The Body in Repose

The Body in Repose, an installation at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA), revolved around themes of body, material, and fabrication. The methods grew out of our commitment and interest in synthetic systems and the integrated confluence of surface and structure. The wall skin revealed a running subtext of psychological associations of body made evident in the way the singular and synthetic membrane is inscribed.

The whole idea of trying to present architecture in a museum begged the question of context, physically and textually. We began by looking at the nature of Mario Botta’s design for SFMOMA, a masonry-veneered monolith, and challenged the pastiche of his architectural narratives.

Our first interest was to unveil the represented fiction of an authentically crafted masonry exterior wall construction. Our second goal was to critique the museum’s internal narrative of surface, the so-called white wall, and the myth of its neutrality.

1998 Exhibition Catalogue by the SFMoMA

Awards:
Best of Category for Environments, I.D. Magazine, for Fabrications: Body in Repose.

Curated by Aaron Betsky