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Felice Varini's installation in Chelsea. (courtesy Yvonne Senouf) |
| Painter Felice Varini, a 45-year-old Paris-based Swiss artist
who has tattooed a number of buildings with his lines and circles
at the request of architects like Mario Botta and Rem Koolhaas.
by Craig Kellogg There is only one spot in the vacant loft where the angry orange segments align to create a perfect zigzag. From every other vantage point in the makeshift 12th floor gallery in New York's Chelsea district, the streaks of paint seem to stab randomly across floors and walls. Adding to the clutter, bits of another work by the same artist (two triangles rendered in black paint) interfere and compete with the orange segments. But not, ultimately, for those visitors lucky enough to discover the zigzag's singular "viewing point." Though unmarked, the spot is eventually revealed to the curious, according to project promoter Yvonne Senouf. As proof, she offers the example of a visiting plumber "who knew nothing," yet perceived the miracle of the zigzag view "in 10 minutes," without instruction. The creator of both the black and orange installations is painter Felice Varini, a 45-year-old Paris-based Swiss artist who has tattooed a number of buildings with his lines and circles at the request of architects like Mario Botta and Rem Koolhaas. Both of Varini's Chelsea pieces are priced individually--although the loft, unfortunately, is not included in the deal. For $50,000, a collector will receive the specifications for re-creating the piece somewhere else at his or her expense. Since the works are obviously difficult to market, their siting at 508 West 26th Street--in one of 70 spaces Senouf scouted--has been fortunate, as the loft has remained empty since they were created in May 1997. A new tenant would probably mean the end of the installations, because Varini would rather destroy them than give them away. Until then, however, "the exhibition is open to the public," Varini says. "Whatever happens at any place the spectator chooses is as important as the original points I chose." Unless, perhaps, a spectator decides to open a checkbook. Then that person should probably be standing precisely at one of Varini's original viewing points--and remain there as long as necessary. |
Keywords:
swiss , art
