The boundaries between architecture and art are often unclear, and though architecture has a more practical use, many buildings are akin to large-scale artwork. What actually distinguishes the two? Is it aesthetics? Is it function? Tobias Putrih explores the fine line between architecture and art in his current exhibit at the MIT List Visual Arts Center, "Without Out."
This dichotomous and mysterious title sets the tone for the rest of the exhibit. The first large gallery space is darkened, drawing the eye immediately to the huge, white, Styrofoam form in the center of the grey-painted room. Lit by two spotlights, Styrofoam cubes make up something reminiscent of a multi-legged triumphal arch. This is Putrih's creation, "Erosion"(2009). Putrih is Slovenian but works out of Cambridge and Boston. Interested in utopian architecture and its degradation, he treads the line between architect and artist, focusing on the processes inherent in each.
Putrih created the piece "Erosion" with the help of MOS — a group of designers and architects spearheaded by Michael Meredith of Harvard University and Hillary Sample of Yale University. MOS writes software to produce plans for buildings that emphasize parametric design. The software, called "Processing," was used to determine how many cubes could be removed from a starting block of material before the resulting structure would collapse.
"Erosion" is made up of Styrofoam blocks which have been glued together. Putrih often does not glue together the pieces of his finished work, preferring the resulting building-like structures to always be on the brink of collapse. With "Erosion," he allows viewers to walk through and experience the piece like a more conventional building; gluing the piece was therefore necessary.
"Erosion" reaches almost up to the ceiling. From the outside, the surface looks smooth, except for the occasional missing cube, which results in a window-like recess that creates a play of light and dark along the front of the piece. On the inside, the surface forms a muqarnas-like pattern of staggered cubes. Six columns form the support, with a longitudinal space down the center not unlike a church nave. Large portions of the ceiling are gone, creating an uneven skylight in the roof of the structure. The structure is half-art, half-architecture, challenging the viewers' expectations. It seems to be on the brink of collapse, raising questions about how we construct art and buildings and their longevity.
A number of other complementary pieces explore similar themes. In a video composed by Purtih called "Overhang" (2009), a group of people construct a form out of Styrofoam blocks in the empty gallery space where the show now stands. The video is shown on four televisions, all of which present a different angle so the viewers' perception of the shape is almost as 3D as "Erosion" itself. Workers stack long Styrofoam prisms on top of one another to create an organic, pyramid-like shape, exploring the point at which the architectural-like form will collapse. The structure eventually does collapse; the picture fades in and out before the loop starts over again. This video is a representation of the potential for the collapse of "Erosion."
The final portion of the show consists of a number of small models, also by Putrih. The models are based on geometric toys designed by German educator Fredrick Froebel in the 19th century. Putrih bases his models on some of Froebel's envisioned toys — or "Froebel gifts" — as part of a learning process focusing on geometric shapes and the different ways in which they combine. Some resemble building blocks, others K'NEX, but there is always a focus on addition and subtraction and the construction of architecturally-based art.
Putrih does not provide a clear answer regarding the difference between art and architecture, but his pieces suggest that the process of creation and the personal experience of the viewer may be the key to distinguishing one from the other. The definitions of art and architecture, as shown by "Without Out," are based on the unique interpretations of the individuals who experience them.
