Big Bambú

source: dmstarn

A beautiful path through the bamboo forest leads to a Bambú walkway tied directly to the living stalks and winds its way 200 feet up through the forest, higher and higher, until ultimately breaking through the surface of the canopy of bamboo leaves. A large fishing boat, 70 feet long and made entirely of Bambú, floats on the canopy sea of bamboo over 60 feet high. The visitor approaches the boat on the elevated path as if swimming through the canopy and climbs aboard. The view out from the boat shows the waves of bamboo leaves flowing in the breeze with the inland Seto Sea and a neighboring island in the distance. Bamboo leaves break over the bow and bamboo flows across the deck, tips of the long poles that are the fabric of the boat are splashes and fishing poles.
Entering the cabin of the boat, the visitor descends below deck into the hull to see the chaotic interdependent structure creating the being of the boat interconnected with the sea. A catwalk through the hull leads the visitor to the bow andthe observation bubble which was thought up in a dream actually.*
The artwork encompasses the entire forest, The structure is created from several hundred living poles in the rhizomatic root system (new poles sprout daily, encroaching the elevated pathway) and about 2,000 poles harvested from other forests on the island and from Kyushu.

Doug and Mike Starn, American artists, identical twins, born 1961. First having received international attention at the 1987 Whitney Biennial, for more than 20 years the Starns were primarily known for working conceptually with photography, and are concerned largely with chaos, interconnection and interdependence. Over the past two and half decades, they have continued to defy categorization, effectively combining traditionally separate disciplines such as photography, sculpture, architecture-most notably their series Big Bambú. Commissioned for the Naoshima Museum (July 2013) and the Setouchi Triennial on the island of Teshima-Japan-, the fifth installment in the Big Bambú series utilizes and comprises an entire bamboo forest. A path through the bamboo forest leads to a Bambú walkway tied directly to the living stalks and winds its way up through the forest until ultimately breaking through the surface of the canopy of bamboo leaves. A large fishing boat- 70’ long-made entirely of Bambú floats on the canopy sea at over 60 feet high. The view out from the boat shows the waves of bamboo leaves flowing in the breeze with the Inland Seto Sea and a neighboring island in the distance. Curated by Francesco Bonami, the first semi-permanent Big Bambú installation opened in late 2012, and is in the collection of the Museo MACRO Testaccio, Rome. Over 130 feet tall, a habitable sculpture with capacity of 60 people with an elevated performance space, double helix stair and labyrinth paths leading up to multiple lounging spaces at 65 feet high with views over the banks of the Tiber and Trastevere to Monte Testaccio. In 2011 at the 54th Venice Biennale Big Bambú spiraled over 70 feet high behind the Peggy Guggenheim Collection on the Grand Canal. The acclaimed institutional premiere Big Bambú: You Can’t, You Don’t, and You Won’t Stop, at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2010 was the 9th most attended exhibition in the museum’s history with 3,913 visitors per day- with a total of 631,000. Throughout the 6-month exhibit, the Starns and their crew of 12 rock climbers continuously lashed together over 7,000 bamboo poles, a performative architecture of randomly interconnected vectors forming a section of a seascape with a 20-meter cresting wave above Central Park. Big Bambú suggests the complexity and energy of an ever-growing and changing living organism. Several new iterations of the series are being developed internationally. Gravity of Light, a solo exhibition by the Starn brothers featuring eight monumental photographs illuminated by a single, blindingly bright carbon arc lamp, originally commissioned by the Färgfabriken Kunsthalle, Stockholm, Sweden, took its third incarnation with the Cincinnati Art Museum in the fall of 2012 at a cavernous deconsecrated church and was dovetailed by an eponymous monograph, which offers a comprehensive approach on the artists’ Absorption of Light concept, published by Rizzoli, 2012.

In the spring of 2009, the Starns completed their first permanently installed public commission for the New York City Metropolitan Transit Authority. See it split, see it change, a 250-foot long artwork, up to 14 feet in height, presents the artists’ iconic tree photographs and a leaf transposed into fused glass, marble mosaics and a water jet cut stainless steel fence punctuate the South Ferry subway terminal. It is the recipient of the 2009 Brendan Gill Prize. 310 Fishkill Avenue 845.765.1071 Beacon, NY 12508 845.839.2868 Fax United States www.dmstarn.com Doug & Mike StarnAt their mammoth laboratory studio in Beacon, New York, the former Tallix foundry, the Starns continue to build the first Big Bambú, a constantly evolving construction, formed by a network of more than 2,500 bamboo poles lashed together. This enormous studio allows Doug and Mike to work in dialogue between Big Bambú and their many concurrent series: most recently The No Mind Not Thinks No Things and other Buddhist explorations- the Absorption of Light concept, alleverythingthatisyou- their photomicrographs of snow crystals, and their re-exploration of the late 19th century color carbon printing process. Through their carbon-prints, the Starns mingle gilding techniques to the painterly photo-process, and further advance their metaphorical lexicon on light with photographs of Buddhist statuary. Attracted to Light, To Find God, not the Devil’s Insides and alleverythingthatisyou are some of the Starns’ monographic publications. The brothers are currently preparing a new artist book based on their iconic photograph of Ganjin and Big Bambú. The Starns were represented by Leo Castelli from 1989 until his death in 1999. Their art has been the object of numerous solo and group exhibitions in museums and galleries worldwide. The Starns have received many honors including two National Endowment for the Arts Grants in 1987 and 1995; The International Center for Photography’s Infinity Award for Fine Art Photography in 1992; and, artists in residency at NASA in the mid-nineties. They have received critical acclaim in The New York Times, Dagens Nyheter, Corriere della Sera, Le Figaro, The Times (London), Art in America, and Artforum amongst many other notable media. Major artworks by the Starns are represented in public and private collections including: The Museum of Modern Art (NYC); San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SF); Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, (NYC); The Jewish Museum, (NYC); The Metropolitan Museum of Art (NYC); Moderna Museet (Stockholm); The National Gallery of Victoria (Melbourne); Whitney Museum of American Art (NYC); Yokohama Museum of Art (Japan); La Bibliotèque Nationale (Paris); La Maison Européenne de la Photographie (Paris); Los Angeles County Museum of Art, amongst many others.
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source: metmuseum

Invited by The Metropolitan Museum of Art to create a site-specific installation for The Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Roof Garden, the twin brothers Mike and Doug Starn (born in New Jersey in 1961) present their new work, Big Bambú: You Can’t, You Don’t, and You Won’t Stop. The monumental bamboo structure, ultimately measuring 100 feet long, 50 feet wide, and 50 feet high, takes the form of a cresting wave that bridges realms of sculpture, architecture, and performance. Visitors witness the continuing creation and evolving incarnations of Big Bambú as it is constructed throughout the spring, summer, and fall by the artists and a team of rock climbers. Set against Central Park and its urban backdrop, Big Bambú suggests the complexity and energy of an ever-changing living organism. It is the thirteenth-consecutive single-artist installation on the Roof Garden.

Big Bambú is a growing and changing sculpture―a vast network of 5,000 interlocking 30- and 40-foot-long fresh-cut bamboo poles, lashed together with 50 miles of nylon rope. It will continue to be constructed throughout the duration of the exhibition. The first phase of the structure―measuring about 100 feet long, 50 feet wide, and 30 feet high―was completed by opening day, April 27. The artists and rock climbers are continuing to build up the eastern portion of the sculpture to an elevation of 50 feet. By summer, the western portion of the sculpture will be about 40 feet high. An internal footpath artery system grows along with the structure, facilitating its progress. The evolving state of the work is being documented by the artists in photographs and videos.

About the Artists

Born in New Jersey in 1961, the identical twins Doug and Mike Starn work collaboratively and defy categorization, combining traditionally separate disciplines such as sculpture, photography, painting, video, and installation. In spring 2009, the Arts for Transit program of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority of New York City unveiled See it split, see it change, the Starns’ first public commission. The work, which is installed permanently at the South Ferry subway station, won the Brendan Gill Prize. Their work has been exhibited internationally and is included in public and private collections worldwide. Their solo exhibitions include Gravity of Light (2004, 2008), Absorption + Transmission (2005, 2006), Behind Your Eye (2004), Sphere of Influence (1994), Mike and Doug Starn: Selected Works 1985-87 (1988), and The Christ Series (1988). The artists live and work in the New York area.
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source: iodonna

Siamo a Beacon, poco più di un’ora di treno da New York. L’ex fonderia è alta quanto un palazzo di cinque pianie da qui gli assistenti di studio sembrano miniaturizzati. Ci sono due ragazzi che ritoccano a cera le fotografie, gli addetti al trasporto, chi fabbrica le cornici. Nello staff anche un direttore di studio, l’art director italiano e il suo cagnolino Jackie O’. Tolta la musica e gli acuti della sega elettrica, non si sente volare una mosca.

Statunitensi del New Jersey, classe 1961, i gemelli Starn sono attivi da fine anni Ottanta. Hanno sperimentato vari tipi di media, dalla scultura alla fotografia. La serie Big Bambú – cattedrali costruite senza un disegno e tenute insieme da corde di nylon per l’arrampicata – è un progetto dell’età matura. «Nasce dalla constatazione della casualità dell’esistenza» spiega Mike. «Tutti abbiamo un’idea di dove vorremmo andare nella vita,manon c’è affatto un percorso. Siamo influenzati da altre persone, costretti a continui adattamenti, tutto cresce in modo incredibilmente caotico». «I Bi gBambú sono l’architettura della vita» gli fa eco Doug.«Niente è pianificato, tutto è strettamente legato e ogni elemento aiuta a sostenere l’altro. Tutto sommato, un’opera ottimista, anche se molti ci considerano dark». L’ottimismo degli Starn, nel 2010, ha riempito il Metropolitan Museum di New York. Big Bambú: You Can’t, You Don’t and You Won’t Stop (non puoi, non vuoi e non ti fermerai), un intreccio alto 15 metri costruito sul tetto vista Central Park, ha totalizzato 600mila visitatori. Sono passati Lou Reed, Bono degli U2, Paul McCartney. Per il critico Jerry Saltz, una bussola per il mondo dell’arte, una delle dieci mostre dell’anno: «I fratelli hanno trasformato il tetto del Met in un gigantesco nido in evoluzione, brulicante di spettatori» ha scritto. «Partecipato in modo entusiasmante e un’esperienza magnifica».
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source: archeologue.over-blog

Une structure végétale évolutive, à la fois sculpture et architecture, coiffe le Metropolitan museum of New-York. On a souvent vu des sculptures sur le toit : Jeff Koons, Ellsworth Kelly ou Roy Lichtenstein. Pour sa 13è installation, le Met présente une construction des jumeaux Mike et Doug Starn. Durant tout l’été, les artistes et une équipe de grimpeurs vont entrelacer plus de 3200 tiges de bambous, avec des cordes de nylon coloré.

Un escalier à l’intérieur du foisonnement de bambous permet de monter au somment et d’admirer la skyline de Manhattan. Accompagnés d’un guide, si le temps le permet, après avoir signé une décharge, les visiteurs téméraires pourront grimper dans ce labyrinthe mouvant mais cependant solide. En Orient les bambous sont utilisés dans les échafaudages, même pour les gratte-ciels. Le bambou est vivant, avec le vent et la pluie, il change de couleurs, il plie mais ne rompt pas. La construction faite de cinquante milles tiges s’élèvera à plus de quinze mètres, sur 30 mètres de long et 20 de large. Tout a été soigneusement préparé avec un architecte pour obtenir les autorisations des services de sécurité de la ville et des pompiers. Chaotique à première vue, l’installation complexe est très organisée. Les artistes voient en Big Bambu un organisme qui se répare tout seul. Certains bambous s’abîmeront mais la structure tiendra. La tour représente les concepts d’auto-organisation, d’adaptation et d’interconnection de toutes choses. “Cette oeuvre est ce que ça veut dire être vivant. Etre vivant c’est grandir et changer continuellement. ” déclarent les jumeaux, l’un commençant une phrase que l’autre fini. “Et quand nous disons vivant, nous ne parlons pas seulement de l’être humain. Une ville est vivante. Une culture. Une société.”

Jumeaux identiques, Mike et Doug Starn sont nés dans le New-Jersey en 1961. Ils travaillent ensemble sur des photographies, vidéos, peintures, sculptures et installations.