An Art Space That’s More Like a Spacecraft@Art

A computer rendering of the Mobile Art pavilion, designed by the London-based architect Zaha Hadid.

Carol Vogel writes:

A rectangular patch of sand in Central Park may be the last place you’d expect to find a gleaming “Star Trek’’-style spacecraft. But an art pavilion that resembles just that will make a temporary landing there this fall. Called Mobile Art, the structure itself was designed by the renowned London architect Zaha Hadid and will occupy the Rumsey Playfield, midpark at 70th Street, from Oct. 20 to Nov. 9.

Photo: Zaha Hadid Architects

Chanel commissioned the structure to house works by about 15 contemporary artists. Each asked to create a work that was at least in part inspired by Chanel’s classic quilted-style handbag. Artists recruited for the project include Sophie Calle of France, Sylvie Fleury of Switzerland, Subodh Gupta of India and the Russian collective Blue Noses.

Photo: Toshio Kaneko

The challenge, Ms. Hadid said, was to create a pavilion that was visually compelling and could be easily transported. The result is a 7,500-square-foot doughnut-shape structure with a central courtyard. Its lightweight panels can be packed in 51 shippable containers. Skylights admit natural light, and computer-generated lighting casts a rainbow of colors around the base of the exterior that glows day and night.

Photo: Toshio Kaneko

A view of the Mobile Art pavilion in Hong Kong.

City officials, who are hoping that the art pavilion will be a draw for tourists, described the money that Chanel is donating as a windfall for the park. Asked whether he anticipated criticism for allowing Chanel to advertise one of its products in the park, Adrian Benepe, the city’s parks commissioner countered, “Everything has a sponsor.”

Photo: Virgil Simon Bertrand

Zaha Hadid, pictured in front of the building housing the "Phaeno" Science Center and museum in Wolfsburg, Germany, in 2005.

Ms. Hadid, who won the Pritzker Prize — architecture’s highest honor — in 2004, said that she liked the idea that a pavilion “lands, creates a buzz and disappears.”

Photo: Jochen Luebke/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

The artist Sylvie Fleury’s video installation "Cristal Custom Commando," inside a giant Pop Art-style handbag, at the Mobile Art pavilion in Tokyo.

Many of the artists explored the notion of the handbag as a cultural symbol, often with a dash of irreverence. Ms. Fleury created a giant Pop Art-style quilted handbag lined with pink fur; inside is a makeup compact in which you can view a video of women shooting handbags with guns.

Photo: Toshio Kaneko

Ms. Vogel:

After “Mobile Art’’ makes its last stop in Paris in 2010, Chanel will have the option to buy all the art. As for Ms. Hadid’s pavilion, Chanel owns it but is not yet sure what it will do with it. Its transitory nature, everyone involved in the project agreed, will be part of the allure.

Photo: Fototeca

@Source:http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2008/07/24/arts/design/20080724_ZAHA_index.html