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Press Release

Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary presents

The Morning LineMatthew Ritchie with Aranda\Lasch and Arup AGUCommissioned by Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary

at the 3rd Bienal Internacional de Arte Contemporáneo de Sevilla (Biacs3) curated by Peter Weibel

After three years of intensive collaboration with artist Matthew Ritchie, architects Aranda\Lasch and geometric/structural designers from Arup AGU, Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary (T-B A21) is proud to inaugurate The Morning Line at the 3rd Bienal Internacional de Arte Contemporáneo de Sevilla (Biacs3) curated by Peter Weibel, with co-curators Marie-Ange Brayer and Wonil Rhee. The exhibition is entitled YOUniverse and is dedicated to the convergence of art, science and technology. The Morning Line is the corner stone of this biennial, its elegantly provocative 8 meter high and 20 meter long frame, built of 17 tons of coated aluminumisanintersectionforinformationfromvariousfields,suchasart,music,architecture,engineering, mathematics, physics, cosmology and technology. Voted among the 100 innovators for the new millennium by Time magazine, Ritchie is genuinely interested in an interdisciplinary approach of art that draws its inspirations from many sources. The Thyssen Bornemisza ArtContemporaryfoundationhasbeenforseveralyearsbuildingupareputationinthefieldofinterdisciplinary practice through numerous workshops and the implementation of a number of innovative commissions, The Morning Line being the most ambitious to date.

The groundbreaking construction, designated by Matthew Ritchie as a porous “anti pavilion”, is both ruin and monument. It is characterized by Ritchie’s endeavor to create a coherent sign system in and with art. In linguistics, such a process of expressing language through symbols is referred to as “semasiographic”. An important backdrop for the narrative contained within The Morning Line is Milton’s Paradise Lost. Since references to genesis and the fall of mankind are essential elements in Milton’s work, this bestows a subtle metaphysical note on the Art Pavilion.

One of the main goals in The Morning Line was to create an architectural language where geometry and artistic expression are intrinsically united, located on the same level. To achieve

this, the New York based architectural duo Aranda\Lasch and specialists from Arup Advanced Geometry Unit designed a construction element called “the bit” whose shape is derived from a truncated tetrahedron. The bit can be scaled up and down to any imaginable size, potentially even the size of the universe. “The project is not only about geometry, it’s about expression. There is nothing else in the project besides Matthew Ritchie’s visual language.” (Benjamin Aranda and Chris Lasch)

The project is characterised by numerous dimensions, another being its realization in constant consultation with Neil Turok (professor of mathematical physics at Cambridge University) and Paul J. Steinhardt (professor of theoretical physics at Princeton University). In addition to this,MatthewRitchiereferstothe“holographicprinciple”forconfirmationofoneofhiscentralthoughts: “The visible universe can be understood as a hologram, isomorphic to the information inscribed on its boundaries. In other words, the universe is a kind of picture.” (Matthew Ritchie)

Multiple expressions and narratives intertwine in a physical structure that is complemented by video animations created in collaboration with Nick Roth and James Case as well as a “sonic identity” that allows The Morning Line to become an interactive music instrument with equipment support provided by Meyer Sound Laboratories which is played by each visitor as he or she passes through the pavilion. This interactive sonic experience, appropriately entitled Ghost Net, was created by Matthew Ritchie in close collaboration with the Music Research Center/York University. It will respond to the presence and movements of visitors by emitting customized sounds from an ever-evolving sonic library. Six distinct indoor/outdoor soundscapes which create a quite separate ambionic sound structure, a invisible parallel architecture, are controlled via a software environment that was designed by Tony Myatt and David Sheppard using sound spatialisation techniques.

The two guest musical/sonic curators Bryce Dessner and Florian Hecker have invited leaders inthefieldofcontemporarymusicandsoundtocomposenewspacialworksexclusivelyforThe Morning Line. Eight new works will be premiered and performed live over a three day Sonic Festival. They are by Jón Thór Birgisson and Alex Somers (Riceboy Sleeps), Bryce Dessner in collaboration with David Sheppard and Evan Ziporyn, Mark Fell in collaboration with Roc Jiménez de Cisneros, Florian Hecker, Bruce Gilbert, Lee Ranaldo, Thom Willems, and Chris Watson. They will be replayed over the next few months, until the “anti pavilion” will be dismantled and moved to its next location on the roof of the Queen Elizabeth hall in the South Bank Center in London in the spring of 2009.

In future venues of The Morning Line, additional guest curators of the host institutions will be invited to create new programs and imagine other new directions for the project. In addition to

this, the aim is to create a sonic identity as open as the art pavilion’s architectonic structure. So an open source platform will gradually be set up to allow committed sound artists from outside to submit their own compositions and experiment with the ambionic structure of The Morning Line. These contributions will be evaluated for their potential of becoming part of The Morning Line and may ultimately be incorporated into an ever evolving sound library. A two-day workshop will take place with Tony Myatt, Matthew Ritchie and all the composers present on October 3rd and 4th For all updates please refer to the foundation’s website www.tba21.org

Together with the Art Pavilion pilot project Your black horizon by David Adjaye and Olafur Eliasson (2005), The Morning Line represents a breakthrough in Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary’s commitment to experimental projects that defy existing notions of art and architecture. A third Art Pavilion, entitled The Garden of Earthly Delights, was commissioned from architects François Roche and Stéphanie Lavaux / R&Sie(n) for the island of Lopud (Croatia). A new pre-project has just been commissioned from Hernán Díaz Alonso for an Art Pavilion in Patagonia.

BIACS YOUniverse – 3rd Bienal Internacional de Arte Contemporáneo de SevillaCurator: Peter Weibel; Co-curators: Marie-Ange Brayer, Wonil RheeDuration: October 2nd, 2008 – January 11th, 2009

Biacs3 Press conference and exhibition preview with the curators of Biacs3:October 1st, 2008, 11 am at Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporáneo (CAAC)

PRESS TIME at The Morning Line, Wednesday October 1st, 20081:00 pm - 4:00 pm Francesca von Habsburg, Matthew Ritchie, Ben Aranda, Chris Lasch, Daniel Bosia, Daniela Zyman, Tony Myatt, Jón Thór Birgisson, Alex Somers (Riceboy Sleeps), Bryce Dessner, Roc Jiménez de Cisneros, Mark Fell, Bruce Gilbert, Florian Hecker, Lee Ranaldo, David Sheppard Chris Watson, Thom Willems and Evan Ziporyn, will all be present, and available for interviews. PleasecoordinaterequestswithThyssen-BornemiszaArtContemporarypressoffice.

Location The Morning Line: Centro Andaluz de Arte ContemporáneoMonasterio de la Cartuja de Santa Maria de las Cueva, Avda. Americo Vespucio, 241092 Sevillawww.fundacionbiacs.com / press@fundacionbiacs.com / www.caac.es

The Morning Line Matthew Ritchie with Aranda\Lasch and Arup AGUCommissioned by Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary

Curated by: Daniela Zyman and Francesca von Habsburg Produced by T-B A21 production department: Philipp Krummel, Barbara Simma, Ivan StockerConception and design: Matthew RitchieArchitecture and engineering: Aranda\Lasch (Benjamin Aranda, Chris Lasch, Clay Coffey) with Arup AGU (Daniel Bosia, Nicolas Sterling) and Matthew Ritchie Studio (Mike Koller, James Case)Music curators: Bryce Dessner and Florian HeckerCommissioned compositions by Bryce Dessner in collaboration with Matthew Ritchie, David Sheppard and Evan Ziporyn, Mark Fell in collaboration with Roc Jiménez de Cisneros, Bruce Gilbert, Florian Hecker, Lee Ranaldo, Riceboy Sleeps (Jón Thór Birgisson and Alex Somers), Chris Watson and Thom WillemsSound spatialization design: Tony Myatt (Music Research Centre/York University), Aranda\Lasch, Matthew Ritchie and David SheppardSoftware system programming: Music Research Centre/York University, Tony Myatt, Matthew Paradis, Peter Worth, Theo Burt, David Malham Interactive programming: Media InteraktAnimation & animation programming: Matthew Ritchie, Nick Roth, James CaseCosmological interpretations: Matthew Ritchie and Aranda\Lasch (based on models proposed by)Johannes Kepler, John Milton, Gerard t’Hooft, Paul J. Steinhardt and Neil TurokProject realization supported by: Artdeluxe, ViennaFabrication: Sheetfabs, Nottingham

The presentation of The Morning Line in Seville is made possible with generous support from The Ministry of Culture of Spain, Meyer Sound Laboratories, Inc.

The Morning LineisanofficialprojectofYOUniverse, 3ª Bienal Internacional de Arte Contemporáneo de Sevilla

MUSIC PROGRAM at The Morning Line during the opening days October 1st - October 5that the Andalusian Center of Contemporary Art / CAAC ( program subject to change):

WEDNESDAY, October 1st, 2008 - Biacs3 Press Preview Day 10:00 am – 1:00 pm: The Morning Line Morning Session 1Ghost Net: The Morning Line Live Sound Laboratory withBryce Dessner, Matthew Ritchie, David Sheppard and guests

1:00 pm – 4:00 pm: The Morning Line Afternoon Session 2Live world premieres of specially commissioned sonic works byRiceboy Sleeps (Jón Thór Birgisson & Alex Somers), Chris Watson, Mark Fell & Roc Jiménez de Cisneros 11:00 pm – 1:00 am: The Morning Line Evening Session 3Live world premieres of specially commissioned sonic works byBruce Gilbert, Florian Hecker and Lee Ranaldo

THURSDAY, October 2nd, 2008 - Biacs3 Inauguration Day

10:00 am – 3:00 pm: The Morning Line Morning Session 4Ghost Net: The Morning Line Live Sound Laboratory withBryce Dessner, Matthew Ritchie, David Sheppard and guestsReprise: commissioned works for The Morning LineChris Watson, Mark Fell & Roc Jiménez de Cisneros, Riceboy Sleeps (Jón Thór Birgisson & Alex Somers)

4:00 pm – 8:00 pm: The Morning Line Afternoon Session 5Live world premieres of specially commissioned sonic works byThom Willems, Bryce Dessner, David Sheppard & Evan Ziporyn and Riceboy Sleeps (Jón Thór Birgisson & Alex Somers) 8:00 pm – 1:00 am: The Morning Line Evening Session 6Reprise: commissioned works for The Morning LineChris Watson, Bruce Gilbert, Mark Fell & Roc Jiménez de Cisneros, Florian Hecker, Lee Ranaldo

FRIDAY, October 3rd, 2008 - The Morning Line Open Day (Seville)

3:00 pm – 6:00 pm: The Morning Line Afternoon Session 7Reprise: commissioned works for The Morning LineChris Watson, Thom Willems, Bryce Dessner, David Sheppard & Evan Ziporyn, Riceboy Sleeps (Jón Thór Birgisson & Alex Somers) 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm: Ghost Net: Sound Laboratory Open Workshop 1 with Matthew Ritchie, Tony Myatt, Bryce Dessner, Florian Hecker, and all the musicians and programers of The Morning Line

9:00 pm –12:00 pm: The Morning Line Evening Session 8Reprise: commissioned works for The Morning LineBruce Gilbert, Lee Ranaldo, Florian Hecker, Mark Fell & Roc Jiménez de Cisneros

SATURDAY, October 4th, 2008

10:00 am – 1:00 pm: The Morning Line Morning Session 9Reprise: commissioned works for The Morning LineChris Watson, Thom Willems, Bryce Dessner, David Sheppard & Evan Ziporyn

4:00 pm – 7:00 pm: Ghost Net: Sound Laboratory Open Workshop 2 with Matthew Ritchie, Tony Myatt, Bryce Dessner, Florian Hecker, and all the musicians and programers of The Morning Line 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm: The Morning Line Evening Session 10Reprise: commissioned works for The Morning Line:Bruce Gilbert, Lee Ranaldo, Florian Hecker, Mark Fell & Roc Jiménez de Cisneros

SUNDAY, October 5th, 2008

10:00 am – 1:00 am: The Morning Line Morning Session 11Reprise: commissioned works for The Morning LineChris Watson, Thom Willems, Bryce Dessner, David Sheppard & Evan Ziporyn

CONTACTInformation / Thyssen-Bornemisza Art ContemporaryHimmelpfortgasse 13, 1010 Viennawww.tba21.org / press@tba21.orgT +43 1 513 98 56 29, 18 / F +43 1 513 98 56 22

Press Relations / Thyssen-Bornemisza Art ContemporaryChristina Werner/w.hoch2wei.Kulturelles ProjektmanagementBreite Gasse 17/4, A-1070 Viennawerner@kunstnet.atT +43 1 524 96 46 22 / F +43 1 524 96 32

Vienna, 25th September, 2008

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