Edmund de Waal’s ‘one way or other’ exhibition brings the artist’s minimal ceramic sculptures to the iconic Schindler House in California.
Many of the artworks are a direct response to the home itself, which was designed by architect Rudolph M Schindler in 1921 as an experiment in shared living. It’s considered the birthplace of West Coast Modernism, and has attracted some well-known visitors over the year – including architect Frank Lloyd Wright and musician John Cage.
De Waal’s stripped back pieces reflect on the building’s palette of concrete, glass and wood, as well as its cultural history. ‘The Schindler House is an idea about beginnings,’ says the artist. ‘It stands as an attempt to create a place for both cooperative living and cooperative practice; to reset the conditions in which a modern family could live and experiment.’
The artist has also drawn connections with RM Schindler’s status as an Austrian emigré, starting anew in the US. Accompanying de Waal’s sculptures is a sound piece, created with composer Simon Fisher and designed to be a ‘layered memory soundscape of Vienna’, as well as a new recording of a piece by Austrian composer Anton Webern.
Edmund de Waal: one way or other, runs until 6 January, 2019, at Schindler House, 835 N. Kings Road, West Hollywood, CA 90069
Read next: Modernist house by Rudolph Schindler in the Hollywood Hills lists for $1.9m