various studios in Berlin, New York, Paris and London. 2004 formation of the practice ae with Magnus Nilsson in London. 2006 foundation of Miessen & Ploughfields and the band Famous in Japan. Participation at the Lyon Biennial, Far West at the Arnolfini, Bristol and Kompost, Berlin. 2009 group show Dubai Düsseldorf at the Kunstverein Düsseldorf and participation at the Performa Biennial NYC. 2010 solo show 1000, 3 at Program, Berlin and participation at Manifesta 8. Runs the architectural practice nOffice in Berlin with Markus Miessen and Magnus Nilsson. [www.nOffice.eu]
John McCusker (1980, Tennessee) lives and works in Berlin, and received a degree in Cultural Studies from the University of North Carolina. McCusker's practice encompasses book design, sound installation and photographic work. He has exhibited at PROGRAM (Berlin), Form Content (London), Nieuwe Vide (Haarlem, NL), and recently co-published and designed the journal If A then B: Notes on Translation. [www.vaguelycontemporary.com]