THE ARCHITECT IN THE MONKEY:

I am realizing that all of these projects I’m doing are involving moving people through space. They are about transformation at it’s essence, moving people into something (be it spacially or experientially), & moving them out, back to where they came from. To me, this is what made architecture at architecture school magic! So, when I went to Bilbao. Spain to the Guggenheim, & saw Richard Serra’s steel sculptures, I wanted to melt! They depicted everything that is the essence of “me” somehow, & expressed everything I wanted to say! I actually integrated one of his pieces into my final project. The theme was: TRANSFORMATION.

So – if you’re not familiar with his work, we are talking about 30-ft. high walls of steel tweeked & torqued into elliptical spaces that you walk through. You are immersed into their raw material, & though they couldn’t be more thick, tough, & industrial, they are equally if not more powerful in their intense gage of MOVEMENT. I told my friends while I was in that space that I actually wanted to dance. Apparently someone felt the same way, as there was later an article & pictures in the paper about someone doing just that.

I am somewhat obsessed/fascinated by taking people into a “space of their own” – where they are brought back into humanity, forgetting all of the other periphral “movement” (I.e. cars, city sounds, etc.). I believe that the gut of Messy Monkey’s projects always have these principles & ideals as their bottom line. Concretely or tangibly, I feast on creating spaces where people are led through one transition to the next, into the heart of it, & then out again.

I spoke with some folks who said Messy Monkey (the original) was amazing on it’s own, but it’s definitely that much more powerful coupled with some facilitation. I agree, & would take it to the next level that “facilitation” as such doesn’t necessarily have to be the means of “taking you in”, & “taking you out” of the “space” that is Messy Monkey. I believe that our transitions via the bus, the walks, the food, leading & meandering you through different literal spaces creates that same means.

Anyway, I’m not having to use much CADD with this kind of “architecture”, & that is a beautiful thing! 🙂