Building the Pavilion offers a unique insight into the conception and construction of the Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2012, designed by Herzog & de Meuron and Ai Weiwei, and shows the European pair discuss their ideas. The Pavilion is Herzog & de Meuron and Ai Weiwei’s first UK collaboration, providing the opportunity for the design team responsible for the celebrated Beijing National Stadium, built for the 2008 Olympic Games, to work together again in London’s Olympic year.more...
This October, internationally renowned artists, writers, historians, musicians, film-makers, neuroscientists and a scent expert came together for the Serpentine Gallery Memory Marathon, the seventh annual festival of ideas inspired by the annual Pavilion commission. On Saturday, eleven hours of performances, discussions and presentations were streamed live on The Space, and selected highlights are now available to watch on demand, including David Lynch, John Berger, Michael Stipe and Douglas Coupland. more...
Over the past 20 years the internet has become an increasingly vital tool in our daily lives, a place to store, share and distribute everything from personal data to personal memories; from the fruits of creative labour to work spreadsheets; from software programmes to television programmes. In The Coming War on General Computation, Cory Doctorow argues that in the current century the war of regulation will shift from the online to the general purpose computers that surround us – be they laptops, cars or hearing aids – and at stake will be the freedom, fortune, and privacy of the entire human race. more...
For his series of three Park Nights events, which took place in the Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2012 designed by Herzog & de Meuron and Ai Weiwei as well as in Café Oto, legendary composer Robert Ashley brings to London five episodes of Vidas Perfectas, an ambitious new Spanish-language opera produced, scored and directed by Alex Waterman and based on Ashley’s groundbreaking 1983 television opera, Perfect Lives, from a translation by Javier Sainz de Robles.
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Architects Herzog & de Meuron discuss their groundbreaking design, created with artist Ai Weiwei, for the Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2012. While addressing the Pavilion’s concept and their collaborative approach, they explore ways in which art and architecture are relevant to today’s society. For this conversation they were be joined by the artists Michael Craig-Martin and Hiroshi Sugimoto. more...
For his series of three Park Nights events, which took place in the Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2012 as well as in Café Oto, legendary composer Robert Ashley staged episodes of his opera, Vidas Perfectas. Here, in a rare interview, Ashley discusses his oeuvre with musician Alex Waterman and artist and writer Will Holder, and also performs some of his poetic work. more...
For his Park Night at the Serpentine Gallery, artist Ed Fornieles hosted The Dreamy Awards. The evening was an examination of the awards ceremony as a cultural phenomenon, the purpose of such rituals and the characters and narratives that surround it. Fornieles’ performance, a special commission for the Serpentine Gallery, took on the format of a conventional awards ceremony to create a surreal and immersive participatory experience. Each audience member was given a new identity for the evening, making them contributors from the moment they purchased a ticket. They were encouraged to embody their new characters during the event, ranging from princess to political spin doctor. more...
On 14 September 2012 artist Oscar Murillo presented a new work specially commissioned for the Serpentine Gallery’s Park Nights series, titled The Cleaners’ Late Summer Party with Comme des Garçons. Constructed truly as party rather than a performance, Murillo’s event highlighted and modified the social atmosphere of the Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2012, in a site-specific celebration that explored themes of identity and language as well as cultural and social inclusion. This film was shown as part of the event. more...
