artworldNewsdesk
Wednesday, June 9th, 2010

Guggenheim holds online competition to Re:Contemplate the Void

Robert Rose, Erv’s Afternoon, digital rendering for Re:Contemplate the Void.  Courtesy of the artist.
Robert Rose, Erv’s Afternoon, digital rendering submission for Re:Contemplate the Void. Courtesy of the artist.

To celebrate the Guggenheim’s 50th year anniversary, the museum invites artists to submit works online to reimagine the interior of the Frank Lloyd Wright’s iconic building.  The competition, Re:Contemplating the Void, relates to the recent exhibition Contemplating the Void: Interventions in the Guggenheim Museum, which presented the works of selected artists who re-imagined the rotunda.

The submissions were loaded up onto a Flickr page and ranged from impossible, hilarious and interesting.  Most artists who submitted used Photoshop to realize their vision, although some used other, more traditional means: computer rendering, photo collage, painting or drawing.  Participants were invited to be truly creative and capture the full potential of the Guggenheim’s interior.

“Vasbro” submitted multiple entries, including a giant (fake) hanging bee-hive with suspended giant bees flying up through the space and a medieval castle tower that could be climbed, offering view through arrow slits.  A submission by “trinadv” titled Erv’s Afternoon fills the void with translucent arcs of cool blues and greens, with a boat and fishing pole on the top layer and various sea life suspended in the lower layers, contemplating the hook.  Alexander Nikanpour imagines visitors traveling in floating bubble ships.  Honoring Frank Lloyd Wright’s Falling Water, “Margaret Sharrow artist” imagines a water fall pouring down the outside of the building.

Nancy Spector, Deputy Director and Chief Curator, and David van der Leer, Assistant Curator for Architecture and Design, will select five winners who will be announced on June 1, 2010 on the museum’s website.  Each winner receives a Guggenheim Store gift package including a Fisheye camera, a tote bag printed with the skylight, a copy of The Guggenheim: Frank Lloyd Wright and the Making of the Modern Museum, and two admission tickets.

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