Architecture News

HOMME PLISSÉ ISSEY MIYAKE recently captivated audiences at Tate Modern's South Tank with an innovative performance that brought Henri Matisse's iconic artwork, 'The Snail,' to life. Through the strategic use of pleated fabrics and interactive choreography, the event transformed passive viewership into an engaging, participatory experience. Dancers, clad in garments mirroring Matisse's cut-out shapes, moved dynamically across the space, creating a fluid dialogue between visual art and live performance. The unique setup encouraged individual audience members to become integral to the unfolding artistic expression, challenging traditional boundaries of theatrical presentation.

The immersive spectacle, held on September 16, 2026, as the second installment of HOMME PLISSÉ ISSEY MIYAKE's 'OPEN STUDIO,' drew spectators into a world where art extended beyond the canvas. Upon entering the South Tank, guests found themselves within an environment designed for interaction: a soft, felt-covered floor, circular benches lining concrete walls, and scattered individual seating. A large, pleated textile, inspired by 'The Snail,' lay across the floor, hinting at the artistic transformation to come. Performers then gradually uncovered additional layers of clothing from beneath the felt surface.

A core element of the evening was 'One One One,' an interactive format conceived by Ioannis Mandafounis. Dancers approached individual audience members, inviting them to participate in personalized choreographic sessions. These intimate exchanges relied on sustained eye contact, allowing the dancer to spontaneously create movements in response to the individual's presence. Meanwhile, other attendees observed these unique encounters, witnessing a series of miniature, evolving performances unfold across the vast room.

As the event progressed, performers don additional garments retrieved from beneath the felt. These pleated costumes, directly replicating the geometric forms of Matisse's 'The Snail,' moved with the dancers, transforming static paper cut-outs into three-dimensional, animated figures. The design team's vision was to imbue each paper shape with life, utilizing HOMME PLISSÉ ISSEY MIYAKE's signature pleating technique to give Matisse's designs a new dimension of movement. Throughout the performance, dancers frequently changed outfits, leaving discarded pieces across the stage, reminiscent of the loose paper scraps in Matisse's own studio, thus gradually dispersing the artwork's essence throughout the space rather than confining it to a central focal point.

The architectural layout of the Tate Modern's South Tank proved ideal for this dynamic presentation. Its expansive concrete interior and circular perimeter provided a versatile arena, while the seating arrangement intentionally integrated the audience within the performance area. This spatial design allowed dancers to weave among seated guests, occupying various parts of the room, ensuring that attention constantly shifted. An observer could instantaneously transition into the focal point of a dance, highlighting the fluid nature of participation.

Mandafounis's 'One One One' method thrived in this environment. It challenged dancers to interpret the nuanced sensations derived from an audience member's presence into expressive movements, resulting in each interaction possessing a distinct rhythm and duration. The mere presence of a spectator directly influenced the unfolding artistic narrative. Concurrently, those seated along the outer rim witnessed a captivating array of smaller, independent performances, each briefly establishing its own temporary center of attention.

Towards the culmination of the event, the nature of the interaction underwent another transformation. A lone performer appeared, followed by others who collectively peeled back the felt at the Tank's center. Beneath it lay a meticulously reconstructed, full-scale rendition of 'The Snail,' meticulously assembled from the pleated garments. Each piece was precisely cut to mirror the geometry of Matisse's original composition. Dancers then gathered around this recreated masterpiece, continuing their movements as the previously fragmented artwork reintegrated into a cohesive image.

For the majority of the performance, Matisse's artistic vision manifested through human interaction, with its abstract forms bending around bodies and navigating the exhibition space. In the final segment, however, these garments returned to the floor, once again forming a static image. The audience's role also evolved within this cycle. Initially, individual spectators could directly influence the choreography; by the end, everyone shared a unified view of the reconstituted artwork. This 'OPEN STUDIO' masterfully integrated the transition between active participation and collective observation as a fundamental aspect of the entire artistic experience.

The "Wendell Castle: Living" exhibition at Friedman Benda offers a unique glimpse into the artistic and domestic life of Wendell Castle, reimagining his renowned furniture within the intimate context of his own home. Curated by his daughter, Alison Castle, the display transcends a typical gallery presentation by incorporating personal items, family videos, and enlarged photographs, creating an immersive experience that highlights the functional origins and personal narratives embedded within his designs. This approach challenges the conventional view of Castle's works as mere museum pieces, instead emphasizing their role as integral components of a vibrant, lived-in environment. Visitors are invited to explore the evolution of his craft, from early joinery techniques to his signature stack lamination, all while feeling the warmth and authenticity of a true artisan's abode.

The exhibition eloquently captures the synergy between Wendell Castle's creative process and his family life. It reveals how his home served not only as a living space but also as a dynamic archive, constantly evolving with new creations and collaborative projects. The presence of his wife Nancy Jurs's ceramics and friends' artworks further illustrates the rich, interconnected creative world they inhabited. By placing the furniture back into a domestic narrative, the exhibition underscores the profound connection between the artist, his creations, and the everyday moments that shaped them. This intimate presentation offers a compelling re-evaluation of Castle’s legacy, celebrating the enduring power of his designs to bridge the gap between art and daily life, long before they became fixtures in esteemed collections.

The Domestic Environment as a Design Archive

The “Wendell Castle: Living” exhibition at Friedman Benda, meticulously curated by his daughter Alison Castle, profoundly redefines how we perceive the celebrated designer's body of work. Instead of a typical static display of museum pieces, the gallery space has been transformed into an immersive, lived-in environment that mirrors the Castle family's former Scottsville, New York, home. This innovative approach integrates personal artifacts, such as a Kermit the Frog toy resting on Castle's colossal 'Environment' (1972) and family home videos playing nearby, alongside the iconic furniture. This thoughtful curation emphasizes that these works were not merely artistic creations but functional objects designed to be used and experienced, revealing a more intimate and human dimension of Castle's legacy beyond the conventional gallery setting.

Alison Castle's curatorial vision is rooted in a 1973 House Beautiful feature that showcased her parents, Wendell Castle and ceramic artist Nancy Jurs, living amidst their creations. The exhibition expands upon this historical context by utilizing enlarged photographs from the magazine spread as murals, creating a dialogue between the past and present. Objects depicted in these vintage images reappear in the gallery, effectively bringing the Scottsville interior to life without resorting to a mere period reconstruction. This layered presentation highlights how the Castle home, a renovated former mill, continuously served as a dynamic space where newly crafted pieces from the studio seamlessly entered the family's daily life. It also illustrates how this constant interaction fostered a unique environment for the couple to critically assess their work and inspire future designs, showcasing the home as a vibrant crucible of creativity and a living archive of their artistic journey.

Evolution of Craft and Personal Narratives

The Friedman Benda exhibition provides an exceptional opportunity to trace the technical and artistic evolution of Wendell Castle's prolific career. The thoughtfully arranged display allows visitors to observe his progression, from early works like the 1962 Chaise Rocker, which proudly displays its visible joinery, to later, more complex pieces. This chronological journey highlights Castle's pioneering development of stack lamination in 1963, a technique that involved building up thick timber masses and carving them into seamless, continuous forms. The exhibition demonstrates how this innovative method transformed his creations, culminating in monumental pieces like 'Environment' (1972), where laminated walnut became an architectural landscape integrating a bed, workstation, lamp, and drawers into a unified, flowing structure, pushing the boundaries of furniture design and craftsmanship.

Beyond showcasing technical mastery, the exhibition also deeply embeds personal narratives into the presentation, revealing the intimate connection between Castle's life and his art. This is powerfully illustrated through small, yet profoundly affecting, objects such as a wooden high chair carved with Alison Castle's name and a 1973 coat rack still bearing her father's hat, covered in wood shavings. These items serve as tangible reminders of the human experience intertwined with the furniture, placing biography directly onto the objects themselves. Furthermore, Nancy Jurs’s ceramics are seamlessly integrated throughout the rooms, reflecting their historical presence in the Castle household and the collaborative spirit of their creative lives. The exhibition effectively bridges the gap between the functional art and the personal stories, allowing visitors to appreciate the works not only as design masterpieces but also as cherished remnants of a family's artistic journey