Modular Architecture - The Unit x 10

Studio Orta - 0505_d.jpg
Studio Orta - 0505_e.jpg
Studio Orta - 0505_f.jpg
Studio Orta - 0505_g.jpg
Studio Orta - 0505
Studio Orta - 0505
Studio Orta - 0505
Studio Orta - 0505

Date: 1996
Ref: 0500
Materials: Sequence from the Modular Architecture performance at the Fondation Cartier pour l'art contemporain in 1996
Dimensions: Variable
Catalogued: p129 Lucy Orta, Phaidon Press UK 2003
Exhibition history: 1996 La Fondation Cartier pour l'art contemporain, Paris, France
Courtesy: Lucy + Jorge Orta

Commissioned by La Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain as part of the Soirées Nomades performance program, Modular Architecture marks Lucy Orta’s first collaboration with contemporary dance. The installation comprised of different textile architectures is interconnected by large visual floor-signifiers - Habiter un espace c’est le prendre pour corps - The social link weaves the physical link. Within these textual boundries, the performers explore and define the personal space of each work and gradually emerge from them to negotiate new physical partnerships. The Unit, a series of interconnected individual bivouacs, detach and transform from the dwelling into an item of clothing, a transport bag. The aluminium membrane of the Dome Dwelling can be unzippered to reveal individual body-parts symbolised by arm, hood or leg appendages. The dancers form entire multi-faceted suits by developing relationships with each other and where the boundaries between body and architecture dissolve.