Martí Anson
21 Jun - 08 Sep 2013
MARTÍ ANSON
Catalan Pavilion. Anonymous Architect
21 June - 8 September 2013
Carefully exploring the links between contemporary art and popular culture, Marie Griffay considers this exhibition a 1:1 scale model in constant evolution. The model of this “Catalan Pavilion,” built by the artist Martí Anson at the center of Palais de Tokyo, is borrowed from a holiday home constructed by the artist’s father himself in the 1970s. This strong statement, a contribution to the workingman’s autonomy, becomes a sculptural project, both an homage and a pledge. The construction of the Pavilion will stop once available funding is exhausted, highlighting the limits of the institution and questioning our society capitalist systems of production.
Inspired by modern design, Joaquim Anson (Martí Anson’s father) began creating wooden furniture in the early 1960s in Mararó (Spain). His goal was to provide the new Catalan middle class with popular, yet affordable, furniture. Committed to the idea of costeffective construction, he decided to create a vacation home for his family in the Pyrenees. With no formal training as an architect, he designed a simple building, using brick to satisfy all needs, from structure to furnishings.
In 2013, Martí Anson will build a house in his turn, using his father’s original plans. This new building can be easily assembled and disassembled in a few days without professional assistance. Assembly is indeed very simple, following the methods devised by GATEPAC, a Catalan group of architects, for constructing detachable houses such as their “Rest and Vacation Town” (1933). One member of the group, Joseph Luis Sert, created the Spanish pavilion of the Paris International Exhibition in 1937, year of Palais de Tokyo’s inauguration. By deciding to build a house with his own two hands, Martí Anson pays tribute to those who, during Franco’s regime, tried their best to improve their living conditions by changing their own day-to-day lives as well as their community’s. Martí Anson’s pavilion, a replica of the vacation home built by his father, becomes a monument devoted to anonymous builders. These constructors carried out the most innovative research undertaken by architects at the time by creating simple, functional and cost-effective housing.
At Palais de Tokyo, Martí Anson’s house becomes a 1:1 scale model, emblematic of the “anonymous” Spanish architecture of the 1970s. It continues the series of models presented during universal and international exhibitions to highlight a local skill or heritage. Thus a family vacation home becomes a Catalan pavilion.
CURATOR
Marie Griffay (b. 1987, lives and works in Paris) is an art historian with a professional Masters in Curatorial Practice (Paris IV – Sorbonne). Her interest in the connections between contemporary art and popular culture led her to complete a first thesis on the carnivalesque references in Wim Delvoye’s work, followed by a second on references to Lewis Carroll in the work of Leandro Erlich. Currently working in the Centre Pompidou’s conservation department, she continues to undertake various writing projects.
Catalan Pavilion. Anonymous Architect
21 June - 8 September 2013
Carefully exploring the links between contemporary art and popular culture, Marie Griffay considers this exhibition a 1:1 scale model in constant evolution. The model of this “Catalan Pavilion,” built by the artist Martí Anson at the center of Palais de Tokyo, is borrowed from a holiday home constructed by the artist’s father himself in the 1970s. This strong statement, a contribution to the workingman’s autonomy, becomes a sculptural project, both an homage and a pledge. The construction of the Pavilion will stop once available funding is exhausted, highlighting the limits of the institution and questioning our society capitalist systems of production.
Inspired by modern design, Joaquim Anson (Martí Anson’s father) began creating wooden furniture in the early 1960s in Mararó (Spain). His goal was to provide the new Catalan middle class with popular, yet affordable, furniture. Committed to the idea of costeffective construction, he decided to create a vacation home for his family in the Pyrenees. With no formal training as an architect, he designed a simple building, using brick to satisfy all needs, from structure to furnishings.
In 2013, Martí Anson will build a house in his turn, using his father’s original plans. This new building can be easily assembled and disassembled in a few days without professional assistance. Assembly is indeed very simple, following the methods devised by GATEPAC, a Catalan group of architects, for constructing detachable houses such as their “Rest and Vacation Town” (1933). One member of the group, Joseph Luis Sert, created the Spanish pavilion of the Paris International Exhibition in 1937, year of Palais de Tokyo’s inauguration. By deciding to build a house with his own two hands, Martí Anson pays tribute to those who, during Franco’s regime, tried their best to improve their living conditions by changing their own day-to-day lives as well as their community’s. Martí Anson’s pavilion, a replica of the vacation home built by his father, becomes a monument devoted to anonymous builders. These constructors carried out the most innovative research undertaken by architects at the time by creating simple, functional and cost-effective housing.
At Palais de Tokyo, Martí Anson’s house becomes a 1:1 scale model, emblematic of the “anonymous” Spanish architecture of the 1970s. It continues the series of models presented during universal and international exhibitions to highlight a local skill or heritage. Thus a family vacation home becomes a Catalan pavilion.
CURATOR
Marie Griffay (b. 1987, lives and works in Paris) is an art historian with a professional Masters in Curatorial Practice (Paris IV – Sorbonne). Her interest in the connections between contemporary art and popular culture led her to complete a first thesis on the carnivalesque references in Wim Delvoye’s work, followed by a second on references to Lewis Carroll in the work of Leandro Erlich. Currently working in the Centre Pompidou’s conservation department, she continues to undertake various writing projects.