Volume 16, No. 9
June 2010 ISSUE • 7
Saraceno ‘floats’ idea for ‘Lighter Than Air’ environment TOMÁS SARACENO WAS TRAINED as an architect. But a simple concrete and steel structure offers no challenge to this Argentinian artist. He wants to create a world where the environment is literally “Lighter Than Air.” Saraceno’s vision of floating domiciles is on display in the Blaffer Art Museum on the University of Houston campus through Aug. 7. The exhibition features a variety of balloons held together by a web of fabric and ribbons constructed by the “logic of tension.” Each of the pieces is supported by wires that are attached to the floor, ceiling and walls. Instead of free-standing works, each sculpture is dependent on — and part of — the gallery space. The act of viewing the work causes one to become part of the installation. One has to carefully maneuvre around between the taut wires, bobbing and weaving in an almost balletic performance. Saraceno has also installed framed photographs on the floor. In essence, the floor becomes the wall, which challenges our perception of direction. Which way is up? The pieces attempt to cross the line between art and potential function. In Saraceno’s large digital mural, “Liverpool/ Flying Garden/Air-Port-City,” he incorporates diagrams of the air flow above the city. On this he has superimposed his own “lighter-than-air vehicles” that have the potential to use the natural environment to move about. He argues that the flying city stimulates a dialogue with the environment. One notices that the flowing diagramatic “web” of the air currents echoes the webbing that holds his balloon structures together. Saraceno successfully blurs the line between art and science, and by doing so, he forces us to examine what is the essential nature of art. By extension, he questions the idea of what an artist is. Saraceno’s ongoing “Air-Port-City” project sug-
Review by Andy Coughlan
gests the possibility of a series of “lighter-than-air” balloon pods that can provide sustainable living environments in international air space. Several of the floating sculptures in the exhibition contain plant life. “32SW/Flying Garden/Air-Port-City,” a construction of 32 plastic elliptical spheres, contains Spanish moss, which lives on water and airborne nutrients. This flying garden’s self-sustaining organism offers proof of the viability of the project. The largest sculpture is a large ball constructed of plastic segments and lightweight solar panels. “Iridescent Planet” can be seen as both a prototype for a living environment and a work of art. All of the spheres in the exhibition play tricks with the light and with perception. Looking through the panels at the wall-sized mural, the swirling thermal currents are twisted and distorted. A series of photographs of people suspended in giant balloons as if in the clouds, offers a vision of the future. The implication is for a world that has removed the burden of Earth-bound congestion and lifted humanity high into the clouds. While in Houston, Saraceno visited NASA and he regularly discusses his ideas with scientists to advance his idea of an environmentally friendly alternative to current conditions. Saraceno sees his art as an “open integration of many disciplines.” As well as scientific principles — the balloons will rise and fall depending on shifts in temperature — Saraceno draws inspiration from the geodesic domes of R. Buckminster Fuller. Saraceno is a collaborator with a goal. He sees the world as a collaboration between man and nature, neither one dominating over the other. He also sees science and art as collaborative elements, each working together to create a postive future. And, ultimately, nations must collaborate to make Saraceno’s vision a reality. Until then, Saraceno will continue to push the boundaries of art and science in all directions — and “float” his ideas for a better tomorrow.
The Blaffer Art Museum is located at 120 Fine Arts Building on the University of Houston campus. For more information, call 713-743-9521 or visit www.class.uh.edu/blaffer.
LIVERPOOL/FLYING GARDEN/AIR-PORT-CITY, top, and 32SW/FLYING GARDEN/AIR-PORT-CITY, above, are part of Tomás Sarceno’s “Lighter Than Air” exhibition at the Blaffer Courtesy photos Gallery in Houston through Aug. 7.
