Diller Scofidio + Renfro's "Musings on a Glass Box" Opens in Paris

In celebration of the Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain’s 30th anniversary, Diller Scofidio + Renfro has installed an immersive exhibition that encourages visitors to experience the Jean Nouvel-designed, glass and steel museum building in an entirely new way.

“The Fondation Cartier building designed by Jean Nouvel will be used as raw material for their work, a first in the history of the institution. Musings on a Glass Box is a complex work occupying the entire ground floor of the Fondation Cartier, where a disturbance in the ceiling will trigger a surprising reaction. The result is an immersive environment, including an integral acoustic component by American composer David Lang and sound designer Jody Elff, that works with the building’s architecture to raise questions about transparency, perception, and one’s relation to space.”

A statement from Diller Scofidio + Renfro, after the break.

© Diller Scofidio + Renfro

“Jean Nouvel’s distinctive glass exhibition spaces in the Fondation Cartier have been a provocation to artists and curators for two decades, upending the conventions of the white box gallery and pushing the limits of architecture. The large, transparent walls of the building were at the forefront of glass technology in the ‘90s, aspiring to one of Modernism’s highest goals: to dematerialize the wall and seamlessly connect interior to exterior,” stated Diller Scofidio + Renfro.

“Musings on a Glass Box empties the ground floor galleries in order to put them on display. Their visual and acoustic qualities are heightened through a few strategically placed interventions in the building’s plumbing, electrical, and facade systems. Using a cliché of time lapsed and the appearance of neglect, the project begins with a single, mischievous leak from the ceiling. A response ensues with the aid of a bucket, a chorus, sensors, robotics, remote communications, video, and real-time sound processing. The two ground floor galleries interconnect in a feedback loop. Small gestures in the large gallery are amplified in the smaller one, making the familiar seem uncanny and turning the banal into the grotesque.”

Preparotory study for the exhibition Musings on a Glass Box. Image © Diller Scofidio + Renfro
Preparotory study for the exhibition Musings on a Glass Box. Image © Diller Scofidio + Renfro

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Cite: "Diller Scofidio + Renfro's "Musings on a Glass Box" Opens in Paris" 01 Nov 2014. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/563587/diller-scofidio-renfro-s-musings-on-a-glass-box-opens-in-paris> ISSN 0719-8884

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