SPACE December 2023 (No. 673)
Can buildings with similar shapes, such as apartment blocks, be viewed only negatively? Laure Catugier, who has continued to explore the functionality of modernism architecture, has used buildings with similar designs as tools for entertainment, both denying and affirming them. Her irreverent attitude can be seen in ‘Architecture is Frozen Music’, on show at The Reference until Nov. 7. Architecture is Frozen Music, a stop-motion video work with the same name as the exhibition, shows a series of photos of modern buildings from different countries, including Russia, Japan, Egypt, and the Czech Republic. The artist connects elements in one photo with elements in the following photo, for example, connecting the gutter line in the first photo with the window frame of the next photo. Each element is put together like a puzzle without being able to tell which country it belongs to, and Catugier refers to this continuous flow as ‘architectural music’. Zuhause is also a series of photographs depicting examples of modern buildings in various countries. The title and content of the work capture the psychology of feeling secure at Starbucks while traveling in a foreign country. Likewise, the artist explores the potential of similar buildings and is interested in ‘how humanity can appropriately use uniform space in different cultural and climatic contexts.’ Catugier majored in architecture and is expanding the scope of his work beyond modernism architecture to buildings that originated with modernism architecture, and multi-family housing.
Installation view of Zuhause / Image courtesy of The Reference
