lauren henkin creates eight 'props' to spark dialogue with zaha hadid design elements

installed at the zaha hadid-designed cincinnati contemporary art center, eight mixed-media sculptures by lauren henkin respond directly to the design elements of the architect. despite the presence of a dedicated gallery space, the installation ‘props’ ironically takes place throughout 3300 cubic feet of unconventional spaces within the building. using a distinct set of mundane industrial building supplies such as PVC pipes, wires and even some excess supplies from the building’s utility closets, the artist intentionally designed the artworks with raw aesthetics to spark a dialogue with the seamless architecture of the museum.

all images by lauren henkin | prop 2 – made out of board and foam | located on the ground floor

‘lauren’s uncanny animation of spaces that are habitually overlooked within the museum speaks to a larger, more holistic consideration of an iconic structure that can seem overdetermined, and even overbearing.’ tells steven matijicio, the curator. ‘what happens when the work of a ‘starchitect’ is interrupted by peculiar agents living in spaces previously unauthorized?’

prop 5 – made out of concrete, board and foam | located on the stairway between third and fourth floor

‘we’ve all had the encounter of walking into a contemporary art space and wondering if something that looks ‘half-way’ is intentional art or just a chance clustering of items, a renovation on pause.’ explains steven matijicio. ‘lauren mobilizes that idea to loosen the absolutes of hadid’s geometry and materials, and to amplify the more porous and fluid dimensions of the building’s design.’

prop 6 – made out of wood, double-sided mirror acrylic and metal | located between second and third floor

henkin creates the unexpected artworks as tools to highlight the intuition behind different perspectives and how we perceive an object as ‘art’. she does this by sacrificing aesthetic beauty to emphasize the gestural, formal and functional intentions in her designs. each of the eight sculptures are created with different combinations of industrial materials; there is also no commonality in the aesthetic of the designs. visitors find themselves questioning the presence of the artworks as they walk into the lobby to see prop 1 and prop 2, but also find it delightful to see the unexpected prop 8 and prop 4 in the bathrooms.

‘props will make people ponder, laugh, and question their assumptions. in the in-between, lauren plants radicals that illuminate via disorientation. props is so captivating because it plays with the idea of the provisional in a playful, yet poignant way.’ continues steven matijicio.

prop 7 – made out of electrical cables | located on fourth floor hallway