Visual Arts

337 Project: A Contemporary Merzbau

 

The 337 Project, a startingly imaginative project involving more than 100 artists and one derelict building in downtwon Salt Lake, is the must see in the Utah art world this month. Open for only six days, May 18 – 20 & 25 – 27, the 337 Project is a contemporary and collective Merzbau that has brought together artists old and young, trained and raw.

Artist, Kurt Schwitters, 1887 – 1948, created three Merzbau projects during his lifetime. Actually, the 3rd and final project was called “Merzbarn”, one wall of which has been preserved and is housed in the Hatton Gallery, Newcastle, Great Britain. The other Merzbau projects have been lost, except for photographic documentation.

Schwitterer’s first Merzbau was constructed in his own home in Hanover, Germany. This “installation” began in the room he used as his studio and grew until it encompassed eight rooms of the house. The Merzbau projects were, according to Schwitters, “the most significant work of my life.” The constructions were very personal and autobiographical in nature. Developed during the political unrest in Germany prior to World War II, Schwitters’ Merzbau became his refuge, a safe place where he withdrew into his personal world of artistic fantasy. The walls and ceilings were covered with three-dimensional shapes and objects Schwitters termed “spoils and relics.” The Merzbauprojects were “on principle” uncompleted works, intended to under go continual growth and change. Many parts became covered or embedded as new constructions were added.

The 337 Project has some interesting parallels to Schwitters’ Merzbau projects; primarily it is meant to be temporary and will only be open to the public The brainchild of local attorney, Adam Price, 337 Project is being created in a building slated for demolition, to make way for a new “green” multi-use building. 42 rooms have been opened up to more than 100 artists to use as their “canvas.”

“This has been an incredible and energizing experience,” relates Price, “and it has brought a real sense of excitement into my life, as well as many of the artists working here, the neighborhood and art community in general.”

The inspiration behind the project came when Price and his wife visited New York recently and saw the 11 Spring Street graffiti project. 11 Spring Street had been a graffiti site for years. Recently the inside of the building was opened up to artists, prior to its demolition, and opened for public viewing. On the plane back to Salt Lake, Price and his wife decided to make their 337 South 400 East building available to local artists.

The building started life as a 1900’s vintage bungalow and has been remodeled and added onto so many times it’s a broken up and chaotic, jumbled mess inside. “The building has outlived its commercial usefulness and has been vacant for years,” explains Price. “We’re going to take it down and build a new “green” mixed-use building here, with commercial spaces on the ground level and residential on the upper level. There will also be a live-in artists studio in the back.” GSBS Architects have been retained for the new building design.

The thing that is so cool about this project is not necessarily what artist did what where, but the interaction and collaboration that has occurred during the course of the project.

“Many of the participating artists have expressed their concerns about the Salt Lake art scene being somewhat stale and rigid. It is hoped that this project will help shake Salt Lake City out of its doldrums by creating new connections between artists and the community. Opening night should be a real mix of people, a diverse intermingling,” says Price. “From the 12 year old skateboarders who have been coming by and bringing back more and more of their friends, to the 80 year old neighborhood gentleman who came by and said seeing the building made him smile for the first times in years.”

The project will bring together people from all walks of life during the six days it is open to the public. They will be rubbing shoulders and enjoying being captivated by the diversity and creativity of the art. Both the outside and inside of the building have been utilized for the artwork. There is a sculpture garden in the back parking lot created from doors and sunshades from the building. The gamut runs from familiar Graffiti type spray-can paintings, paint roller paintings, stencil work, installations, political statements and observations regarding contemporary society, an audio piece, to more traditional types of brushwork and frescos.

Some of the artists have stripped off the remodeled elements and reverted their room back to its original materials. During one such “restoration,” newspapers from 1941, with headlines about Germany invading Poland, were uncovered. They will be used as collage somewhere in the project, a fitting find, considering the project’s Merzbau antecedents.

The project has generated a lot of enthusiasm in the art community. “It’s been wild,” says Price. “It started with me telling one artist about the project and there are now 112 artists involved. We received a small grant from the Salt Lake City Arts Council and the Salt Lake Art Center has been helping with promotional work. The Art Center is considering doing a one-year retrospective look at the project’s impact on the local art scene.”

A motion picture film crew and still photographers will document the project. The web site will be up for an indefinite amount of time. When asked about the impermanence of the project, the artists all agreed that it is an important part of the deal. They do not want their works or the building to be preserved. There seems to be something about the impermanent nature and urgency of the project that generates so much excitement. Plus, it is out of the ordinary.

Like Schwitterz, these artists have become enthralled with the process and the creative experience rather than being concerned with any commercial viability. The works will not be signed. This is a calculated measure to help ensure the project is viewed as a whole, rather than as parts made by such and such an artist. Artists will only be identified on the web site and the documentation.

The public is invited to tour the 337 project, free of charge. For the opening, May 18th, the building will be open 6 to 11 pm. For the other days, May 19 — 20 and 25 — 27, noon to 8pm. Be sure to visit and share in the elevated sense of community this project has fostered. And, by all means, don’t let this be the last such community wide art collaboration project in Salt Lake City.

Photos by Craig Cleveland, courtesy 337 project. For more images go to www.337project.org

 

Categories: Visual Arts

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