An Archival Séance: The Critical Record with Marina Otero Verzier
Luma/Website text
Presented alongside our fall exhibition Open Access: Exploring 130 Years of American Design, join us for a séance-inspired evening to interrogate the archival holdings unboxed in the show
Exhibition participants will each present select materials from Van Alen's archive through a performance of light and shadow. Moderator Marina Otero Verzier and respondent Mark Wasiuta, in conversation with the participant artists, will guide the audience through the hidden histories these materials represent — and exclude. Together they will explore the topic of “the critical record:” How do scholars, historians, and critics actively reinterpret official architectural archives?
The evening’s séance format is informed by participating artist Paula Vilaplana de Miguel’s research exploring the performance of haunting as a critical tool in 19th century’s North American Spiritualist movement, and its spatial configurations, in particular “the psychic cabinet,” an interpretation of which is part of the exhibition and will serve as the stage for the event.
Participating artists:
Annie Barrett, Daniel Pittman, and Paula Vilaplana de Miguel
Gillian Waldo
About Marina Otero Verzier
Marina Otero Verzier is an architect and researcher whose work lies at the intersection of critical spatial practices, ecology, technology, and activism. She is Dean’s Visiting AssociateProfessor at Columbia University’s GSAPP, where she leads the Data Mourning clinic, an educational initiative examining the relationship between digital infrastructures and climate catastrophe.
About Mark Wasiuta
Mark Wasiuta is Co-Director of the Critical, Curatorial and Conceptual Practices in Architecture program at Columbia University’s GSAPP. He works on problems of media, environment, and technology in postwar architecture and its experimental practices. He is currently curating and producing Early Warning Architecture, the official representation for Canada at the 20th International Architecture Exhibition of the Venice Biennale.
Open Access is supported by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Graham Foundation. Our work is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature, and by the Goldman Sachs Office of Corporate Engagement through a grant recommended by Goldman Sachs Community Development Grants Program.
Notice of Access, Filming, and Photography
Van Alen is committed to ensuring that all of our events are inclusive and accessible for all participants. Van Alen Institute is on the ground floor and ADA-accessible. If you require accommodations or have any questions about access needs, please email vai@vanalen.org and we will do our best to support your participation.
When you attend this event, you enter an area where photography, audio, and video recording may occur. By entering the event premises, you consent to such recording media and its release, publication, exhibition, or reproduction.