philippe parreno infills milan's hangarbicocca with a sound and light experience

philippe parreno infills milan’s hangarbicocca with a sound and light experience
installation view of ‘hypothesis’ at hangarbicocca, milan
courtesy of the artist; pilar corrias gallery; gladstone gallery; esther schipper; fondazione hangarbicocca, milan
photo © andrea rossetti

philippe parreno: hypothesis
hangarbicocca, milan
october 22, 2015 – february 14, 2016

from now until february 14, 2016, french artist philippe parreno infills the hangarbicocca‘s ‘navate’ exhibition space with an experiential, immersive installation characterized by sound and light. ‘hypothesis’, curated by andrea lissoni, is conceived as a choreographed space that follows a precise script, devised specifically for the site by parreno. marking his first anthological exhibition in italy, the show presents several of the artist’s most significant works, reconfiguring them to radically redefine hangarbicocca’s industrial spaces. shadow, light and and sound intercept and surround architectural elements, immersing visitors in an environment where spacial dimensions seem to participate in an orchestrated score.

a piano independently plays a score that determines the timing sequence for the entire exhibition
photo © andrea rossetti

upon entering the vast, dark room, visitors are confronted by a long series of ‘marquees’ hanging overhead. nineteen, plexiglass structures, realized between 2016 and 2105, comprise the installation ‘danny the street’ (named after the character created by grant morrison and brendan mccarthy for DC comics). situated at various heights, the luminous rectangles set in a line form a imaginary street that winds its way through the exhibition space. each of the suspended ‘marquees’ light up at intermittent moments and, like musical instruments, follow a score conceived by parreno. two disklavier pianos are placed on the floor, independently playing a score that determines the timing sequence for the entire exhibition.

nineteen, plexiglass structures, realized between 2016 and 2105, comprise the installation ‘danny the street’
image © designboom

the exhibition also includes ‘another day with another sun’, an artificial light that crosses through the exhibition space with a system of suspended tracks; ‘alien seasons’, a film built around five brief sequences that show the mimetic qualities of a certain species of giant cuttlefish that lives in the pacific ocean; and ‘marilyn’, a short movie that is a ghost portrait of the famous movie star, focusing on marilyn’s subjective point of view. parreno uses a combination of film, installation, performance and text to turn the exhibition site into a temporal space through various types of staged events.

situated at various heights, the rectangles form a imaginary street that winds its way through the space
image © designboom