Intricacy

November 18, 2002

Guest curated by the architect and theorist Greg Lynn, this exhibition includes works by artists, designers, and architects that reflect an emerging sensibility Lynn has labeled "Intricacy." This notion refers, in the abstract, to a new visual and spatial language of folding, interweaving, and layering -- parts relating to wholes -- that has been heralded by the digital and genetic engineering revolutions. Intricacy announces a gestalt of production: not just CAD-CAM drawings for architects or digital video for artists, but a new way of thinking about the inter-relation of concepts and techniques on an abstract, holistic scale. This exhibition synthesizes a vast geography of ideas and practices drawn from many disciplines and cultural fields.

Lynn will design the exhibition's display framework and a central installation. Akin to mid- and late-century machine and material design exhibitions, Intricacy will create an experimental environment through which visitors can walk and physically experience the art and architecture. Participants include artists Bonnie Collura, Chris Cunningham, Tom Friedman, Adam Fuss, Fabian Marcaccio, Roxy Paine, David Reed, and James Rosenquist; architects Karl Chu, Peter Eisenman (Eisenman Architects), Farshid Moussazi and Alejandro Zaera-Polo (Foreign Office Architects, Ltd.), Preston Scott Cohen, Jesse Reiser and Nanako Umemoto (Reiser + Umemoto), Wolf Prix (Coop Himmel(b)lau), and Nader Tehrani (Office dA).

One of the most innovative theorists of architecture and technology at work today, Lynn serves on the faculty at ETH Zurich and the University of California, Los Angeles and is the principal of the architecture firm Greg Lynn FORM, based in Los Angeles. Greg Lynn FORM is currently working in collaborative partnerships with a variety of architects and designers on a range of projects including a 150 euro currency renovation; a 15 million dollar museum in Costa Rica for the Ark of the World Foundation, scheduled for completion in 2006; and a coffee and tea set for Alessi. Recently, Greg and two other participants (Foreign Office Architects and Reiser Umemoto) were selected as members of United Architects, one of six teams of designers chosen to participate in a design study for the World Trade Center site by the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation.

In conjunction with Intricacy, ICA will co-host, with the University of Pennsylvania's Department of Architecture, a symposium addressing issues raised by the exhibition. A 50-page catalog publication, made as a tabloid-style magazine, and featuring essays by Lynn and a preface by ICA Director Claudia Gould, will accompany the exhibition.

The Preview Reception, which is free and open to the public, is scheduled for Friday, January 17, 2003 from 6 to 8pm. An exhibition walkthrough, led by curator Greg Lynn, Cathrine Veikos (faculty member at the Department of Architecture, University of Pennsylvania), and ICA Director Claudia Gould will take place on Friday, January 17, at 4:30pm.

ICA
The ICA is located at 118 South 36th Street at the University of Pennsylvania. The ICA is open to the public, except during installation, from 12:00 pm to 8:00 pm on Wednesday through Friday and from 11:00 am to 5:00 pm on Saturday and Sunday. Admission is $3 for adults; $2 for students over 12, artists, and senior citizens; and free to ICA members, children 12 and under, PENN card holders, and on Sundays from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm. For more information, call 215-898-7108/5911.

ICA is grateful for the generous support of the Philadelphia Exhibitions Initiative (PEI), funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts and administered by the University of the Arts; the National Endowment for the Arts; and The Stephen A. and Diana L. Goldberg Foundation. Additional support has been provided by The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, The Dietrich Foundation Inc., the Overseers Board for the Institute of Contemporary Art, friends and members of ICA, and the University of Pennsylvania. (Information complete as of 11/1/02.)

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