I was in Basel last week for Art Basel and without doubt, one of the most interesting installations was in an area called Art Unlimited. It was Open Universe by Ricci Albenda. It was entirely constructed from willow and hung from invisible nylon threads from the ceiling as if suspended in mid air. It worked like a perspective drawing with a never-ending horizon around a central vanishing point, creating a a fish eye lens effect. It was absolutely captivating.
As you walked around it, which you somehow couldn’t stop doing, the perspective moved with you, until suddenly it didn’t. Parts of the ‘building’ that you were sure jutted forward, suddenly receded. But by that moment, you were following the next part of the building around, captivated by its magic once more. I’m a design addict, so it’s perhaps no coincidence that my favourite piece of art looked like an architectural drawing, but it really was quite incredible.
Ricci Albenda completed the piece in December 2011 while doing a residency at the Atelier Calder in France. Open Universe was being shown by the Andrew Kreps Gallery, New York.
© The Artist and Andrew Kreps Gallery
Photography © Katie Treggiden
© The Artist and Andrew Kreps Gallery
Photography © Katie Treggiden
Photography © Katie Treggiden
