Willow House, 2004 – 2008, New England, USA
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Willow House
Otto + Fran Walter Hall – Music Building
Otto + Fran Walter Hall – Music Building, 2007 – 2011, Muskingum University, OH, USA
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A new music building for Muskingum University. This 20,000 sqft. building is now home to a choral rehearsal hall, instrumental rehearsal hall, electric, percussion and piano studios, music classrooms, practice rooms, a music library and all additional support spaces. Tucked into the gently rolling hills of New Concord, Ohio, this new music building asserts itself as a modern dressing of the traditional building materials of Ohio, brick and terra cotta. |
Portland
2009, maps, paper and matte board, 40.5 x 55.5 cm each (16 x 22 inches each)
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© andrew m. wenrick, 2009
Scandere Chapel
Scandere Chapel – Antwerp, Belgium, 2010
You are a pilot. You fly small planes over populated areas disseminating some corporate slogan or another, usually something you don’t necessarily agree with, in order to pay the rent and send the kids to school with proper shoes. You are high in the sky most days with a perspective not easily had by the common person. But even with all this time being elevated, being physically closer to the Gods, it won’t make you a better person and won’t improve your chances of getting to heaven. But having an elevated view might potentially elevate your mind. Free it from the mundane constraints of being grounded. Allow one to consider the spiritual possibilities that await. This potential is what the Scandere Chapel will offer the worshippers, global travelers and every day citizens of Antwerp.
The Cathedral of Our Lady in Antwerp has had a long and difficult history. The first, and what would end up being the final, stage of construction of the Cathedral was completed in 1521. Now, after almost 500 years have gone by, there is an opportunity to continue where the master Architects have left off. There is an ‘absence’ above the south tower. However, in this absence there is nothing truly to be missed. The Cathedral has lived on just like the south tower never intended to exist in the first place. When something has not existed from the beginning, and it is not missed, then this presents a blank canvas for new ways of thinking. History should not be forgotten. But it also would be a travesty to literally regurgitate and build a historical thread of thought taken from the 16th century as if we were still living in that time. The original Cathedral architects, Jan and Pieter Appelmans, if they were alive today would not want to merely implement the design that was on the drawing board 500 years ago. They would surely insist on designing something that takes into consideration the breadth of knowledge that has been gained over the last 500 years. They would insist on making a meaningful, purposeful and profound statement to the city and world through their architecture.
Repose, reflection, religious ceremonies, and revenue. The experience of the Scandere Chapel officially begins at the base of the south tower. It is here, in the darkness, one becomes aware of a rectangular shaft of light emanating through the center of the roof and touching down to the ground floor. Like a bolt of light being directed down from the heavens. One enters this orb and either ascends, slowly, walking up step by step, winding around the perimeter core. Or, ascending quickly using the translucent enclosed elevator lift, one reaches the chapel. This space accommodates the more intimate weddings and funeral services. The Cathedral can hold up to 25,000 people and comfortably seat 2,400. So the chapel is intended for private and personal services, accommodating from just a few to under 200 people.
Another main goal of the Scandere Chapel is for the generation of revenue. The Cathedral costs upwards of 1.5 million Euro per year to maintain. Currently donations are made by visitors and also for ceremonies such as weddings but this revenue will substantially increase with such an icon and the promise of visual and mental expansion. Many people, including tourists to Antwerp, will wish to take the sky lift for magnificent views of the city. Also, visitors will be able to walk completely around the north tower and take in all of its historical grandeur as if they were angels with wings guiding them high up in the air.
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© a n d r e w m. w e n r i c k
“Our aim has not been to assign individual blame”
2009 – 2010, acrylic and paper on canvas, 2 panels, 130 x 260 cm total (51 x 102 inches total)
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September 11, 2001 was not the beginning and, as we are ten years out, it is also not the end. It did though mark a very loud wake-up call to what some of us knew then and all of us know now as a global crisis in faith, cultures, and trust. We woke up one day and a lot of innocent people died and America’s iconic towers disappeared, but this was not, as a lot of people still do not comprehend, the work of one man in a specific space of time. This calamity has been unfolding over years and years with many players directly and indirectly involved.
When I opened up the book The 9/11 Commission Report and started reading, I was struck as to how much this read like a fictional novel. But what really resonated with me came in the preface. The sentence reads, “Our aim has not been to assign individual blame.” And this is a correct starting point because there really is not just one individual to be blamed for what was experienced on September 11th, and what we continue to experience today. The United States, among other nations, have had their hands mixing up the global dynamic to meet their current needs for a very long time. Allegiances pledged and won at one point have invariably been severed and swapped as foes. Those one-time allies are now using the support against them on the battle field. So, who is really to blame for the attacks on September 11th?
The piece Our aim has not been to assign individual blame (2009-2010) is about the ambiguity of our enemy and those involved either directly, indirectly or superficially, with September 11th. By taking all the names of the people mentioned in the Commission Report out of their original context, it blurs the relationship that person had in reference with this tragedy, either distorting or leveling the weight of their importance. But that blurring becomes less fuzzy when now looked at as a whole, on the canvas, due to the frequency of repetition of certain ‘players.’ Also, the randomness of the names now placed on the canvas provide interesting relationships and juxtapositions further blurring context and collusion.
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© andrew m. wenrick, 2009 – 2010
Somerville 11-37
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2010, maps, paper, matte board, 50 x 65 cm (19.625 x 25.5 inches), Private collection, Boston, usa
These 48 squares represent the 48 continental United States. They are laid out in alphabetical order except for the 11 states (squares) that have a town named Somerville. Those 11 squares are roughly placed geographically according to the map of the USA. So the 11 squares are exposed, with the town Somerville in the center of the cutouts while the other 37 squares have a portion of the map of that state behind a floating white square with a reveal around the edges for a glimpse behind. The cut Somerville squares differ in contour steepness according to the density and size of the cities compared against each other.
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© andrew m. wenrick, 2010
The system was blinking red
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2009 – 2010, cut book, 21 x 14 cm (8.25 x 5.5 inches)
The phrase, “The medium is the message,” was coined by theorist Marshall McLuhan and was used to explain the concept of figure-ground. The theory was that in order to fully grasp the impact of a concept, the figure (the medium) and the ground (the context) should be examined together, “since neither is completely intelligible without the other.”
This is how I see the relationship between the piece The system was blinking red and the piece Our aim has not been to assign individual blame. One could not exist without the other and together they tell a more complete story.
Inside the book, The 9/11 Commission Report, there is a chapter titled Heroism and Horror. This chapter describes the 102 minutes of the morning on September 11th, in grizzly detail. Through this chapter we re-live the planes crashing and the towers falling. Blanketing the city in massive, forceful clouds of smoke and dust. It is in this section that a new figure has been cut into this ground, which depicts the towers standing tall then falling to dust. Through a short time lapse video the book reveals the voids from page to page. And towards the middle the voids decrease in intensity and the twin towers appear and then quickly disappear. Providing further context to the cut pages and voids containing all the missing names that quickly flip by.
© andrew m. wenrick, 2009 – 2010
Middlesex Lounge
Middlesex Lounge, 2003 – 2004, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
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Norwalk Housing Competition
Reverse Voyeurism
2012, wood, LCD, circuit boards, 26 x 92 x 13 cm (10.25 x 36.2 x 5.12 inches)
The sculpture, “Reverse Voyeurism,” is essentially four crisp, still images of the same landscape. Four LCD screens play through independent sixty-minute loops. Countless voyeurs peering in at you as you are watching them. Images appear to be static, but then your eye catches movement –someone walking through the frame…and they are looking at you. Then they are gone. A few seconds later on a different screen, more voyeurs. And then, movement on a third screen. And the fourth. Back and forth, your eyes scan screen to screen watching these voyeurs look in at you. It becomes captivating to compare the passers by reactions – how bold will the voyeurs be? Who is watching who? Included are a few video clips taken from this project.
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© andrew m. wenrick, 2012