Marc J. Cohen / Group XXIV, Apr 07 - Sep 07

THE MYSTERY OF LIFE

9/7/07 to 9/9/07

MAK Center for Art and Architecture L.A at the Schindler House, 835 North Kings Road, West Hollywood, CA

The Peles Empire explored historical architectural styles within contemporary social surroundings. Named after a Romanian castle designed by the Viennese architect Wilhelm Doderer in 1883, Peles Empire reproduced castle rooms within their own domestic surroundings. Their project at the Mackey Apartments was the fourth room of the castle to be recreated, and was the site for a series of art exhibitions. For their Final Projects at the Schindler House, the Peles recreated a salon culture, bringing together art, architecture and food and referencing the salons hosted by Pauline Schindler. The room was created using parts of the installation from the Mackey Apartments, which employed photocopies as wallpaper, layering a nineteenth century baroque interior onto the modernist architecture of R.M. Schindler. The Peles Dining Room utilized menus relating to stories, historical themes or occasions. The Dining Room mimicked the idea of transforming one room into another by transforming one banquet into another — namely the Peles’ first dining room menu into one presented on the opening night of the Final Projects exhibition. This took the form of a 12-course tasting menu on a table extending from the Peles room into the garden, in alignment with Schindler’s idea of the garden as a living space. A very limited number of seats at the dinner table were available for reservation.