DEPE Space: Mitch McEwen Methexis Interview

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In the DEPE exhibition produced by V. Mitch McEwen and collaborators, a series of design studies, maps, and abstract design codes will reimagine processes of demolition and preservation, specifically focusing on the tens of thousands of vacant houses in the city that were built in the early 20th century. This extensive collection of studies continues the ongoing research of McEwen Studio and A(n) Office focusing on demolition alternatives for publicly owned vacant structures. Visitors will encounter an excessive number of architectural scale models arranged from the floor of the gallery to the steel girders above. These architectural models, fabricated both by hand and digital processes, coalesce into a large sculptural field. Alongside these study objects, animations and interactive tools show how these design tactics would impact the image of the city.

The design research of Methexis began with McEwen Studio’s House Opera | Opera House project. House Opera | Opera House, located in Southwest Detroit, is McEwen's long-term collaborative project, involving Marcelo López-Dinardi, partner of A(n) Office, Dawn Lundy Martin, and a number of artistic collaborators. For Methexis, McEwen produces new designs to address the tens of thousands of buildings structurally and materially similar to House Opera. Rather than attempting an artisanal solution for each vacant house, McEwen deploys algorithmic methods to present alternatives for vacant buildings.

The film series accompanying the design exhibition extends this negotiation of architecture with drama, process, and language. Curated by A(n) Office and Dawn Lundy Martin, 3 series of videos punctuate each month of the exhibit with one of these relationships. Firstly, Lundy Martin explores architecture and drama–dramas of embodiment. Secondly, A(n) Office presents videos of architecture and process, mining the oeuvre of Gordon Matta-Clark and others. Finally, Lundy Martin presents a poetically rooted video grouping exploring architecture and language. Each segment of videos runs for about a month at a time &emdash; three weeks in May and July, and four weeks in June.

May: Dawn Lundy Martin curates videos around leisure as a problem, form, and desire of bodies. Videos include works from Ronaldo V. Wilson and Martin's own video titled Impossibility.blackness.Leisure.

June: A(n) Office curates short videos about themes of algorithms, variations, control, and time, as well as the condition of vacancy. Including Gordon Matta-Clark: Bingo (1974, 09:45 mins, color, silent) and George Maciunas: End After 9 (1966, 1:00 min, b&w, silent)

July: Dawn Lundy Martin presents a poetically rooted video grouping exploring architecture and language.

Sune Woods, A Feeling Like Chaos, 2015, two channel video projection (4 minutes 6 seconds); Amir George's film, Moments of Intention, 2016 (11 minutes 11 seconds).

The DEPE (Department of Education and Public Engagement) Space Residency Project and exhibition series presents interdisciplinary art that serves as a catalyst for learning and transformative conversation about complex social issues. DEPE Space offers opportunities to reflect upon the personal relevance of these topics and how they relate to communities in Detroit and throughout the world.

DEPE Space is supported by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. Mitch McEwen's Methexis is supported by the University of Michigan Office of Research, John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, Taubman College, University of Michigan, and the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts.

May 6 - August 28, 2016