Shane Reiner-Roth, Selected Work by shane rr

Shanereinerroth@gmail.com +1 818 421 0872 www.tallwork.com www.everyverything.com

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Contents

(a)

+120’

Personal/TALL Work

Student Work (b)

Becoming Upside-Down

Museum of the Captive Lotus +98’

+95’

+78’

+70’

+65’

I was an Important House that Day

Infraordinary +50’

+38’

36 +20’

Museum of the History of the Motel

Suspended Animation

Satellite City

Everyverything

Professional Work

Published Work

Rooftop Deck at MoMA PS1

“A Movable Taste” Log Journal

YF Restaurant

“Bricks and Stickers”

Erin Besler

Fleetwood Fernandez

Pidgin Journal

YELLOW FEVER II

Facebook Mobile / Digital Westworld 2560 LINCOLN BLVD, LOS ANGELES, CA 90291 APRIL 30, 2015

SCPS Unlimited

EXTERIOR FRONT VIEW

“History of the World Trade Center, Part II” Clog Journal

Balloon Frame

“Figural Monuments” Mas Context

Pita + Bloom

Becoming Upside-Down Competition Entry With Kyle Branchesi Featured in Dear Architecture, by Blank Space Publishing Awarded Honorable Mention

Dear Architecture, I write this to inform you that you’re stuck. Or, rather, that you appear to be stuck. You must feel painted into your own corner, and perhaps we’re to blame. Because you’re so assuredly sunk in the ground, with your plumbing twisted in a knot; because heaven forbid the moment you’re confusing you might cause some missed flights; because every component of your being is ossified, codified, and standardized by things you’ve never even heard of. You’re nothing more now than a mailbox for the mailman, a quick buck for the toupéed, and storage for the rest. What used to be your best qualities have been systematically targeted to fade away, and the only thing that remains is a private way of thinking about you: wistfully, in the past, and no longer now. The purpose of this letter is to ask you a question: have you considered the benefits of becoming upside-down? It could turn your whole life around. Before I sell you on the concept, you should know what becoming upside-down involves: your chimneys squirm in rotation, the depths of your awnings approach zero to gain mass on the other side, your windows push and squeak past each other for a spot in the limelight, and your roofs multiply infinitesimally to clear a path for clean slates. Your initial resistance towards loosening up would be understandable. After all, the act is not about satisfying any stylistic concern, and it’s certainly not about the proper relationship between anything and anything else. From your end, this must sound unpleasant, and like a rather intense exercise. But you have to remember that this is not the first time your motives have been undermined. In your experience, each new obstacle has birthed a uniquely indomitable solution. Right now you might feel safe with all the codes and regulations, but I think you’ll come to prefer the sway of unchartered waters in due time. Becoming upside-down is a great opportunity to have your eaves and treads newly considered; to forcibly push your best qualities back to the center of conversation. While your elements churn and do whatever else they may, they’ll grind to a halt at each moment to be read for the readers. In the odyssey from double doors to single chimney, for instance - a monumental task by anyone’s measure - you’ll soon regain the audience you had lost for longer than we can both recall. I grew up believing that Architecture is everything, but now I’d like to see you prove it. With your commitment, you could be the one at long last to recede into the bending landscape and over the horizon line. Why should it not be your turn to escape geometry by a fugitive mobility? I implore you to consider the many benefits of becoming upside-down; and given the contemplative solitude you’re afforded while tied to the ground, I’ll permit you some time to sleep on it. Till then, Your confidant

I was an Important House that Day Ongoing Project Published in part by Book Machine With Kyle Branchesi

I am a house that grows up not knowing it is a house at all; a house so removed from the domestic life I wouldn’t know where to start. I am a house that mimics all the other things I see, that is spiny, springy, or bendy, or whatever else fits the mood. I am a house that survives an axe wound and spends its days happily split in two. I am a house that peels open to reveal a marble treat, loaded with potassium. I am a house that spills out the windows when full of water and offers a respite for the sea creatures. I am a house straight out of a monster movie, after hitting the ground at alarming speeds. I am a house that is stepped on like a bad bug and still makes room for a decent kitchen island. I am a house that finds pleasure in the actions of its brethren objects, that jumps and jives and does the splits. I am a house of a thousand dances. I am a house that twirls upwards like a pig’s tail, after combing out the loose bricks. I am a house that slips into the sidewalk without any starch, which fractures like an egg, which is craggy and articulated as an ageless artifact, which is left alone for who-knows-how-long to break in two and develop smaller versions of itself inwardly onwardly. I am a house that bends and tosses and turns and everything all else. I am a house that flattens and takes off like a wayward carpet. I am a house that grows chimneys to divide its roofs. I am a house that can guarantee your boat won’t budge on the water. I am a house that conceals a nation on the other side. I am a house of walking pipes and plumbing under the floorboards. I am a house of growing pains. I am a house that proves the architect’s hand always exceeds the surface. I am a house that lies between the floors of silent seas and an airborne mirage. I am a house that ascends like a set of its own stairs, “no where up but something down.” I am a house of columns not suitable to load anything other than wet laundry. I am a house of brick confusion and stucco ambiguity. I am a house of chimney cannons and spooky skeleton frames. I am a house of sliding facades and lighthouse bedrooms. I am a house in everything all together.

9 - Drawing of Installation 10, 11 - Illustration Board I 12, 13 - Illustration Board II 14, 15 - Renderings of Installation

Museum of the History of the Motel Installation With assistance from Kyle Branchesi, Ellen Den Herder, Kaiho Yu, Edwin Nourian, and Karen Hong

“There is no longer any transcendence or depth, but only the immanent surface of operations unfolding, the smooth and functional surface of communication.” -Jean Baudrillard

It’s no personal exaggeration to say that motel rooms are all the same. A decently experienced traveler could navigate one blindfolded: tv and dresser opposite a bed centered on the right wall, end table on either side, bibles below and lamps above. They are essentially arranged for the client with no face by the owner with an easy-answer catalogue, codified by the decades-long agreement made between thrifty motel owners and the even thriftier travelers that depend on them. Their shared desire for ease and convenience at the expense of a memorable transaction has produced a bad infinity of checks and balances. This is the domesticity game at its most transparent, a game in which suppliers and demanders are changing places constantly. Like waiting rooms and airplane cabins, motel rooms are designed to be accommodating yet ultimately unmemorable; willing by-products of the places where we really want to be making memories. But purgatory isn’t entirely undecorated either. Though customers are openly indifferent to the specific furnishings of their room for the night, they are on some level comforted by any sense of hominess that might pacify thoughts of the deal made between them and the stranger at the front desk; that this is not their bedroom and that they are actually thousands of miles away from home. Consider the art above the bed, for instance. It’s usually something nondeclarative and apolitical (horses, the ocean, a fabricated skyline…), not meant to be seen up close so much as fill up an otherwise blank wall. Their purpose is to satisfy a small part of some checklist, adding up to the estimation of anyone’s home away from home. In other words, the more generic the furniture, the more readily it can represent both everyone and no single person.

17 - Modified Holiday Lodge Advertisement 18 - Bed 19 - Night Stand (Bible and Lamp) 20 - Bathroom Wall 21 - Bathroom Floor 22, 23 - Brochure

Satellite City Competition Entry Featured on CityVision Website With Kyle Branchesi

China incorporates the specific, and disperses the generic. The satellite cities that cover China depict a country that has produced the world within its borders: a scaled Paris pried apart from its roots, a medieval slice of Austria rebuilt brick by brick, a Manhattan devoid of life... all while the spitting image of the Plan Voisin flickers by every highway. Beijing’s satellite cities are often the exhaustion of ideas and their hasty executions; what sounded good at one board meeting are now limping monstrosities. Not always intended to be inhabited but rather seen as immense hood ornaments, these satellite cities impress the world by reproducing it. Meanwhile, what China gives the world is the matter that we all ignore: the plainest pencils, anonymous tennis shoes, the most standard shipping containers you’ve never seen... China offers the world ubiquity at alarming quantities and accepts debased artifacts in exchange. And though it adorns the bottom of virtually every generic object you encounter between your bedroom and your office, the only place we wishfully expect the stamp ‘Made in China’ is on the goods of all the world’s various Chinatowns. The Chinese government recently developed a new satellite city for Beijing, aptly named The Satellite City (TSC). Modeled not on the western culture that China has adopted as its own, but rather on the generic objects that it has been known to export unceasingly, TSC is the first city in China that represents the country’s contemporary face to the world. In its borders, mixed typologies are modeled after plungers and stacks of plates; infrastructure toggles through the three dimensions as the eye travels; and the names of neighborhoods are as coinable as “The Toilet Top District” and “The Chess Piece Corridor.” Like those preceding it, TSC is unobtainable to the citizens of Beijing. Alluring it may be yet intangible to the touch, TSC is not intended to alleviate the population density of Beijing and is instead another opportunity to generate empty labor for a government eager to work. And though its perimeter - visible from around and above Beijing - tells a different story than the advertisements suggest, Beijingers yearn for it and to break apart from the masses. They wish to forge a relationship with TSC, yet find their love unrequited. The following is from an advertisement for the Beijing Beautytek Plastic Surgery Center in Zhiyin Magazine: “Looking to get to The Satellite City but can’t quite make it? Find information on highly trained board-certified plastic surgeons in cosmetic and reconstructive surgery in Beijing. Our surgeons have been trained to practice rhinoplasty with your preference of tape dispenser, waffle cone, clothes hanger, and light bulb...Other surgeries have covered: wine bottle lifts, teacup tucks, and several types of augmentation such as arm/plunger, leg/screwdriver, and torso/bicycle frame. We help you be the city you want to live in.”

25 - Detail of Satellite City 26, 27 - Billboard and Fragment of Satellite City 28, 29 - Beijing Beautytek Plastic Surgery Center

Museum of the Captive Lotus Advisor: Darin Johnstone With Chuchen Feng

Before there was any consideration for program, site, and leisure, there was an interest in how two points form a line. The edges of windows form spaces, the edges of spaces form relationships within themselves, and spacial relationships form a museum inherently tied to a method of design. The vertical museum, deeper and taller than wide, finds its paths of movement in its directionality. The sensation of points becoming lines is fundamentally expressed by the very proportions of the bounding box. The shift from the outside to the interior is felt as one of material but also of visual complexity. The outside exposes the lines and the surface in collaboration, yet the inside is an experience both of concealment and enlightenment as the surfaces are revealed alone. The proportions of the individual galleries are legible from the outside as they reinforce the directionality of the site. The interior is separated into three major exhibition spaces with global circulation connecting them. The facing windows allow for a visual relationship between the galleries and interstitial spaces of the facade (including the cafe and the sculpture garden), while the streetfacing windows establish a relationship with SoHo.

31 - Chunk Axon 32 - Perspective 33 - Section 34, 35 - Cross Section Detail

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 +143’

8 9

+133’

(a)

+120’

(b)

+98’

+95’

+78’

+70’

+65’

+50’

+38’

+20’

section @ 4 ’ - 1” 01. flourescent track lighting 02. fiberglass molding 03. primary steel structure 04. steel flange 05. steel subframe 06. insulation 07. aluminum subframe 08. waterproofing

Infraordinary Advisor: Andrew Atwood

“The daily newspapers talk of everything except the daily. The papers annoy me , they teach me nothing. What they recount doesn’t concern me, doesn’t ask me questions and doesn’t answer the questions I ask or would like to ask. What’s really going on, what we’re experiencing, the rest, all the rest, where is it? How should we take account of, question, describe what happens every day and recurs everyday: the banal, the quotidian, the obvious, the common, the ordinary, the infra-ordinary, the background noise, the habitual? To question the habitual. But that’s just it, we’re habituated to it. We don’t question it, it doesn’t question us, it doesn’t seem to pose a problem, we live it without thinking, as if it carried within it neither question nor answers, as if it weren’t the bearer of any information. This is not longer even conditioning, it’s anaesthesia. We sleep through our lives in a dreamless sleep. But where is our life? Where is our body? Where is our space? How are we to speak of these ‘common things’, how to track them down rather, how to flush them out, wrest them from the dross in which they remain mired, how to give them a meaning, a tongue, to let them, finally, speak of what is, of what we are. What’s needed perhaps is finally to found our own anthropology, one that will speak about us, will look in ourselves for what for so long we’ve been pillaging from others. Not the exotic anymore, but the endotic.” -Georges Perec

37 - Wall Diagram 38 - Tetrahedron Office Building (Preliminary Study) 39 - Cubic Office Building (Preliminary Study) 40 - Second Floor Plan 41 - Fifth Floor Plan 42 - Section 43 - Cross Section 44, 45 - Overlay Plans and Sections

THEREFORE WE HAVE DELIBERATELY CHOSEN THE PHYSICAL POINT OF VIEW- I.E., THE POINT OF VIEW OF THE OUTSIDE, OF EXTERIORITY-IN ORDER TO STUDY THE PROBLEM OF VISION; WE HAVE CONSIDERED A DEAD EYE IN THE MIDST OF THE VISIBLE WORLD IN ORDER TO ACCOUNT FOR THE VISIBILITY OF THIS WORLD. CONSEQUENTLY, HOW CAN WE BE SURPRISED LATER WHEN CONSCIOUSNESS, WHICH IS ABSOLUTE INTERIORITY, REFUSES TO ALLOW ITSELF TO BE BOUND TO THIS OBJECT? THE RELATIONS WHICH I ESTABLISH BETWEEN THE OTHER'S BODY AND THE EXTERNAL OBJECT ARE REALLY EXISTING RELATIONS, BUT THEY HAVE FOR THEIR BEING THE BEING OF THE FOR-OTHERS; THEY SUPPOSE A CENTER OF INTRA-MUNDANE FLOW IN WHICH KNOWLEDGE IS A MAGIC PROPERTY OF SPACE, "ACTION AT A DISTANCE." FROM THE START THEY ARE PLACED IN THE PERSPECTIVE OF THE OTHER¬ AS-OBJECT. IF THEN WE WISH TO REFLECT ON THE NATURE OF THE BODY, IT IS NECESSARY TO ESTABLISH AN ORDER OF OUR REFLECTIONS WHICH CONFORMS TO THE ORDER OF BEING: WE CAN NOT CONTINUE TO CONFUSE THE ONTOLOGICAL LEVELS, AND WE MUST IN SUCCESSION EXAMINE THE BODY FIRST AS BEING-FOR-ITSELF AND THEN AS

BEING-FOR-OTHERS. AND IN ORDER TO AVOID SUCH ABSURDITIES AS "INVERTED VISION," WE MUST KEEP CONSTANTLY IN MIND THE IDEA THAT SINCE THESE TWO ASPECTS OF THE BODY ARE ON DIFFERENT AND INCOMMUNICABLE LEVELS OF BEING, THEY CAN NOT BE REDUCED TO ONE ANOTHER. BEING-FOR-ITSELF MUST BE WHOLLY BODY AND IT MUST BE WHOLLY CONSCIOUSNESS; IT CAN NOT BE UNITED WITH A BODY. SIMILARLY BEING-FOR-OTHERS IS WHOLLY BODY; THERE ARE NO "PSYCHIC PHENOMENA" THERE TO BE UNITED WITH THE BODY. THERE IS NOTHING BEHIND THE BODY. BUT THE BODY IS WHOLLY "PSYCHIC." WE MUST NOW PROCEED TO STUDY THESE TWO MODES OF BEING WHICH WE FIND FOR THE BODY. IT APPEARS AT FIRST GLANCE THAT THE PRECEDING OBSERVATIONS ARE OPPOSED TO THE GIVENS OF THE CARTESIAN COGITO. "THE SOUL IS EASIER TO KNOW THAN THE BODY," SAID DESCARTES. THEREBY HE INTENDED TO MAKE A RADICAL DISTINCTION BETWEEN THE FACTS OF THOUGHT, WHICH ARE ACCESSIBLE TO REFLECTION, AND THE FACTS OF THE BODY, THE KNOWLEDGE OF WHICH MUST BE GUARANTEED BY DIVINE PROVIDENCE. IT APPEARS AT

FIRST THAT REFLECTION REVEALS TO US ONLY PURE FACTS OF CONSCIOUSNESS. OF COURSE ON THIS LEVEL WE ENCOUNTER PHENOMENA WHICH APPEAR TO INCLUDE WITHIN THEMSELVES SOME CONNECTION WITH THE BODY; "PHYSICAL" PAIN, THE UNCOMFORTABLE, PLEASURE, ETC. BUT THESE PHENOMENA ARE NO LESS PURE FACTS OF CONSCIOUSNESS. THERE IS A TENDENCY THEREFORE TO MAKE SIGNS OUT OF THEM, AFFECTIONS OF CONSCIOUSNESS OCCASIONED BY THE BODY, WITHOUT REALIZING THAT ONE HAS THEREBY IRREMEDIABLY DRIVEN THE BODY OUT OF CONSCIOUSNESS AND THAT NO BOND WILL EVER BE ABLE TO REUNITE THIS BODY, WHICH IS ALREADY A BODY-FOR-OTHERS, WITH THE CONSCIOUSNESS WHICH, IT IS CLAIMED, MAKES THE BODY MANIFEST. FURTHERMORE WE OUGHT NOT TO TAKE THIS AS OUR POINT OF DEPARTURE BUT RATHER OUR PRIMARY RELATION TO THE IN-ITSELF: OUR BEING-IN-THE-WORLD. WE KNOW THAT THERE IS NOT A FOR-ITSELF ON THE ONE HAND AND A WORLD ON THE OTHER AS TWO CLOSED ENTITIES FOR WHICH WE MUST SUBSEQUENTLY SEEK SOME EXPLANATION AS TO HOW THEY COMMUNICATE. THE FOR-ITSELF, BY DENYING THAT IT IS BEING, M A K E S

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CADAVERS OF MEN DISSECTED, BECAUSE I HAVE READ ARTICLES ON PHYSIOLOGY, I CONCLUDE THAT MY BODY IS CON¬STITUTED EXACTLY LIKE ALL THOSE WHICH HAVE BEEN SHOWN TO ME ON THE.DISSEC¬TION TABLE OR OF WHICH I HAVE SEEN COLORED DRAWINGS IN BOOKS. OF COURSE THE PHYSICIANS WHO HAVE TAKEN CARE OF ME, THE SURGEONS WHO HAVEOPERATED ON ME, HAVE BEEN ABLE TO HAVE DIRECT EXPERIENCE WITH THE BODY WHICH I MYSELF DO NOT KNOW. I DO NOT DISAGREE WITH THEM; I DO NOT CLAIM THAT I LACK A BRAIN, A HEART, OR A STOMACH. BUT IT IS MOST IMPORTANT TO CHOOSE THE ORDER OF OUR BITS OFKNOWLEDGE. SO FAR AS THE PHYSICIANS HAVE HAD ANY EXPERIENCE WITH MY BODY, IT WAS WITH MY BODY IN THE MIDST OF TILE WORLD AND AS IT IS FOR OTHERS. MY BODY AS IT IS FOR ME DOES NOT APPEAR TO INE IN THE MIDST OF THE WORLD. OF COURSE DURING A RADIOSCOPY I WAS ABLE TO SEE THE PICTURE OF MY VERTEBRAE ON A SCREEN, BUT I WAS OUTSIDE IN THE MIDST OF THE WORLD. I WAS APPREHENDING A WHOLLY CONSTITUTED OBJECT AS A THIS AMONG OTHER THISES, AND IT WAS ONLY BY A REASONING PROCESS THAT I REFERRED IT BACK TO BEING MINE; IT WAS MUCH MORE MY

PROPERTY THAN MY BEING. IT IS TRUE THAT I SEE AND TOUCH MY LEGS AND MY HANDS. MOREOVER NOTHING PREVENTS ME FROM IMAGINING AN ARRANGEMENT OF THE SENSE ORGANS SUCH THAT A LIVING BEING COULD SEE ONE OF HIS EYES WHILE THE EYE WHICH WAS SEEN WAS DIRECTING ITS GLANCE UPON THE WORLD. BUT IT IS TO BE NOTED THAT IN THIS CASE AGAIN I AM THE OTHER IN RELATION TO MY EYE. I APPREHEND IT AS A SENSE ORGAN CONSTITUTED IN THE WORLD IN A PARTICULAR WAY, BUT I CANNOT "SEE THE SEEING," THAT IS, I CANNOT APPREHEND IT IN THE PROCESS OF REVEALING AN ASPECT OF THE WORLD TO ME. EITHER IT IS A THING AMONG OTHER THINGS, OR ELSE IT IS THAT BY WHICH THINGS ARE REVEALED TO ME. BUT IT CANNOT BE BOTH AT THE SAME TIME. SIMILARLY I SEE MY HAND TOUCHING OBJECTS, BUT DO NOT KNOW IT IN ITS ACT OF TOUCHING THEM. THIS IS THE FUNDAMENTAL REASON WHY THAT FAMOUS "SEN¬SATION OF EFFORT" OF MAINE DE BIRAN DOES NOT REALLY EXIST. FOR MY HAND RE¬ VEALS TO ME THE RESISTANCE OF OBJECTS, THEIR HARDNESS OR SOFTNESS, BUT NOT ITSELF. THUS I SEE MY HAND ONLY IN THE WAY THAT I SEE THIS INKWELL. I UNFOLD A DISTANCE BETWEEN IT AND

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ACCOMPANIED BY AN ALIENATING DESTRUCTION AND A CONCRETE COLLAPSE OF MY WORLD WHICH FLOWS TOWARD THE OTHER AND WHICH THE OTHER WILL REAPPREHEND IN HIS WORLD. WHEN, FOR EXAMPLE, A DOCTOR LISTENS TO MY BREATHING, I PERCEIVE HIS EAR. TO THE EXTENT THAT THE OBJECTS OF THE WORLD INDICATE ME AS AN ABSOLUTE CENTER OF REFERENCE, THIS PERCEIVED EAR INDICATES CERTAIN STRUCTURES AS FORMS WHICH I EXIST ON MY BODY-AS-A-GROUND. THESE STRUCTURES-IN THE SAME UPSURGE WITH MY BEING BELONG WITH THE PURELY LIVED; THEY ARE THAT WHICH I EXIST AND WHICH I NIHIIATE. THUS WE HAVE HERE IN THE FIRST PLACE THE ORIGINAL CONNECTION BETWEEN DESIGNATION AND THE LIVED. THE THINGS PERCEIVED DESIGNATE THAT WHICH I SUBJECTIVELY EXIST. BUT I APPREHEND-ON THE COLLAPSE OF THE SENSE OBJECT "EAR"-THE DOCTOR AS LISTENING TO THE SOUNDS IN MY BODY, FEELING MY BODY WITH HIS BODY, AND IMMEDIATELY THE LIVED-DESIGNATED BECOMES DESIGNATED AS A THING OUTSIDE MY SUBJECTIVITY, IN THE MIDST OF A NORLD WHICH IS NOT MINE. MY BODY IS DESIGNATED AS ALIENATED. THE EXPERIENCE OF MY ALIENATION IS MADE IN AND THROUGH AFFECTIVE STRUC¬ TURES SUCH AS, FOR EXAMPLE, SHYNESS. TO "FEEL ONESELF BLUSHING," TO "FEEL ONESELF SWEATING," ETC., ARE INACCURATE EXPRESSIONS WHICH THE SHY PERSON USES TO DESCRIBE HIS STATE; WHAT HE REALLY MEANS IS THAT HE IS VIVIDLY AND CONSTANTLY CONSCIOUS OF HIS BODY NOT AS IT IS FOR HIM BUT AS IT IS FOR THE OTHER. THIS CONSTANT UNEASINESS, WHICH IS THE APPREHENSION

SECTIONC

A B E ING-IN-THE-MIDST-OF THE WORLD. THE SHOCK OF THE ENCOUNTER WITH THE OTHER IS FOR ME A REVELATION IN EMPTINESS OF THE EXISTENCE OF MY BODY OUTSIDE AS AN IN-ITSELF FOR THE OTHER. THUS MY BODY IS NOT GIVEN MERELY AS THAT WHICH IS PURELY AND SIMPLY LIVED; RATHER THIS "LIVED EXPERIENCE"BECOMES-IN AND THROUGH THE CONTINGENT, ABSOLUTE FACT OF THE OTHER'S EXISTENCE-EXTENDED OUTSIDE IN A DIMENSION OF FLIGHT WHICH ESCAPES ME. MY BODY'S DEPTH OF BEING IS FOR ME THIS PERPETUAL "OUTSIDE" OF MY MOST INTIMATE "INSIDE." TO THE EXTENT THAT THE OTHER'S OMNIPRESENCE IS THE FUNDAMENTAL FACT, THE OBJECTIVITY OF MY BEING-THERE IS A CONSTANT DIMENSION OF MY FACTICITY; I EXIST MY CONTINGENCY IN SO FAR AS I SURPASS IT TOWARD MY POSSIBLES AND IN SO FAR AS IT SURREPTITIOUSLY FLEES ME TOWARD AN IRREMEDIABLE. MY BODY IS THERE NOT ONLY AS THE POINT OF VIEW WHICH I AM BUT AGAIN AS A POINT OF VIEW ON WHICH ARE ACTUALLY BROUGHT TO BEAR POINTS OF VIEW WHICH I COULD NEVER TAKE; MY BODY ESCAPES ME ON ALL SIDES. THIS MEANS FIRST THAT THIS ENSEMBLE OF SENSES, WHICH THEMSELVES CAN NOT BE APPREHENDED, IS GIVEN AS APPRE¬ HEPDED ELSEWHERE AND BY OTHERS. THIS APPREHENSION WHICH IS THUS EMPTILY MANIFESTED DOES NOT HAVE THE CHARACTER OF AN ONTOLOGICAL NECESSITY; ITS EXISTENCE CAN NOT BE DERIVED EVEN FROM MY FACTICITY, BUT IT IS AN EVIDENT AND ABSOLUTE FACT. IT HAS THE CHARACTER OF A FACTUAL NECESSITY. SINCE MY FAC¬TICITY IS PURE CONTINGENCY AND IS REVEALED TO ME NON-THETICALLY AS A FACTUAL NECESSITY, THE BEING-FOR-OTHERS OF THIS FACTICITY COMES TO INCREASE THE CON¬ TINGENCY OF THIS FACTICITY, WHICH IS LOST AND FLEES FROM ME IN AN INFINITY OF CONTINGENCY WHICH ESCAPES ME. THUS AT THE VERY MOMENT WHEN I LIVE MY SENSES AS THIS INNER POINT OF VIEW ON WHICH I CAN TAKE NO POINT OF VIEW, THEIR BEING-FOR-OTHERS HAUNTS ME: THEY ARE. FOR THE OTHER, MY SENSES ARE AS THIS TABLE OR AS THIS TREE IS FOR ME. THEY ARE IN THE MIDST OF A WORLD; THEY ARE IN AND THROUGH THE ABSOLUTE FLOW OF MY WORLD TOWARD THE OTHER. THUS THE RELATIVITY OF MY SENSES, WHICH I CAN NOT THINK ABSTRACTLY WITHOUT DESTROYING MY WORLD, IS AT THE SAME TIME PERPETUALLY MADE PRESENT TOMETHROUGH THE OTHER'S EXISTENCE; BUT IT IS A PURE AND INAPPREHENSIBLE APPRESENTATION. IN THE SAME WAY MY BODY IS FOR ME THE INSTRUMENT WHICH I AM AND WHICH CAN NOT BE UTILIZED BY ANY INSTRUMENT. BUT TO THE EXTENT THAT THE OTHER IN THE ORIGINAL ENCOUNTER TRANSCENDS MY BEING-THERE TOWARD HIS POSSIBILITIES, .THIS INSTRUMENT WHICH I AM IS MADE-PRESENT TO ME AS AN IN¬ STRUMENT SUBMERGED IN AN INFINITE INSTRUMENTAL SERIES, ALTHOUGH I CAN IN NO WAY VIEW THIS SERIES BY "SURVEYING" IT. MY BODY AS ALIENATED ESCAPES ME TOWARD A BEING-A-TOOL-AMONG-TOOLS, TOWARDS A BEING-A-SENSE-ORGAN-APPREHENDED-BY-SENSE-ORGANS, AND THIS IS

SECTIONB

44 IO

TH ON CO TH TH IS SIB TH W BO TH FO PE AN OF RE TH M UN BE EM BO EX SH OF M TH PA SU DE IR AL E O T RR RO OU IN LE E AN D IS R-T RF D IT MA E- EN IV E BA D PR Y M ETA ES TH CH TER REM IEN TH HIS ES UG GH CUM AN BOD TS T Y-FO IS W HE OR TH AS IN OTH T IS ERS MB RR Y A ESS MA Y B ¬P E OL M E A ER LE PO H T B D Y- O R H -O M IN E A AN S IN ER MO E AR AS S I IO N IS OD HY AR OG AS IN DIA TIO E BL N AS VE ND TH HE EN AL FAR AN -TH Y T TH O TT IN AP A RE AN RA S M EX N IS "E Y SIC E N ICA E, TH L TH EN E O EXIS T O IEN -TH NIH E-O HE ER. RD ITU ST PR S A SU D W SSE E. IST IN MB FO AL O L ER A E O AT CE TH T N U AT E¬ IL TH EF TH ER DE RU EH N O BT H D YET IT CO AR R T AP TH FE EUT PS C S IC IN E E A E . F O E M B U E L T D B R D T S TH TH Y O T R O S O W E N S E H N H IT RR RA HE PR G AR O YC AN 'S ER ER WH EY BO : TO . IT TH E, B . W RT I F AP HIC NT SIB TA , FO HIN LY ER IS EC SS OT EH B O PHO HO E E T E U F B SE 'S E IC ES DY SE AP ER UT HE OF OR PR H -SIN LE CL R H M B D BO IS H ; T IS E PE A TH N T E O A TH E; W DE Y TO Y ; I C B ER NSIO T B IA S DY EFF WE HIS IN OU AR S M IS HE HE VER PR RE CE IT AT ON HAT RS A C O T BO AN Y H S. W N THE LU (A IS EC CA M EFF RS S T UC INA LO SHY AC IATE AP IS IT C TH CO ME ON HE DY NO IS O E OF H SHIN FO TE U EA AB EL O U H P NG M T IT PR A A E C N AS C EX AS T W OF TH O G R D T SE NS LE VES S RE PRE S A "B TO OP LSO N B O ST I RET PR IT BE N B TE E RRIF ); M H O T ) IM A TH AL H "N N LIN M R N R T N EX IE IA G E C T AIN RY E ESS IS EM O E" E UR H S IS E O A - T AN B AT PE S W EN ITY NS T T FTE DLY YSE TE. IVE ON RAR S TO THIN ION FO BAR DY." AY TE D HA AL OD W LS E TH AS IBL O R ," LF B N ST Y, ME U G IS R R AC TH NC T OG Y E A US ARE AT TO E D HA HE SH ES UT AS RA IT IS SE W N TH ASS TU AT E I H IC TO TT T . T IS O O E V A IN A AV A B EM O P LA HE TH IME E A HAS OT CAP IT IS N IN BE BS OTH HIC T A OT ED ALL THE E M L ID E D PT LA NG OT E B NS B R AT E M O INS G. CA EN ER H HA HE BY Y T O ET EN ESIG TO CE UA HER OD ION DY ECO A V E IN N P TRU I SE USE T. I N TO IS P PP R W MY HIS TH TIF N LE OU GE A Y-F O A GN EN T RIN M EK TH EV OL RE Y O H OW E O IC AT AR R A BY CC AR F T NY IZ TU UR C EN TO E ER S. SE NE ICH N TH ATIO ED N O LL RE OM -US HE MO ED RE N A IPL T IN RE BOD EN HER NTE , FO M ER N FO UR EG VE PL . B BO RE TH W ND E O A AC Y CO E T D R AY FIR OF R U BE ED ALIN ISH ETT DY ," TO E U ITH A UT WO H IT IS N UN HE INS I CA ST TH S A IN MIS G ES ER -AL B SEL OU RE O RL , TO EV TE EM ID N IN E O S IT G T SIO TO FO YE IEN E " ES T E FIX F R D- M ER R M BA E M HIS TH IS HR N U R U T, T AT INV SN VE ED EA IN AS TH Y R Y O B R OB ER FO OUG WH S A S A HE ED. ISIB ESS R K AT CH, RD TER ERE OD AS JE 'S B R T H OL BST FU BO TH LE OF NO A D AN ER IT, , B Y- SCT O H TH LY R N DY E ," E T W IS D TO BY EC FO L C E D E T H I

CO SIO SU DE DE SO AP TH HA W GR CE AB TH TO W TH FL CO TIO AL NIE AC NS N CH SIG SIG UN PR E VE ITH OU RT SO AT M OR E OW LL N IEN D CO CIO S W A N N D EH LIV H TH N AIN LU T Y LD O S T AP M A AT S A A S . D H US HIC , FO TE TE IN END ED ERE E P . T ST TE E BRE WH THE OW SE ND ING BY PA OF H R E D A D A MY -O . TH IN URE HES RU CEN OB ATH EN R AR OF D HIS THE XA S A S A BO N T E THE LY E S CTU TE JEC ING , FO WIL D T MY A EST AN T R HE W CO RU L M BO SH PL LIEN THIN DY, HE HIN FIR IVE TRU RE O TS , I R E L O C DY Y P E, AT G FEE CO GS ST D; CT S A F R OF PER XA REA TH ORL NCR NO ERS SHY ED. OU LIN LLA P PL THE UR S EFE TH CE MP PP ER D W ETE T ON NE TH TS G M PS ERC ACE Y A ES-IN FOR RE E IVE LE, REH AN H N AS IC SS E ID Y E E D W M H A E T R IT USE . TO EXP E M BO OF IVE HE E TH TH S CE, OR IS DO ND WH H D IS S IC E Y D O A E W T L E FO TO "FE RIE SU Y W THE D RIG T W SA HIC HIS D IN AR. CTO IN H R D EL NC BJ IT S ESIG IN H ME H PE D TO R H IC HIM ES ON E EC H EN N AL H UP I E RC ICA TH LIS IS H O C BU RIB ESE F M TIVIT IS B SE ATE CO I EX SU XIS EIV TE E E TEN T E LF Y Y, OD OB T NN IS RG T ED M XT S AS HIS BL A IN Y JE HA E T A E O E E E IT S US LIE TH , AN CT T CTIO ND WIT N M AR AS NT N T H W IS A IN A E D "E IN H FO TE G TIO M IM A HIC N B WH M Y B DIC AN R ; W ," T N IDS M R"-T H ET ICH Y OD A TH H O IS T ED H I W I BE Y TE E N IN -A S E AT "F M O IA E OT H EE A F T D SU EN IH G S HE E L O DE A N ELY OC BJE D IIAT BE -AR. REA N IN OR TH TO CT ESIG E. LO TH L ES A L E R IV N TH NG IS LY ELF ND D W LIV AS ELY AT US CO M S T H ED L IO W E W H IC -D IS EX N E NS AN E R TA S AT OU H IS ES TEN IST. AN NT IS ING GH N IGN IN B D UN THA ," E A OT AT G T UT EA T TC FFE MIN ED O I SIN HE ., A CT E BE TH ES IS RE IVE . MY COM E S, VIV INA ST B E W ID C RU O S HIC LY CU C DY H AN RA ¬ T IS T U IS TH D C E E RE E ON XPR S AP S E PR TA SEH NT EN LY SIO N

ME, AND THIS DISTANCE COMES TO INTEGRATE ITSELF IN THE DISTANCES WHICH I ESTABLISH AMONG ALL THE OBJECTS OF THE WORLD. WHEN A DOCTOR TAKES MY WOUNDED LEG AND LOOKS AT IT WHILE I, HALF RAISED UP ON MY BED, WATCH HIM DO IT; THERE IS NO ESSENTIAL DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE VISUAL PERCEPTION WHICH I HAVE OF THE DOCTOR'S BODY AND THAT WHICH I HAVE OF MY OWN LEG. BETTER YET, THEY ARE DISTINGUISHED ONLY AS DIFFERENT STRUCTURES OF A SINGLE GLOBAL PERCEPTION; THERE IS NO ESSENTIAL DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE DOCTOR'S PERCEPTION OF MY LEG AND MY OWN PRESENT PERCEPTION OF IT. OF COURSE WHEN I TOUCH MY LEG WITH MY FINGER, I REALIZE THAT MY LEG IS TOUCHED. BUT THIS PHENOMENON OF DOUBLE SENSATION IS NOT ESSENTIAL: COLD, A SHOT OF MORPHINE, CAN MAKE IT DISAPPEAR. THIS SHOWS THAT WE ARE DEALING WITH TWO ESSENTIALLY DIFFERENT ORDERS OF REALITY. TO TOUCH AND TO BE TOUCHED, TO FEEL THAT ONE IS TOUCHING AND TO FEEL THAT ONE IS TOUCHED-THESE ARE TWO SPECIES OF PHENOMENA WHICH IT IS USELESS TO TRY TO REUNITE BY THE TERM "DOUBLE SENSATION." IN FACT THEY ARE RADICALLY DISTINCT, AND THEY

OT TR IN RE FE RE I A M TH TH W OT LA EX SE AN RE FA IS AN BE FIR BO “I HE AN M SP EL AL M E-A E E E A HE R IN IST EN O VE R IT D IN ST D EX Y IS A A S , K G R SC Y ON MY ITY W S¬ REV BO RE R. I A E TR S S , IT O E DY G TH M THE IS BJE LED S SEC NO . M DIM : TH T M PP ND AN IBL EL AT H BJ LA 'S OIN IS Y V RE OF CT T I A O W Y B E IS Y RE EN S E. F T LE FU EC TIO M G IS ER FO M . E O M ND N OD NS IS HE CE CE TH OU AS LL T IS N OD TO TH Y F RE Y VE ME F D BY Y IO ITS ND N ND IS CH T I RE R OF ES S E T AC FO FU N A OR IM TH IS N S B T N T IH E S E E A E T H O U M E R E H M IL NC IN D M PO VE Y F D IR IC M DA E TH OT NS O UTIL OF Y AT E G B N N A B B Y D IT Y M RE E H IO T IZ H OW E : L IN -T Y T O SIB E EIN EIN NE O Y. SE E T SU ER N E E N S AN A HER HE T W ILIT D T G G. XT NTO I EX LF NTA HE BJ S, . B R: T D E T U H FA D N E O IT Y O -A W ; W L IS AS L CT T D IS TH HO . B ME S-O ITH IT OG T F K RE QU CT F HE T IN IS IC RA TH PR ER U UT A B T H IT IC OR NO LA EST O O R T S IT NS R EC IN T A W S A JE H C E W AL M W TIO IO W H O Y, O NO CEN UG ISE M PPR HIL N U T; T AP E S DIM YS N B N N, HO ER T DS H LY T Y FA E¬ E I NK HA PEA HA EN ELF Y TH WIT AS M IS ON E TH H C H C N T R L S A E H W I LY XIS E E B TU EN AN OW IS, AN L HA ION S A OT TH E AM IN TS TRA OD AL DIN N AB OF CE VE O BO HE E HA IT FO N Y. EX G OT LE MY O EX F M D R- OT VE S IN F NO R T SCE THU ISTE CE KN BEIN TR TH HA Y Y KN P HER N-T HE ND S T NC RTA OW G AN E O US BOD OW ART . I HE OTH ENC HE E; IT IN N , AS SCE TH TED Y. N ICU TIC ER E EN IS OF OR TH ND ER TH THIS BY 'S NIH ; AN WH COU MY ITS EV E F EN LO E Q IS THE L E C U IC IL D T H NT BE FOR N C IGH E A OK ES WH AT O T ER IN M O T S I T A IO T HE W G-T A N IN TR EX ION T L C T A P N, HE IT NO EX OT H HER STR EIVE O A NS ERIE OF T TE HER THE E-F UC O N O CEN NC ON N T D E O O T F LY T TH SUR TH R¬ URE TH HE ED IN AT PA ER OT S. IS " R W . A TH I A SS D HE IN M H E M ES OE RS PA E" ICH EX C , S R IN IS ON TH NO FOR TIC .IT TE S E NT CIO FA T O WH ULA S , B U CT NL IC R· UT S IC Y T H I IN OF ITY OU I AM IT EX W CH S IS H M FL TIN IC E IG G H HT F M TO OR Y W TH AR E DS A

“THE PROBLEM OF THE BODY AND ITS RELATIONS WITH CONSCIOUSNESS IS OFTEN OBSCURED BY THE FACT THAT WHILE THE BODY IS FROM THE START POSITED AS A CERTAIN THING HAVING ITS OWN LAWS AND CAPABLE OF BEING DEFINED FROM OUT¬ SIDE, CONSCIOUSNESS IS THEN REACHED BY THE TYPE OF INNER INTUITION WHICH IS PECULIAR TO IT. ACTUALLY IF AFTER GRASPING "MY" CONSCIOUSNESS IN ITS ABSOLUTE INTERIORITY AND BY A SERIES OF REFLECTIYE ACTS, I THEN SEEK TO UNITE IT WITH A CERTAIN LIVING OBJECT COMPOSED OF A NERVOUS SYSTEM, A BRAIN, GLANDS, DIGESTIVE, RESPIRATORY, AND CIRCULATORY ORGANS WHOSE VERY MATTER IS CAPABLE OF BEING ANALYZED CHEMICALLY INTO ATOMS OF HYDROGEN, CARBON, NITROGEN, PHOSPHORUS, ETC., THEN I AM GOING TO ENCOUNTER INSURMOUNTABLE DIFFICUlTIES. BUT THESE DIFFICULTIES ALL STEM FROM THE FACT: THAT I TRY TO.UNITE·MY CONSCIOUSNESS NOT WITH MY BODY BUT WITH THE BODY OF OTHERS. IN FACT THE BODY WHICH I HAVE JUST DESCRIBED IS NOT MY BODY SUCH AS IT FOR ME. I HAVE.NEVER SEEN AND NEVER SHALL SEE MY BRAIN NOR MY ENDOCRINE GLANDS BUT BECAUSE I WHO AM A MAN HAVE SEEN THE ARE RADICALLY DISTINCT, AND THEY EXIST ON TWO INCOMMUNICABLE LEVELS. MOREOVER WHEN I TOUCH MY LEG OR WHEN I SEE IT, I SURPASS IT TOWARD MY OWN POSSIBILITIES. IT IS, FOR EXAMPLE, IN ORDER TO PULL ON MY TROUSERS OR TO CHANGE A DRESSING ON MY WOUND. OF COURSE I CAN AT THE SAME TIME ARRANGE MY LEG IN SUCH A WAY THAT I CAN MORE CONVENIENTLY "WORK" ON IT. BUT THIS DOES NOT CHANGE THE FACT THAT I TRAN¬ SCEND IT TOWARD THE PURE POSSIBILITY OF "CURING MYSELF" AND THAT CONSE¬QUENTLY I AM PRESENT TO IT WITHOUT ITS BEING ME AND WITHOUT MY BEING IT. WHAT I CAUSE TO EXIST HERE IS THE THING "LEG;" IT IS NOT THE LEG AS THE POSSI¬BILITY WHICH I AM OF WALKING, RUNNING, OR OF PLAYING FOOTBALL. THUS TO THE EXTENT THAT MY BODY INDICATES MY POSSIBILITIES IN THE WORLD, SEEING MY BODY OR TOUCHING IT IS TO TRANSFORM THESE POSSIBILITIES OF MINE INTO DEAD-POSSIBILITIES. THIS METAMORPHOSIS MUST NECESSARILY INVOLVE A COMPLETE THISNESS WITH REGARD TO THE BODY AS A LIVING POSSIBILITY OF RUNNING, OF DANCING, ETC. OF COURSE, THE DISCOVERY OF MY BODY AS AN OBJECT IS INDEED A REVELATION OF ITS BEING. BUT THE BEING WHICH IS THUS REVEALED TO ME IS ITS BEING-FOR-OTHERS. THAT THIS CONFUSION MAY LEAD TO ABSURDITIES CAN BE CLEARLY SEEN IN CO.NNECTION WITH THE FAMOUS PROBLEM OF "INVERTED VISION." W E KNOW THE QUESTION POSED BY THE PHYSIOLOGISTS: "HOW CAN WE SET UPRIGHT THE OBJECTS WHICH ARE PAINTED UPSIDE DOWN ON OUR RETINA?" WE KNOW AS WELL THE ANSWER OF THE PHILOSOPHERS: "THERE IS NO PROBLEM. AN OBJECT IS UPRIGHT OR INVERTED IN RELATION TO THE REST OF THE UNIVERSE. TO PERCEIVE THE WHOLE UNIVERSE INVERTED MEANS NOTHING, FOR IT WOULD HAVE TO BE INVERTED IN RELATION TO SOMETHING." BUT WHAT PARTICULARLY INTERESTS US IS THE ORIGIN OF THIS FALSE PROBLEM. IT IS THE FACT THAT PEOPLE HAVE WANTED TO LINK MY CONSCIOUSNESS OF OBJECTS TO THE BODY OF THE OTHER. HERE ARE THE CANDLE, THE CRYSTALLINE LENS, THE INVERTED IMAGE ON THE SCREEN OF THE RETINA. BUT TO BE EXACT, THE RETINA ENTERS HERE INTO A PHYSICAL SYSTEM; IT IS A SCREEN AND ONLY THAT; THE CRYSTALLINE LENS IS A JELLS AND ONLY A LENS; BOTH ARE HOMOGENEOUS IN THEIR BEING WITH THE CANDLE WHICH COMPLETES THE SYSTEM.

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MORE THAN THE THICKNESS OF THE LINES OR THE IMPERFECTION OF THE DRAWING. THUS BY THE MERE FACT THAT THERE IS A WORLD, THIS WORLD CANNOT EXIST WITHOUT A UNIVOCAL ORIENTATION IN RELATION TO ME. IDEALISM HAS INSISTED ON THE FACT THAT RELATION MAKES THE WORLD. BUT SINCE IDEALISM TOOK ITS POSITION ON THE GROUND OF NEWTONIAN SCIENCE, IT CONCEIVED THIS RELATION AS A RELATION OF RECIPROCITY. THUS IT ATTAINED ONLY ABSTRACT CONCEPTS OF PURE EXTERIOTITY, OF ACTION AND REACTION, ETC., AND DUE TO THIS VERY FACT IT MISSED THE WORLD AND SUCCEEDED ONLY IN MAKING EXPLICIT THE LIMITING CONCEPT OF ABSOLUTE OBJECTIVITY.”

.T W T R T O A F C N O E P T IN O T O E E T L G IN E R W S T IN A UR HIS HIC HE ELA HIS F V ND AC HA EC TH NS OIN HE S F M HE F M SC XIS HR IVE IVE -IT XIS EV IT HO HE -T HE BE VE IN H O TIV TR IEW FL TUA RA ESS ER EM TS PO O F Y FU Y APE TE OU D; N SE TE ELA H T CK YIN ST CA TH IT EE O EE L CT IT S. T BL O IN AR FA ND M S NC GH R M LF NC TIO H O W -M ING G" RU N ER'S Y O IS N S F NE ER Y; IT HIS E O F V T O AS CTIC AM OST ME. E-E T ATH ERE FO E O N E O F T OR IDS L IT. ME NOT EX F M FO WH ROM CES OF S E AP F SE IEW F VIE IT S ITY EN IN MY XTE HE ER LY R T F IN TH HE D. T-O F M NT BE IST Y S R M ICH M SIT A F XIS PR NS W W UR ; I E TAL TIM BO ND CO TH AS HE MY E ER EN Y W U E EN E I E Y, A TE EH ES HIC W RE X F AT D ED N IS TH O M IS CO TH B T BO HIC TIL NC S . TH CA IN TH CT N E , W H H PT IST AC E Y'S T P A H O U E DY H IZ E; ES, EY N T AN E B UA CE NSIO HIC I C ICH ITIO M T, "IN D OU ING "LIV T W ER DY TIN FOR NT E E E . Y T W E AS I AM D B BUT H AR AKE INF EIN L N CAN N H T OU I AM US CO HE SID EPT TSID NT ED HIC TH O SS M R E IC , EX H US UTS O E AL IS Y A IT H E IN NO INIT G-F ECE NO WH HE LD BU LY F NT OBJ ." T H O E A IE M NY IS I C T P Y OR SS T ICH MS NE T LE ING EC O T F B IN BS PE IS MY ID F A E T O R P NA AD IN A AN HE O O -O IT B E V A E T H E TE E- S P N M INT F C TH Y. S E D IS T LVE ER GA S M ENC IVIT E E ING A LUT IEN URE BO AS HE D PR TR UR OT ID O ON ER IN ER H S TA IN E T Y Y XT IS DIM E CE LY DY A ES ES UM E TH ST F V TIN S CE IVE US CA KE AS O IN OF EN F F "B N CA EN EN AN IN O IE G OF M D EM N N ; M A WA SO M T OR ENS AC EC AND IS N PE T T T. D K F A W, EN TH Y EV P O Y B PO RD FA Y B TH M IO T OM S OT S O BU IN AB W TH CY IS FA EN TIL T B O IN A R EIN AT E T N OF ES IM A T Y C D N E S M M T A T O IR W FA ¬ F - P E H E E TO PP R RL B H C T RO M AP Y E OF IR S I S G-T THE IS OF TH IN LY TO AS T R AC D E IC T IC M AN P S V RE U H O PE F E A W A HE EH TL ; T ING H ICIT ITY M IF REH CA IEW ME RP ER TH RP LIG OT ND EN Y HE - ES Y IS Y ES E PE O D AS E E E AR N H H E W T F R IS D IN¬ XT SIB IT Y O CA CO P FA TE ND S M N IAB S IT A 'S UA T ER EN L H AR R- P M U C D W L A E C O L W 'S BE STR T T E A OU E IN OTH ES M ES RE TIC DO D, IS E O HIC E. M TOW ON MN "O HIC N H IN UM HA PP T D T C IT E S IP U H G- E T R E AN ERS E. T O IN ON Y, B S N GIV AL AR Y BO ARD TA RE TSID A-T NT TH ES ST D H HU C TIN U OT EN L S E D M NT SE E OO SU E O ENT RO TH AU S A RE GE T IT H AS ID AC Y IS Y P DIM NC " L- BM TH ATIO YIN RO NTS T T ASE NC IS AVE AP ES. TUA TH OS EN E IS AM E E UG M H T G A Y T P H L E S T S ON RG R IN N. MY H E: E VE HE AN N E HE RE¬ IS LY B RE N IBLE ION E V T T M IN D W C S R C R G-T D TH O HE HE Y O IS ID H HE E O OT A OO IN A E O THE RL AB Y A MO N¬ R ENT AR PD ANS UG ON ND LS N RIG SA D, IS SO RE. ME TIN EVE AN ACT ED FIR HT LY , T INF IN M A LU FO N G AL D ER EL S TO AS OW IN AL E T T TE R T W EN ED A O SE T T B E AR ITE EN WAY HE FL THE HE CY TO BSO F A WH HA AR DS IN CO M SA OW O N I OF M LU N ER T T O E H S M T A TR UN Y E O H LIV TH E TE N A IS BE UM TER BO TIM F M ER, E M IS F NO FAC TOL ND IN EN T DY E Y MY Y AC N-T T. O BY S G- T RA IS PE W IT G RP OR SEN ENS TICIT HET H ICA A- AL N SE S SC FO ET LD S ES Y IC AS L ES A , W A NS ER EN R U T E- IES DS M AL TOW AR S T H LLY HE OR , A M E LY A E H IC A GA LT Y TH MA RD AS IS IN H IS S A N- HO BEIN E IN DE TH TH N LO AP UG G S P E IS ER S PR H -T TR RE OT TAB PO T S EH I C HE UM EN HE LE IN EN AN RE EN T R. O T DE IN TO T TO TH R A D- N WA WH ME US S BY O R IC TH T -S WA D H H RO HE EN Y IS I SE VIE P AM UGH -O W OS RG T SIB AN AN HIS IL D S, SE ITIE AN RIE S, D SB TH Y IS IS

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T- D E HE Y IN LL C Y EX ET H IN TA D O Y CA OR M Y O R M AK W TH E T CTL TIO FOR PLA C., IT ESE G T NC ALL GIV AK USE IN ITH ER VEL HE Y T N O -TH N IS AT HE E F TH E IT IN IT A G H G R SU MIN BY ATIO AN HE F W E¬ TIO NO TEM RES OM E A TH US BJ E. UT N DS PRIN HIC OT N T H PT UL M CT E F E EC IT ILIZ S O O C H HE HE IS S TS E S OR TIV IS IN F F T IP W R RE BO WIL O AS WH M IT IND G LAP HE LE E A IS T IS D L B F M MY ICH T Y T Y AN EED HE GU OT STR RE IN HE HA -FA E T Y S BO I H U O S B T A H R D N E G ER C C O W -H S O DY TH EC DE E. . TU AP DY E IM U O ¬ EN ES SIG TH WE RE AB -F IN S PP TIN AS SA NA US RE S O LE OR- FAC ELF RES G. OB RY TIO THE SIG F O AN US T A WH S H JE - IF N RE N O UR D W , BU TT IC IS CT I A S T A U B H T RIB H .” M O D PP RS OD IC IN U HE TO E EA ELV Y H N AP TE BE NO RS A ES -FO EV PRE TO AB TE W TO R-O ER HE LE OU HO SE TH TH NTO R B LE EIN ER ELE TH OD SY G O S (E SS IN Y A STE U VE R K TH S IT M O SE N, AT IS F LVE V "M FO ER S Y R U BA BO S L DY . IT IS IS FO R

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THE DESIGNS IN THE RUG FROM MY SIGHT, THIS IS NOT THE RESULT OF SOME FINITUDE AND SOME IMPERFECTION IN MY VISUAL ORGANS, BUT IT IS BECAUSE A RUG WHICH WOULD NOT BE HIDDEN BY THE TABLE, A RUG WHICH WOULD NOT BE EITHER UNDER IT OR ABOVE IT OR TO ONE SIDE OF IT, WOULD NOT HAVE ANY RELATION OF ANY KIND WITH THE TABLE AND WOULD NO LONGER BELONG TO THE "WORLD" IN WHICH THERE IS THE TABLE. THE IN-ITSELF WHICH IS MADE MANIFEST IN THE FORM OF THE THIS WOULD RETURN TO ITS INDIFFERENT SELF-IDENTITY. EVEN SPACE AS A PURELY EXTERNAL RELATION WOULD DISAPPEAR. THE CONSTITUTION OF SPACE AS A MULTIPLICITY OF RECIPROCAL RELATIONS CAN BE EFFECTED ONLY FROM THE ABSTRACT POINT OF VIEW OF SCIENCE; IT CANNOT BE LIVED, IT CAN NOT EVEN BE REPRESENTED. THE TRIANGLE WHICH I TRACE ON THE BLACKBOARD SO AS TO HELP ME IN ABSTRACT REASONING IS NECESSARILY TO THE RIGHT OF THE CIRCLE TANGENT TO ONE OF ITS SIDES, NECESSARILY TO THE EXTENT THAT IT IS ON THE BLACKBOARD. AND MY EFFORT IS TO SURPASS THE CONCRETE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE FIGURE TRACED IN CHALK BY NOT INCLUDING ITS RELATION TO ME IN MY CALCULATIONS ANY

IT APPEARS AT FIRST GLANCE THAT THE PRECEDING OBSERVATIONS ARE OPPOSED TO THE GIVENS OF THE CARTESIAN COGITO. "THE SOUL IS EASIER TO KNOW THAN THE BODY," SAID DESCARTES. THEREBY HE INTENDED TO MAKE A RADICAL DISTINCTION BETWEEN THE FACTS OF THOUGHT, WHICH ARE ACCESSIBLE TO REFLECTION, AND THE FACTS OF THE BODY, THE KNOWLEDGE OF WHICH MUST BE GUARANTEED BY DIVINE PROVIDENCE. IT APPEARS A T

THERE BE A WORLD, AND BY SURPASSING THIS NEGATION TOWARD ITS OWN POSSIBILITIES IT REVEALS THE "THISES" AS INSTRUMENTAL-THINGS. BUT WHEN WE SAY THAT THE FOR-ITSELF IS-IN-THEWORLD, THAT CONSCIOUSNESS IS CONSCIOUSNESS OF THE WORLD, WE MUST BE CAREFUL TO REMEMBER THAT THE WORLD EXISTS CONFRONTING CONSCIOUSNESS AS AN INDEFINITE MULTIPLICITY OF RECIPROCAL RELATIONS WHICH CONSCIOUSNESS SURVEYS WITHOUT PERSPECTIVE AND CONTEMPLATES WITHOUT A POINT OF VIEW. FOR ME THIS GLASS IS TO THE LEFT OF THE DECANTER AND A LITTLE BEHIND IT; FOR PIERRE, IT IS TO THE RIGHT AND A LITTLE IN FRONT. IT IS NOT EVEN CONCEIVABLE THAT A CONSCIOUSNESS COULD SURVEY THE WORLD IN SUCH A WAY THAT THE GLASS SHOULD BE SIMULTANEOUSLY GIVEN TO IT AT THE RIGHT AND AT THE LEFT OF THE DECANTER, IN FRONT OF IT AND BEHIND IT. THIS IS BY NO MCANS THE CONSEQUENCE OF A STRICT APPLICATION OF THE PRINCIPLE OF IDENTITY BUT BECAUSE THIS FUSION OF RIGHT AND LEFT, OF BEFORE AND BEHIND, WOULD RESULT IN THE TOTAL DISAPPEARANCE OF "THISES" AT THE HEART OF A PRIMITIVE INDISTINCTION. SIMILARLY IF THE TABLE LEG HIDES

FIRST THAT REFLECTION REVEALS TO US ONLY PURE FACTS OF CONSCIOUSNESS. OF COURSE ON THIS LEVEL WE ENCOUNTER PHENOMENA WHICH APPEAR TO INCLUDE WITHIN THEMSELVES SOME CONNECTION WITH THE BODY; "PHYSICAL" PAIN, THE UNCOMFORTABLE, PLEASURE, ETC. BUT THESE PHENOMENA ARE NO LESS PURE FACTS OF CONSCIOUSNESS. THERE IS A TENDENCY THEREFORE TO MAKE SIGNS OUT OF THEM, AFFECTIONS OF CONSCIOUSNESS OCCASIONED BY THE BODY, WITHOUT REALIZING THAT ONE HAS THEREBY IRREMEDIABLY DRIVEN THE BODY OUT OF CONSCIOUSNESS AND THAT NO BOND WILL EVER BE ABLE TO REUNITE THIS BODY, WHICH IS ALREADY A BODY-FOR-OTHERS, WITH THE CONSCIOUSNESS WHICH, IT IS CLAIMED, MAKES THE BODY MANIFEST. FURTHERMORE WE OUGHT NOT TO TAKE THIS AS OUR POINT OF DEPARTURE BUT RATHER OUR PRIMARY RELATION TO THE IN-ITSELF: OUR BEINGIN-THE-WORLD. WE KNOW THAT THERE IS NOT A FOR-ITSELF ON THE ONE HAND AND A WORLD ON THE OTHER AS TWO CLOSED ENTITIES FOR WHICH WE MUST SUBSEQUENTLY SEEK SOME EXPLANATION AS TO HOW THEY COMMUNICATE. THE FOR-ITSELF, BY DENYING THAT IT IS BEING, MAKES

Suspended Animation Advisor: Marcelyn Gow

“I am very interested in the other nature, the artificial world of chemistry, electronics, and information that surrounds us. An extensive and intrusive nature , in which man in immersed like a fish in the sea.” -Andrea Branzi

The water fountains surrounding the DWP, once a symbol of fertility in an otherwise barren desert, are now read as a barometer for the water crisis of recent years. The sights and sounds of gurgling water on this artificial plinth indicate prosperity; their absence means trouble. Suspended Animation plays a strong role in extending these indications to the public. The plinth’s water circulates above and below the plinth on a daily basis, through several internal capillaries and straight into the masses of the Research Center below. The Research Center itself is read as one large room with several porous and translucent landmarks. The research partners will determine for themselves where to set up offices, research labs, and sanctuaries. The expanding and contracting capillaries within these landmarks, buzzing and whirring like an intrusive HVAC system, indicate a crisis to be solved. The tension between these two environments - the concern of the public and the responsibility of the private - is made explicit in suspended animation.

47 - Worm’s Eye View 48, 49 - Long Section 50, 51 - Ground Plan 52, 53 - Basement Plan 54, 55 - Detail of Isometric/Axonometric 56, 57 - Model Photos

Everyverything Advisor: Florencia Pita and Marcelyn Gow Awarded Thesis Merit

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Thus the unfacts, did we possess them, are too imprecisely few to warrant our certitude, the evidencegivers by legpoll too untrustworthily irreperible where his adjugers are semmingly freak threes but his judicandees plainly minus twos.â&#x20AC;? -James Joyce, Finnegans Wake The inbetweeners are the lower case i. They are not hybrids, nor are they monsters (though some are monstrous). They are only what is in-beee-tween one and two. Topologists use them to discover the Real; animators use them to make vital the Imaginary. The inbetweeners are independent in composition and contingent in behavior. They are the alchemical image; the unglued atomic structure. They mock plane geometry. The inbetweeners are the minutely non-repetitive. They are fleeting, innumerable, incalculable, plural, disposable, transient, infinitesimal and often imperceptible. They are the portmanteau and the toruscup. The inbetweeners are the unfacts.

59 - Title Sequence Film Still 60, 61 - Thesis Prep Drawings 62 - Front Elevation 63 - Axon 64 - Section 65 - Becoming Front Elevation 66 - Frame Sequence Depicting House Becoming Ball and Back 67 - Photo of Exhibition

plan of

Roof Deck at MoMA PS1 Client: Erin Besler (www.erinbesler.com) Location: New York, NY Position: Designer, Collagist

“The roof occupies a fundamental position in architecture, creating inhabitable space both below and above. This is underscored by block party vernacular; we commonly hear admonitions to “raise the roof” or “tear the roof off,” and, even more hyperbolically, that the “roof is on fire.” Through these expressions, revelry is compounded with acts of architectural revision. Roof Deck repositions MoMA PS1’s existing roof and refits it into the courtyard, where it is activated as a social space across a spectrum of programs and experiences—from celebrity yoga to ecstatic celebration, from the collection of construction materials to exhibition through social media. Along with the summertime impulse to flaunt and reveal comes the struggle to be fit and get in shape. Paralleling this, the roof is made fit and is also the site of performance and physical fitness programming on the roof deck. The construction of the roof and deck exploit the tendency to accumulate waste that building practices typically produce. Rather than discard material remnants off-site, excess is cut and refit into the project for use. The roof’s gutter system redirects water that would otherwise go to waste into a collection and retention system, turning an otherwise mundane aspect of exterior architectural drainage into a feature that provides water fit for use. Borrowing from the language of the architectural building site, the always in-progress roof is made more fit as uses change and tempos shift.”

69 - Model View 70 - Dance Class 71 - Pilates Class 72 - Spin Class 73 - Yoga Class

YF Restaurant Client: Fleetwood Fernandez (www.fleetwoodfernandez.com) and Yellow Fever (www.yellowfevereats.com) Location: Venice, California Position: Designer, Writer

Yellow Fever is an Asian bowl restaurant that was originally founded in Torrance, California. The restaurant found initial success from its controversial name, making the most disinterested drivers along Crenshaw Boulevard curious about what laid within. For its second outpost, YF purchased a site in Venice, within walking distance of Abbot Kinney Street. The owners asked for a design that focused less on the name of the restaurant as the affect of the color yellow. The restaurant is expected to be completed in Spring 2016.

75 - Exterior Perspective

YELLOW FEVER II 2560 LINCOLN BLVD, LOS ANGELES, CA 90291 APRIL 30, 2015

VIEW FROM LINCOLN BLVD

Facebook Mobile/Digital Westworld Client: SCPS Unlimited (www.scpsunlimited.com) Location: Los Angeles, CA Position: Designer, Animator, Renderer

To culminate the end of the year, Facebook produces a slideshow unique to each user. In 2014, an initiative to physicalize the slideshow was put forth, and a design and animation for a Facebook Mobile was devised. It consisted of 400 unique photo frames attached to several delicately balanced wires, and was intended to swing unpredictably through the space. It was installed in an emptied factory in Koreatown and was filmed over the course of a week. The following images are renderings of the final design.

HBO will soon be releasing the first season of Westworld, a series based on the science fiction western movie that premiered in 1973. The original was famous for being the first movie to employ CGI effects, and forty years later it is still challenging the relationship between naked visuality and computer generated imagery. The accompanying image is an animation still from the title sequence of Westworld.

77 - Facebook Mobile Front 78, 79 - Digital Westworld Animation Still

Balloon Frame Client: Pita + Bloom (www.pita-bloom.com) Location: New York, NY Position: Designer

“Balloon Frame is a space of delineated planes that outline the shape of a familiar, yet unrecognizable form. The project aims to echo contemporary pop culture, local street art and the vivid perceptual experiences of watching parade balloons. Balloom Frame is made up of ten intersecting vertical planes which are contoured along its outer edge and inner voids. Each plane is surfaced with a vivid color rendition of an inflated and voluptuous three-dimensional form, challenging one’s perception of materiality while creating an immersive experience. The planes are the last iteration of a back and forth process where detailed and figural two-dimensional geometry is used to generate a balloon-like three-dimensional form. Horizontally the form is sliced at 18” above the ground to generate seating platforms, while the contours on the ground reflect what would be the shadow of the planes during a late afternoon in June. Balloon Frame looks to synthesize contemporary fabrication techniques with basic but innovative materials. In the same spirit of “balloon frame” construction that was developed to speedily construct lightweight framing to be lifted into place, Balloon Frame is prefabricated into large components and assembled on site. The color and graphic texture is printed on removable and recyclable vinyl which is then applied onto honeycomb torsion panels which can be re-used by industries such as door manufacturers and furniture fabricators. Structural steel is embedded within the honeycomb panels wherever the planes intersect as columns. The crisscross nature of the vertical planes describes the volume in its entirety, becoming a skeleton of a balloon-like form.”

82 - Study Model 83 - View of Corner Pool 84 - View of Event Space

Log Journal Spring/Summer 2015 New York, NY scan of hard copy

Pidgin Journal Winter 2015 Princeton, NJ pdf of hard copy

Shane

BRICKS AND STICKERS

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FIGURE 1 Poster from “John Baldessari: BRICK BLDG, LG WINDOWS W/ XLENT VIEWS, PARTIALLY FURNISHED, RENOWNED ARCHITECT,” Museum Haus Lange. Krefeld, Germany, March 1 – July 19, 2009. Courtesy of John Baldessari.

42 “If I vibrate with vibrations other than yours, must you conclude that my flesh is insensitive?” – Claude Cahun, Héroïnes

he modern era is filled with testaments to poor aging. Eager to build in big and fast numbers, its architects were often quick to select

untested material palettes. For many, what looked stunning and rigid on first construction soon crumbled under its own weight once the scaffolding was removed. Quick to rise, quick to fall. But Mies van der Rohe was famously one to be more vain than hasty. While many architects communicated their allegiance to industrial functionalism through the use of sturdy yet ultimately ruinous materials, such as poured-in-place concrete for grain elevators or self-oxidizing metal for factories, Mies preferred his buildings clad in materials that would last eternally. Here, his trademark use of stainless steel and marble ring true, though the heavy use of exposed brick in his early career seems at first glance to be contradictory to this ambition. The Haus Lange, built in Krefeld, Germany, in 1928, is a telling example. Unlike the hopeful purity of the usual modernist materials, the bricks of the Haus Lange were selected and stacked in a decidedly imprecise manner, a little chipped and a little uneven. This was Mies’s method of ‘pre-aging’ the building, ensuring that the house would mature as contentedly as any other brick building before it. Peter Blake’s vilification of modernist materials adequately sums up Mies’s sentiments at the time: “Exposed, flat, poured-in place concrete surfaces will frequently stain and develop shrinkage cracks and are sure to look prison-grim under overcast skies, whereas brick and stone can look quite beautiful in a rainstorm.” 1

SHANE REINER-ROTH

43 The choice of brick might seem at odds with the times, perhaps not forward-thinking enough for the shrewd observer. As Philip Johnson and Henry-Russell Hitchcock point out in The International Style, “the use of [exposed] brick tends to give a picturesqueness which is at variance with the fundamental character of the modern style.”2 But Mies was also more vain than adherent. Despite the consequences, the one material he couldn’t avoid using—the one that ages just as poorly as concrete and exposed metal combined, the one that fogs up, streaks, scratches and warps—was glass. As dedicated as Mies was to conceit, he also couldn’t deny his clients natural light, and that meant lots of windows in places that were hard to reach. When the Haus Lange aged, the bricks stayed perfectly imperfect while the glass just became imperfect. The house’s presence as a questionably aged object was challenged when it was converted into a contemporary art museum several decades later. In 2009, artist John Baldessari was given the keys to the conflicted building and potentially found a solution to Mies’s fear of aging. For his installation, Baldessari covered the exterior windows with brick-patterned peel & stick contact paper to match Mies’s original cladding. The stickers effectively transformed the home into one large envelope of indecipherably various materials, one thick and the other flat. And because the photos on the contact paper were elevations of the then 81-year-old Haus Lange brick pattern, they were just as perfectly imperfect as the bricks they emulated. On overcast days, they shared the very same reddish hue. The illusions continued past the entrance. Every window was covered from the inside with a still image of a Southern Californian nature scene.

SHANE REINER-ROTH

FIGURE 2 Installation view from “John Baldessari: BRICK BLDG, LG WINDOWS W/ XLENT VIEWS, PARTIALLY FURNISHED, RENOWNED ARCHITECT,” Museum Haus Lange. Krefeld, Germany, March 1 – July 19, 2009. Courtesy of John Baldessari.

45 Some displayed a forest while others an ocean at perpetual high tide. The gallery lighting bore no shadows and the stickers no sunlight, rendering the interior as far removed from time’s grasp as a vacuum of space. In execution, Baldessari not only slowed down the aging process of the Haus Lange; he nearly brought it to a standstill. If considered a permanent fixture, could Baldessari’s paper-thin apparitions save face? Though the man who coined “God is in the details” himself might not have preferred it, contact paper does align with a certain materialist evolution. What bricks represented for several centuries in the building industry—a durable and economical means of surfacing—is essentially what peel & stick contact paper represents for the greater part of this century (with the exception, of course, that it does not insulate, but rather signifies insulation). It is one of this century’s cure-all products for its ability to mimic anything in any state of decay, allowing it to appear as nostalgically ruinous or timelessly pristine as one desires. The building industry has appropriated contact paper like a blank canvas or a Photoshop stamp, with homeowners not far behind. In the case of the Haus Lange, it was able to hyperbolize a specifically modern ruggedness. To go further, as museum director Martin Hentschel observes of the installation, “the block bonded brickwork gives the impression of solid masonry, [although] it is in fact superimposed; the walls have only a rudimentary function as supports. In other words: the brickwork is largely ornamental, placing it into the same category as wallpaper!”3 Though he claimed to be performing as the ‘contra-Mies,’ Baldessari’s real task was to carry Mies’s lust for masks into the next century. Conveniently enough, contact paper’s inability to self-support means that its only available function is always as the mask for something else.

SHANE REINER-ROTH

FIGURE 3 Installation view from “John Baldessari: BRICK BLDG, LG WINDOWS W/ XLENT VIEWS, PARTIALLY FURNISHED, RENOWNED ARCHITECT,” Museum Haus Lange. Krefeld, Germany, March 1 – July 19, 2009. Courtesy of John Baldessari.

47 Fakery often follows closely behind vanity. A wealth of research goes into finding material alternatives to tedious and expensive things (even when those methods weren’t especially tedious or expensive to begin with), and there is no question that the progression from bricks and nature scenes to stickers reflects a profit-driven venture bigger than Mies and Baldessari. This situation is promoted by a market with bigger and faster numbers than the modernists could ever have conceived. For those that benefit from the many uses of contact paper, integrity is overrated when it can be replaced with its stunt double. To ditch the trowel for a staple gun expedites the building process (both in its erection and demolition) while transparently communicating that same motive for ease and convenience; it is within this cultural standard that Baldessari applied stickers to windows. Over time, the two bricks would reveal their differences more apparently: Mies’s destined to sprout a little mossy green around the edges, while Baldessari’s likely to fade a little in the sunlight. However, with the proper adhesive and some light maintenance, the two could look quite beautiful in a rainstorm.

NOTES 1

Blake, Peter, Form Follows Fiasco: Why Modern Architecture Hasn’t Worked (New York, NY: Atlantic-Little, Brown, 1977), 42.

Johnson, Philip and Hitchcock, Henry-Russell, The International Style (New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Company: Reissue edition 1997), 37.

Hentschel, Martin, “A House with a Twinkle in its Eye,” in John Baldessari: Brick Bldg, Lg Windows W/ Xlent Views, Partially Furnished, Renowned Architect (Bielefeld, Germany: Kerber Verlag, 2010), 13.

SHANE REINER-ROTH

Clog Journal Fall 2014 New York, NY scan of hard copy

Mas Context Spring/Summer 2015 Chicago, IL pdf of hard copy

Six Ways to Commemorate Celebrity Mishaps Project by TALL Shane Reiner-Roth and Kyle Branchesi

Figural Monuments 96

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In LA, if there was a spot and you knew that Beyonce chipped a nail on that spot, then every time you passed it you’d be like “Ah, here’s that parking lot where Beyonce chipped a nail!” And that means something, and you feel like a ghost, like a background character to this enormous stage, like nobody would ever notice you. Because in LA if you and 2000 people see a billboard and Beyonce is on it, you feel like this town belongs to her, and everyone else on the video store murals we’re just renting it from them, and wearing sunglasses and walking around pretending we belong.1 Zak Smith

Figural Monuments: Six Ways to Commerate Celebity Mishaps

Los Angeles is divided: some are celebrities, and the rest are not. The daily interactions that take place between these two classes create a distinct mental geography that is of great interest for non-celebrities; a map not invested in historic political events or natural disasters, but rather one at the intersection of the banal and the newsworthy. Figural Monuments (2014) is a project that attempts to commemorate the importance of celebrities to our collective memory. Memorials are placed at the sites of famous celebrity incidents and oversights around Los Angeles, and are disguised as governmental architecture one commonly sees within the city. The relationship between Los Angeles and Figural Monuments is linked to the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s tenuous relationship with memory and its own history. This project challenges and confounds some of the issues that have often characterized the field of memorial design, as well as make permanent the celebrity mishaps that were once only gossip. Figural Monuments honor celebrities over non-celebrities Harris Demitropoulos, in attempting to establish the standards and ethics of memorial design, wrote that, â&#x20AC;&#x153;memorials [should] address their intended audience by accommodating a projection of the individual on their semantic matrix. As a subject, to be drawn to a memorial, I have to find a part of me in it.â&#x20AC;?2 While this may be a reasonable rule of thumb for many major cities, Los Angeles is uniquely divided by both automobile culture and fragmented communities. Their semantic matrix therefore lies not within themselves, but in celebrities to whom they have elected higher power and status. The constant stream of TMZ vans and Star Maps pamphlets for sale along Sunset Boulevard confirms the lengths to which the general population will hold celebrities over their heads. Though it lacks the solidity and implied significance of some other major cities, Los Angeles has a mythology as strong as that of the Greeks in celebrity culture. Many locals will recall the corner of Fairfax and Wilshire when asked where Biggie Smalls was shot, and more still can point out the Saks Fifth Avenue that caught Winona Ryder shoplifting on videotape. Celebrity culture supplies the collective memory of Los Angeles for those outside and within for one reason: a lot of people shoplift and get shot, but when it happens to a celebrity, it becomes that much more interesting.

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Figural Monuments confirm collective memory Figural Monuments confirm collective memory Figural Monuments confirm collective memory On the subject of a city’s collective memory, Aldo Rossi wrote, “One can city itself is thecollective collective memory of Rossi On say the subject of a city’s collective memory, Aldo Aldo Rossi wrote, Onthat the the subject of a city’s memory, wrote, its people, and like memory it is associated with objects and “One“One can say is theiscollective memory of of canthat say the thatcity theitself city itself the collective memory places. city isand thelike locus ofmemory the it collective memory.” BuilditsThe people, memory is associated with with objects and and its people, and like it is associated objects ings, like monuments, are used landmarks as one navigates places. The city the of the memory.” Buildplaces. Theis city islocus theas locus ofcollective the collective memory.” Buildthrough a city. ings,ings, like monuments, are used as landmarks as one like monuments, are used as landmarks asnavigates one navigates Andthrough when a astately through a city. city. piece of architecture is coupled by a notable historical event as piece the Round Table meetings theby a by a And when a(such stately of architecture is coupled And when a stately piece of architecture isatcoupled Algonquin Hotel in New York), it is easy to argue for a site’s signotable historical eventevent (such(such as the TableTable meetings at theat the notable historical asRound the Round meetings nificance. These sitesHotel become landmarks those with Algonquin Hotel in New York), it is easy to argue for a for site’s sig- sigAlgonquin in New York), it to is easy tofamiliar argue a site’s their history. YetThese Los Angeles does not have many these hapnificance. sitessites become landmarks toof those familiar with with nificance. These become landmarks to those familiar penstances to speak WeAngeles are Angeles yet to claim Columbus Circle theirtheir history. Yetof. Los does notahave manymany of these hap-haphistory. Yet Los does not have of these or a Garibaldi Square, either because don’tCircle penstances to speak of. We yet toyet claim aevents Columbus penstances to speak of.are Wethe arepolitical to claim a Columbus Circle happen here or we simply choose to look past them. Jan Rowen or a Garibaldi Square, either because the political events don’tdon’t or a Garibaldi Square, either because the political events once observed thathere “to able to choose you to be Rowen happen here or webe choose towhat look pastwant them. Jan happen orsimply we simply choose to look past them. Jan Rowen and how you want to live, worrying social once observed that without “to able to choose what youcensure, want to beto be once observed thatbe “to be able toabout choose what you want is obviously more important to Angelenos than the fact that they and how to live, worrying about social censure, and you howwant you want to without live, without worrying about social censure, 3 do notishave Piazza San Marco.” obviously more important to Angelenos than than the fact isaobviously more important to Angelenos the that fact they that they 3Monuments 3 these conditions, Figural gathered doGiven not a Piazza San Marco.” dohave not have a Piazza San Marco.” celebrity blunders and placed memorials exactly where they GivenGiven these these conditions, conditions, Figural Figural Monuments Monuments gathered gathered were rumored toblunders take place. recall amemorials murder orexactly robbery, celebrity celebrity blunders andSome placed and placed memorials exactly where where they they while others signify the videos ofplace. celebrities bumping their heads werewere rumored rumored to take to take place. SomeSome recall recall a murder a murder or robbery, or robbery, or tripping over sidewalks thatvideos once went viral. Their collective whilewhile others others signify signify the the videos of celebrities of celebrities bumping bumping theirtheir heads heads memory is or not centered onsidewalks political academic achievements, or tripping tripping over over sidewalks thator once that once wentwent viral. viral. TheirTheir collective collective but lies squarely onisthe any given celebrity’s everyday memory memory is not centered notminutia centered onofpolitical on political or academic or academic achievements, achievements, life. Asbut welies pour over theon details, weminutia notofonly acelebrity’s highereveryday butsquarely lies squarely the onminutia the any ofgive given any them given celebrity’s everyday statuslife. than non-celebrities, but we also validate the importance As life. we Aspour we pour over over the details, the details, we not weonly not only give them give them a higher a higher of their every move. status status than than non-celebrities, non-celebrities, but we butalso we also validate validate the importance the importance people aremove. aware, for example, that Hugh Grant ofMany their of their everyevery move. invited a prostitute to his car 1995, butexample, few knowthat exactly ManyMany people people areinaware, are aware, for for example, Hugh that Hugh GrantGrant whereinvited it took place. Automatic Teller Machine invited a prostitute a prostitute to histo car hisincar 1995, in 1995, but00023d2 few butknow few(Hugh know exactly exactly Grant)where is located on the intersection of De Teller Longpre and Courtney where it took it took place. place. Automatic Automatic Teller Machine Machine 00023d2 00023d2 (Hugh (Hugh Avenue, the site of the allegation. Now that a memorial in visible Grant) Grant) is located is located on the onintersection the intersection of DeofLongpre De Longpre and Courtney and Courtney at the Avenue, site,Avenue, visitors may visit remember theNow famous incident the site theof site the ofto allegation. the allegation. Now that athat memorial a memorial inat visible in visible an otherwise insignificant intersection for pedestrians or autoat theatsite, the site, visitors visitors may visit may visit to remember to remember the famous the famous incident incident at at mobilean traffic. otherwise an otherwise insignificant insignificant intersection intersection for pedestrians for pedestrians or autoor automobile mobile traffic. traffic.

Figural Monuments: Six Ways to Commerate Celebity Mishaps

HUGH GRANT Love Actually Automatic Teller Machine 00023d2 Center City West Hollywood

Figural Monuments are figural HUGH GRANT Love Actually Automatic Teller Machine 00023d2 Center City West Hollywood

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Geometric abstraction was arguably popularized by Maya Lin’s Vietnam Memorial in Washington DC in 1982. Prior to this point, memorials were almost entirely figural, embodying those honored with the highest level of verisimilitude and allegorical content. There were accompanying plaques with the honorees’ names and brief biographies, yet their focus was sculptures with faces and time-period clothes that were instantly recognizable and often scaled up. was done to both increase their Figural Monuments areThis figural visibility and illustrate their importance. The Korean Memorial Geometric was arguably popularized by Maya designed abstraction by Frank Gaylord, adjacent to the Vietnam Memorial, Lin’s Vietnam Memorial in Washington DCofinthe 1982. Priorfigure to this demonstrates the relative immediacy human point, memorials were almost entirely figural, embodying those in monumentality. honoredThe withcurrent the highest levelof ofgeometric verisimilitude and allegorical method abstraction assumes content. There were accompanying plaques with the honorees’ that its audience is not only actively literate, but will also take names and brief biographies, yet their focus was sculptures with time to read further into the nature of a piece. However, to asfaces and time-period clothes that were instantly recognizable sume this type of audience in Los Angeles would be the first misand often scaled up. This was done to both increase their take in local memorial design. With a pedestrian culture that is visibility and illustrate their importance. The Korean Memorial still yet tobybe seen, Los Angeles requires signageMemorial, that can be read designed Frank Gaylord, adjacent to the Vietnam quickly and from distant vantage points. As well, David demonstrates the relative immediacy of the human figure Gebhard has observed, “California’s mildness of climate, with the resultin monumentality. The current method of geometric abstraction assumes that its audience is not only actively literate, but will also take time to read further into the nature of a piece. However, to assume this type of audience in Los Angeles would be the first mis-

MAS CONTEXT / 25 / LEGACY

163 KIM KARDASHIAN & KANYE WEST Bollard 2 Kim Kardashian Bollard 3 Kanye West Golden Triangle Beverly Hills

ing ability to cheaply and quickly erect structures, encourage[s] a non-serious view of not only architecture, but symbolism and salesmanship as well.”4 Sharp marble and concrete solids, when displayed earnestly, have little resonance here. Bollards 2 and 3 (Kim Kardashian and Kanye West) represent the memorable forms of the two celebrities at the exact moment the paparazzi distracted them from their walk out of a parking structure, resulting in Kanye West bumping his head. The bollards portray the body language that characterized the incident, and they only present at certain times of the day.

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KIM KARDASHIAN & KANYE WEST Bollard 2 Kim Kardashian Bollard 3 Kanye West Golden Triangle Beverly Hills

ing ability to cheaply and quickly erect structures, encourage[s] a non-serious of not onlysite-specific architecture,and but symbolism Figural Monuments areview obsessively sometimesand salesmanship as well.”4 Sharp marble and concrete solids, when obstructive

displayed earnestly, have little resonance here. and 3placed (Kim Kardashian and Kanye West) repMemorials have Bollards typically2been in parks as traditional resent the memorable forms of the two celebrities at the exact artwork have been in galleries: in the center or out of the way of moment the paparazzi distracted them from their walk out of a a path of circulation that had been established before it. By their parking structure, resulting in Kanye West bumping his head. The politeness, they are quickly accepted as memorials and do not bollards portray the body language that characterized the incileave room for speculation. Figural Monuments are more akin to dent, and they only present at certain times of the day.

the chalk outlines of murder scenes than its predecessors. This level of site specificity ensures that the gravity of one celebrity’s Figural Monuments are obsessively site-specific and sometimes blunder isobstructive regarded as more essential to the way a city functions Memorials have typically been placed in parks as traditional artwork have been in galleries: in the center or out of the way of a path of circulation that had been established before it. By their

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Figural Monuments: Six Ways to Commerate Celebity Mishaps

BIGGIE SMALLS Bus Stop 775 Wilshire / Fairfax Transit Hub Miracle Mile Los Angeles

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than the ease of movement for everyone else. Biggie Smalls was murdered in front of The Petersen Automotive Museum on Fairfax and Wilshire. Though the permanence of this museum is currently under debate, the memory of Biggie Smalls dwarfs the architectural significance of this site and takes precedence. Bus Stop 775 - Wilshire/Fairfax Transit Hub (Biggie Smalls) takes up the majority of the sidewalk, requiring pedestrians to purposefully walk around or under the memorial. It appears as a solid clash of concrete and marble above fragile than thefurniture. ease of movement for everyone else. Detention Center 008 (Winona Ryder) poses as a Biggie Smalls was murdered in front of The Petersen Automotive Museum on Fairfax Though theFifth permasupplementary security roomand for Wilshire. the adjacent Saks Avenue. nence of this across museum is currently debate, memory of Its location the street is,under according to the publicly viewed Biggie Smalls dwarfs significance ofthe thisfive sitestolen security footage, asthe fararchitectural as Winona Ryder ran with and takes precedence. Bus Stop 775 Wilshire/Fairfax Transit dresses, only to be apprehended moments later. The building Hub (Biggie takes up general the majority of the sidewalk, requirstrikes bothSmalls) shoppers and pedestrians as patently ing pedestrians to purposefully walk around or under the memoabsurd in its detachment and overall distance from the Saks rial. It appears as a solid clash of concrete and marble above to which it formally belongs. fragile furniture. Detention Center 008 (Winona Ryder) poses as a supplementary security room for the adjacent Saks Fifth Avenue. Its location across the street is, according to publicly viewed security footage, as far as Winona Ryder ran with the five stolen dresses, only to be apprehended moments later. The building strikes both shoppers and general pedestrians as patently absurd in its detachment and overall distance from the Saks to which it formally belongs.

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Figural Monuments are disguised as city architecture Because the impact of sculptures in parks or in front of buildings has diminished as they’ve been quickly regarded as “public art,” new relationships between memorials and the cities they’re in have to be drawn. Contemporary artists have established flexibility in the category by considering new relationships between art and its environment. As Rosalind Krauss had observed in 1979:

MAS CONTEXT / 25 / LEGACY

WINONA RYDER Saks Fifth Avenue Detention Center 008 Wilshire District Beverly Hills

Figural Monuments disguised as cityto architecture Rather surprisingare things have come be called sculp-

ture [lately]: narrow corridors with TV monitors at the

Because the impact of sculptures in parks or in front of buildings ends; large photographs documenting country hikes; has diminished as they’ve been quickly regarded as “public art,” mirrors placed at strange angles in ordinary rooms; new relationships between memorials and the cities they’re in temporary lines cut into the floor of the desert. Nothing, have to be drawn. Contemporary artists have established flexibilwould seem, could possibly give to such a motley of art ityitin the category by considering new relationships between efforts the right to lay claim to whatever one might mean and its environment. As Rosalind Krauss had observed in 1979:

by the category of sculpture. Unless, that is, the category 5 can be madesurprising to become almost infinitely Rather things have come tomalleable. be called sculp-

ture [lately]: narrow corridors with TV monitors at the ends; large photographs documenting country hikes; mirrors placed at strange angles in ordinary rooms; temporary lines cut into the floor of the desert. Nothing, it would seem, could possibly give to such a motley of efforts the right to lay claim to whatever one might mean by the category of sculpture. Unless, that is, the category can be made to become almost infinitely malleable.5

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Figural Monuments: Six Ways to Commerate Celebity Mishaps

ANGELYNE Parking Meter 4800cc82 Parking Meter 4800cc83 Golden Triangle Beverly Hills

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Architecture has often played a role in this categorical game, if not only because it has always been its backdrop and source of definition. The Figural Monuments are therefore more covertly placed in their urban environment than their predecessors. They are programmatically based on familiar objects within the city, such as ATMs, security booths, and bus stops. Rather than adorn standard box buildings with symbolic decoration like parade floats, the functionality of the series is willed by their outward figurality. The memorials therefore appear curiously out of place; Architecture has often played a role in this categorical like one-offs that stand proudly by their control groups. game, if not only because it has always been its backdrop and Parking Meters 4800cc82 and 4800cc83 (Angelyne) source of definition. generally look and function like other parking meters with The Figural Monuments arethe therefore more covertly which they share a row. But because they commemorate the placed in their urban environment than their predecessors. They time Angelyne attempted theobjects paparazzi and subseare programmatically basedto onavoid familiar within theher city, quent these parking meters awkward such asfall, ATMs, security booths, andappear bus stops. Ratherand thanbashful adorn standard box symbolic like parade for compared tobuildings the rest. with It seems that decoration no plaque is necessary floats, the the series is willed by their outward viewers tofunctionality interpret theofmood of the incident that took place here, figurality. The memorials therefore appear curiously out of place; since none has been placed. like one-offs that stand proudly by their control groups. Parking Meters 4800cc82 and 4800cc83 (Angelyne) generally look and function like the other parking meters with which they share a row. But because they commemorate the time Angelyne attempted to avoid the paparazzi and her subsequent fall, these parking meters appear awkward and bashful compared to the rest. It seems that no plaque is necessary for

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Marble, concrete, and granite have been the standard materials in memorial design for their apparent permanence and seriousness; this might be the one convention that continued from figurality to geometric abstraction without any major exceptions. These are heavy materials for heavy meaning, and a monument’s physical presence is proof of an event’s authenticity and importance. Many only see them in visual content and publications, yet fewer can claim to see the real thing. Monuments are an alternative for word-of-mouth and are intended to solidify memories in the ground. But the rumors about celebrities are often only that, and these memorials attempt to reflect this instability. The Figural Monuments are real as far as images are three-dimensional; they are five postcards exhibiting the images that accompany this essay, and nothing as of yet has been erected at the sites they describe. These postcards confirm collective memories to many through nearly weightless distribution, performing in a similar fashion to the social media that has lately become prevalent.

MAS CONTEXT / 25 / LEGACY

Figural Monuments are fictional

The intention of this series is not to remind viewers of what would otherwise be forgotten, but rather to confirm what was generally brushed off as mere gossip. With Figural Monuments, our celebrity Schadenfreude is validated and our collective memory fortified. Los Angeles is torn between the have and the have-nots, a condition either self-inflicted or projected onto it by the rest of the world, and it is time to acknowledge this reality through intensive memorialization. Similar hierarchies exist in other cities—gangsters in Chicago, founding fathers in Philadelphia—but arguably none confound the concepts of civic memory and rights to fame quite like Los Angeles. 1

Zak Smith, “Celebrities and Los Angeles,” Artillary Magazine, April 26, 2009, 28.

Dimitropoulous Harris, “The Character of Contemporary Memorials,” April 17, 2011, accessed July 16, 2014, http://escholarship.org/uc/item/4bj1d7pq

Jim Heimann and David Gebhard, “Introduction,” in California Crazy: Roadside Vernacular Architecture (San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 1980), xix.

Rosalind Krauss, “Sculpture in the Expanded Field,” October 8 (Spring 1979): 30-44.

Reyner Banham, “Introduction,” in Los Angeles; the Architecture of Four Ecologies (New York: Harper & Row, 1971), xx.

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Other Published Work

“Future’s Tense”

With Kyle Branchesi Lobby Magazine London, UK Spring 2015

“Kremlin Form”

With Shawn Rumph The Architectural Review Folio Online March 2013

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“Gateway Tower Gated” bartlettlobby Online Winter 2014

“The Architect Laughs Last” The Oxford School of Architecture Journal Oxford, UK Spring 2014

“Kill Bill and the Erosion of the Movie Set” intjournal Online December 2014

“Architecture > Language > Architecture”

With Kyle Branchesi Edge Condition London, UK Summer 2014

“Satellite City”

With Kyle Branchesi Cityvision Online Summer 2014

“Strangely Familiar:

A Study of Everything Between Every Single Thing” Lunch Journal Charlottesville, VA Summer 2015

“Instrumental Plausibility”

“Joining the Invisible Choir”

“Museum of the History of the Motel”

“Becoming Upside-Down” With Kyle Branchesi

bartlettlobby Online Spring 2015

One Night Stand Catalogue Los Angeles, CA Winter 2015

With Kyle Branchesi Soiled Journal Chicago, IL Winter 2015

Dear Architecture, Blank Space Publishing New York, NY Winter 2015

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