Michael Anastassiades, Curved Mirror, 2012, “Blue Salon”, MAK Branch Geymüllerschlössel, © Studio Michael Anastassiades
MAK DESIGN SALON #01
MICHAEL ANASTASSIADES. Time & Again
MAK Branch Geymüllerschlössel in dialogue with contemporary positions
Press Preview Tuesday, 8 May 2012, 10 a.m.
Opening Tuesday, 8 May 2012, 7 p.m.
Venue MAK Branch Geymüllerschlössel
Pötzleinsdorferstraße 102, 1180 Vienna
The MAK DESIGN SALON opens up the MAK branch Geymüllerschlössel to give more room to contemporary positions of applied art. For the launch of this new program series, a temporary intervention entitled Time & Again by London-based designer Michael Anastassiades—with installations in several rooms of the building—invites visitors for a cross-epochal confrontation with the universal theme of time and timelessness.
Showing a blend of Gothic, Indian, and Arabic styles as was common for pleasure buildings of the period, the Geymüllerschlössel is the only publicly accessible estate in Austria to convey a sense of the lifestyle culti¬vated in summer residences of the Empire and Biedermeier periods. Aside from period furniture from the MAK Collection, it also houses a high-caliber collection of 160 Old-Viennese clocks, of which about ninety are on permanent exhibit.
Taking inspiration from the unique ambience of the Geymüllerschlössel and its eventful history, designers are invited to the MAK DESIGN SALON to explore the early 19th century era of change and to establish stylistic and social references to the present time.
“Time & Again is an exhibition that challenges the notion of Now and plays on the illusion of a repetition of history,” Michael Anastassiades explains. In a play of history, the present day, and timelessness, he engages the existing furniture of the place, juxtaposing it with his own designs and developing new objects for the interior. The new configurations take viewers on a time travel, invoking a fictional encounter with imaginary former residents.
The starting point of Time & Again is the Kinetic Light 2 – Golden Pendulum installation (2010) that was originally created for the Norfolk House Music Room of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. In the context of the cupola room, this object which strikes a perpetual rhythm references the Geymüller-schlössel as a site of concerts and also relates to Franz Sobek’s collection of clocks. “Its mesmeric trajectory evokes a distant age when music sought to recreate the harmony of the spheres. Alternatively, its rhythm is a vehicle into the more recent world of psychoanalysis, a tool to communicate with the subconscious,” says Anastassiades.
The floor, walls, and furniture of the Blue Salon are covered with flowing round mirrors which mold to the surfaces over time. Made especially for the occasion by the Italian glassware and mirror specialist Fiam, some of them will be taken into the MAK Collection after the end of the exhibition. In another room, long-case clocks, strangely moved away from the walls, their exposed backs lined with mirrors, will reflect light and movement while rhythmical sounds break the tranquil atmosphere of the room.
Michael Anastassiades’s objects oscillate between design, sculpture, and applied art. His sought-after editions are produced by selected manufactories, e.g., by J. & L. Lobmeyr, Vienna. In their materiality, chandeliers, table and furniture objects correspond to the patrician ambience of the place, while simultaneously undercutting it with their plain look.
As a downtown satellite of the Time & Again exhibition, the MAK DESIGN SPACE will be showing objects from Michael Anastassiades’s Limited and Unlimited design series. In parallel, the MAK Design Shop will be offering selected objects by the designer for sale. In the run-up to the exhibition opening, Michael Anastassiades will be the special guest of the MAK Design Shop’s After Work Meeting Point on 8 May 2012, 5 p.m.
SPECIAL PROGRAM
Anastassiades’s intervention Time & Again also provides occasion for several supporting events which throw a bridge between the supposedly historical and the present, reflecting about aspects of time and reviving the Geymüller-schlössel’s historic tradition as a salon of intellectual exchange and cultural debate.
Design Tours
Expert-guided tours with Thomas Geisler, MAK Curator Design, always on Sundays 3 p.m. Dates: 24 June, 26 August, 14 October, 25 November.
Picnic & Design in Dialogue
There will be an opportunity to hold a picnic with family or friends in the park of the Geymüllerschlössel in the time around the two Dialogue Tours below. Visitors have to bring their own picnic.
Sunday, 15 July 2012, 3 p.m.
Can There Be Disputing about Tastes? About private likings and the objectivity of design beyond trends and fashions. Thomas Geisler, MAK Curator Design, in dialogue with Gerti Draxler, design expert and head of the Design Depart-ment of the Dorotheum Auction House, Vienna.
Sunday, 16 September 2012, 3 p.m.
What Makes Timeless Design? About centuries-old knowledge of producing quality wares and the courage to experiment. Thomas Geisler, MAK Curator Design, in dialogue with Leonid Rath, managing director and co-principal of the J. & L. Lobmeyr glass manufactory, Vienna.
MAK DESIGN SALON Time & Again
30 September 2012, 11 a.m.
The Times They Are a-Changin’. About old and new models of cooperation between artists and entrepreneurs. What is left of patronage and where the design market is going. Michael Anastassiades, designer, London, and Murray Moss, gallery owner and collector, New York, in conversation with Thomas Geisler, MAK Curator Design, on the occasion of the Vienna Design Week.
For further information please go to MAK.at and viennadesignweek.at
Limited attendance for all events. Information and bookings by phone
at +43 1 711 36-231, or e-mail to marketing@MAK.at.
About the MAK Branch Geymüllerschlössel
The Geymüllerschlössel in Pötzleinsdorf on the outskirts of Vienna was built after 1808 as a “summerhouse” for the merchant and banker Johann Jakob Geymüller (1760–1834). Although the architect is unknown to this day, the edifice shows the blend of Gothic, Indian and Arabic styles as was common in pleasure buildings of the period. In 1965, the building became affiliated with the MAK as a branch museum. At the same time, the MAK came into posses¬sion of the collection of Franz Sobek: 160 Old-Viennese clocks of exquisite quality from the period between 1750 and the second half of the 19th century. Aside from original Empire and Bieder¬meier furniture from the MAK collection, they are the most remarkable sights on exhibit at the Geymüllerschlössel. In the late 1980s, the exterior façade was renovated and part of the interior wall painting was restored to its original condition. Today, there is no other publicly accessible building in Austria that reflects the lifestyle and mentality of the pre-revolutionary epoch before 1848 with comparable authenticity. A contemporary aspect is added to the dialogue with the past by the sculptural ensemble Der Vater weist dem Kind den Weg [The Father Shows His Child the Way] by Austrian artist Hubert Schmalix (1996) and James Turrell’s Skyspace The other Horizon (2004).
Press Fact Sheet
Press Preview Tuesday, 8 May 2012, 10 a.m.
Opening Tuesday, 8 May 2012, 7 p.m.
Venue
MAK Branch Geymüllerschlössel
Pötzleinsdorferstraße 102, 1180 Vienna
Exhibition Term 12 May – 25 November 2012
Season Opening at the Geymüllerschlössel
Opening Hours
Geymüllerschlössel 12 May – 25 November 2012
Every Saturday & Sunday 11 a.m.–6 p.m.
Park open every 1st Sunday
of the month 11 a.m.–9 p.m.
Exhibition Curator
Time & Again Thomas Geisler
MAK Curator Design
Admission
(incl. guided tour) € 7.90 / reduced 5.50
Free admission for children and young people up to 19
Admission ticket also valid for a visit to the MAK on the same day.
Guided Tours of the Geymüllerschlössel 12 May – 25 November 2012
Every Saturday & Sunday 3 p.m.
Design Tours Expert-guided tour with Thomas Geisler,
MAK Curator Design
Dates: 24 June, 26 August, 14 October, 25 November,
always 3 p.m.
MAK Press Office Judith Anna Schwarz-Jungmann (head)
Sandra Hell-Ghignone
Veronika Träger
Lara Steinhäußer
Phone: (+43 1) 711 36 233, -229, -212
Fax: (+43 1) 711 36 227
E-mail:
presse@MAK.at
MAK.at
