Client: The National Trust For Historic Preservation

Location: Plano, IL, United States

Completion date: 2014

Artwork budget: $38,000

Project Team

Artist

Sean Gallero

Luftwerk

Artist / Composer

Owen Clayton Condon

Owen Clayton Condon

Artist

Liviu Pasare

Other

Jennifer Harman

Art Consultant

Steve Dietz

Northern Lights.mn

Overview

INsite by Luftwerk was an art exhibition in October 2014 that transformed the Farnsworth House into a canvas of light and sound, featuring original music by percussionist Owen Clayton Condon and curated by Steve Dietz, President and Artistic Director of Northern Lights.mn. Visitors were invited during the exhibit to see the site in a unique setting after sunset and experience INsite from both the exterior and interior of the house.

Goals

"Luftwerk casts INsite, as “an exploration of the philosophy of Mies through light.” The results are revelatory, reanimating our understanding and appreciation of this iconic structure.
INsite is a looping composition divided into three sections roughly corresponding to the structure of the house, the fluidity of its transparent glass walls, and the organic, where nature meets geometry. Luftwerk uses precision projection mapping, especially in the first movement, to highlight the horizontal structural steel beams that enable the glass walls to enclose the volume of the space with such an ethereal mass. Subsequent projections of abstracted patterns are like an artist’s MRI of the interior volume of Farnsworth, flooding it with images of fluidity created in their studio in a playful but systematic topographic investigation. In the last movement, color enters in and nature is projected within the volume of the house. Dappled sense memories from the daytime meld with the structural outline of the house, transforming it." Steve Dietz, curator
INsite was designed as a site-specific intervention inspired by the architecture and its setting. The intention of the exhibit was to open a new dialogue that invites the public to rediscover the iconic landmark.

Process

INsite by Luftwerk was realized in close collaboration with the staff of the Farnsworth House, who worked diligently on all the logistics involved with bringing an art exhibit to a historic landmark. Steve Dietz, curator, genuinely interrogated and supported the artists to shape a relevant interpretation of the site. The music was composed by Owen Clayton Condon, who developed the score in response to the acoustic qualities of the building. Owen Clayton Condon like Liviu Pasare, who was in charge of technical aspects of the work, have been collaborating with Luftwerk for several years.

Additional Information

Review: http://archpaper.com/news/articles.asp?id=7719 - Blog: http://thecreatorsproject.vice.com/blog/mies-van-der-rohes-iconic-farnsworth-house-gets-the-projection-mapping-treatment