Homes With Which Something Is Wrong: Open Air Installations by Alex Chinneck

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

When people speak of a contemporary artist's work as a "large-scale project", we understand that most often they mean the originality of the idea, the skill of execution, and the amount of time and effort spent on its creation. But for Alex Chinneck, "scale" is a literal definition. Without being wasted on trifles, the artist turns real houses into works of art.

“Architecture is the perfect canvas for sculpture,” says Alex Chinnek, a young artist based in northeast London, a poetic statement that perfectly reflects his fascination with the plastic possibilities of different materials. Chinnek combines the loyal love of construction and architecture that is natural for an artist, with a trait that is more rare for a creative person - a business acumen. He was able to convince 10 British companies to sponsor all the work and materials that were required for an ambitious installation with the playful title From the Knees of My Nose to the Belly of My Toes. And it took a lot of materials. Chinnek turned an entire house in Margate, Kent into an art object. Now the 19th century building looks like the entire facade has separated from the roof and walls and slides down in one layer, leaving part of the room on the top floor open.

The project was prepared on an industrial scale: the curved façade was made at a brick factory in Gatwick by gluing cut bricks onto steel sheets of the desired shape. The windows were made in another factory from 40 sheets of molded plywood glued together.

Chinnek says that his work is largely based on the effect of surprise - "take a familiar thing and do something with it that will change our perception of the surrounding reality." Surprising Margit, the artist immediately set to work on a new project, this time in his native London. The installation “Miner On The Moon” is “as if two buildings, as if turned upside down”.

Chinnek found a building to be demolished near the Thames. The house was built in 1780 and was originally used as a paid stable, where horses could be parked or a carriage was rented. The building's wide archway was also used to drive livestock and transport goods to the stalls along the Thames. According to Chinnek, the idea for the project was born from the shape of the house and its history: “The original design of the building was purely functional. The plan of the house included a courtyard, where the cattle were driven through the passage, which is now used by motorists. Since the appearance of the building was closely related to its purpose, I created an art object that exploits already existing forms."

One of the most important ideas for the artist that unites both projects is the concept of art that exists in public space. “I understand that when a person enters a museum, he makes a deliberate choice, but sculptures installed in public places are not left to the audience that choice. Therefore, I wanted to create a spectacular, but at the same time unobtrusive object. Thanks to the choice of authentic materials and architectural forms characteristic of a particular area, my work does not dominate, but naturally blends in with the surrounding space,”comments Chinnek.

In the summer, before starting his own projects, Chinnek visited a similar exhibition by Leandro Ehrlich, but was disappointed with the quality of the work.