I recently went to Point Dumas in Malibu not for a day at the beach or to see Bob Dylan (I didn't think I could, but I did). I was there to see a special art installation by Bridget D'Anibal.
Born in Los Angeles in 1971, D'Anibal moved to Kauai in 1998 before returning to Los Angeles in 2017. Over the past several decades, D'Anibal has sought personal, artistic and commercial application of his talents in a variety of fields, from exhibition painting and sculpture in galleries to film sets and paintings for film studios, architectural design and housing construction. . furniture, and creating faux upholstery for cabinets and furniture, and designing large walls with glass doors that open like revolving doors.
D'Anibal found property in fire-ravaged Point Dumas, an abandoned lot where a house once stood, on which he created immersive site-specific art installations to showcase his 30-year art and architectural design practice. theory and artistic vision, as well as personal philosophy, which is described for me as a process of deconstruction and construction, reuse in harmony with ecology, as a study of modern language and culture.
What you see when you arrive is an industrial door, and when you walk in, it's at the far end of the property, which appears to be covered in reclaimed wood and other materials on top. sides and roof.
On the way home, you'll cross a bare, sand-covered lawn at a construction site, littered with a dozen large, alien-looking white rocks. A large stack of firewood is stacked on the left so that it can be ordered in an orderly, rather than chaotic, manner. As you enter the house, there are several installations: statues and paintings on the first floor, a dining room with artwork on the walls and statues on the tables; and visit the landscape environment.
I outline the scale of what is there to draw a simple conclusion: D'Anibal does it all: every aspect, every detail, every door, window, skylight, light fixture, every piece of furniture, every painting and sculpture, even the landscapes. It is a Gesamtkunstwerk , a "total work of art," where every detail has a purpose and a reason (a term popularized by Richard Wagner for his operas, but also used to describe the architecture of Antonio Gaudi, Gerrit Rietveld, and Frank Lloyd Wircht). ). Works by artists such as Michael Heiser (The City), Walter de Maria (Lightning Field) and Nancy Holt (Sun Tunnels).
The multidisciplinary project is called B=f(P,E). According to the equations of the German-American psychologist Kurt Lewin, behavior is a function of a person in his environment. In this case, D'Annibal redesigned the environment to influence perception, reflect and provide immersive, complex and transformative experiences.
As D'Anibal told me when we met here, “I have spent many years of my life separating the church and sculpture from architecture, design, and the practice of fine art...mainly because it is so difficult to put into words what I know . And then... I had an epiphany. I want to take 30 years of everything I've done and define these objects with everything [I work on]. That's how it was born."
Using doors from properties he found in Indonesian landfills and salvaged building materials, D'Anibal hopes to change expectations about what we find in the Malibu neighborhood. The structure resembles a real farm.
As for the gable, D'Anibal explained that eliminating the seat is in part about turning California into a desert and "going 180 feet [home] and leaving prejudice at the door."
As you enter the room through one of the revolving glass doors, a 3,000-pound piece of glass that seems to float easily to your touch meets a circular opening that opens onto a steel-and-glass oculus in the center of the chamber. in the sky and in the tubs of the garden on the ground, under and behind the house.
“I take the focal point of the house,” says d'Anibal, “and it all starts with a drop of water flowing in the natural foundation of the house, through the structure of the house, and then inside. the universe."
In the central room, round spheres hang at different heights, like ornaments, but they are spheres that D'Anibal began creating as works of art more than 20 years ago. Looking closely, they made random letters.
"It's about language and deconstructing it," says D'Anibal. "I'm a dyslexic kid and I learned to read by looking at blank spaces. Shapes and forms, light and shadow have always been the lens through which I look at the world… About 25 years ago I was working on a design project in Indonesia and there was a man who carved these letters. I took the paper and wrote a poem, and then I was completely confused and said, "Can you put this on the ball?" The letter spheres weighed about 150 pounds, but were covered in white plaster and appeared weightless. Natural light creates shadows that move around the room day and night.
D'Annibale is more interested in opposing forces and creates works that encourage us to ask questions. “I like to use material that binds us together,” says D'Anibal, “and [they] always ask the question: Do these things sustain us? Is it limited?
The central wall of the room is flanked left and right by two large paintings by D'Annibalo, entitled Limitations, and a very heavy oxidized glass juts from the wall, leaning against the room, covered with the artist's brooding finish. Fabric drop (what you see is basically sheer fabric where the mirror is held in place by string and thread). canvas. And then the frosted glass portal, when you look at this little box, as the light changes and you walk [through the space], it connects to things,” D'Annibal said.
Communication is one of D'Anibal's main themes. "I'm interested in connection," he says, "connection to nature and structure, to objects and space, to art and humanity."
From the central installation, he moved to a dining room-like refectory with a long, low table, which D'Anibal describes as "the last supper of the day" and an installation he called "Pig in Zen" (based on). in Perry Farrell's song).
The bowls in each location contain what appears to be an infinite abyss (science buffs know this is done with video and mirrors).
Why pork? I asked, "Pigs never stop eating," D'Annibal says. “They can never get enough. And we have become a culture that sits in the trough. Whether it's information or material, there's never enough of it. And so [it's] endless, [but] it's never going to go anywhere."
Nearby, along one wall, taller-than-wide (rather narrow) artworks are also being constructed, deconstructed, and restored, including a built-in video screen covered in caustic wax that displays letters. randomly move around the screen.
"It's hard for you to talk about language and communication without discussing technology in some way," D'Anibal says of the wall art.
Hanging from the ceiling above the table is a long, twisted statue that looks like the skeleton of a giant prehistoric snake, but is actually the corpse of an Indonesian tree killer.
D'Anibal explained, “The parasite wraps around the tree and suffocates it, and then the tree eventually dies and falls to the ground and rots. And only a parasite remains. It's a metaphor for nature, and I'm trying to make my point about technology ". . . Now we're all [watching] this technological killing of truth."
For the fourth and final installation, D'Anibal led me outside down a long staircase made of the same white molding material as in the previous area. The area is decorated with fragrant herbs such as mint and coriander, which enhance the sensuality of the installation.
An outer path led to a 'talking pit', a semi-circular bench apparently made of clay mixed with concrete. D'Anibal surrounds a large tank dug from 4,000 kg of stone, which he worked on for 5 years. Sitting there, not only do you contemplate the water in the pool and the well that leads to the oculus, but you also see the courtyard and the ocean beyond, a stunning sight rarely seen in Los Angeles (or Malibu, for that matter). . ).
While I was sitting there, I have to admit that D'Annibale managed to change my expectations of what the site would be like, what the experience would be like, about the various installations, what the art would be like. Everything I see, hear, smell is part of the job.
D'Annibale's work, like the installations, is at the intersection of experience and art, decorative work and design, painting and sculpture, land art and conceptual work - you can appreciate the achievement without knowing its intellectual basis - but if you do, dig inside . the deeper you experience
In some cases, entire works of art, gesamtkunstwerk , appear to be manifestations of the artist's need to control every aspect of the viewer's experience in all of their visual, sensory, and even utilitarian experiences. When I struck up a conversation with D'Annibal, he replied, "[My] controller, the older I get, the more I realize you don't have to carry rocks upstairs," he laughs. Learn to accept it, "let things happen and let them go."
"Rarely does an artist have the ability to create such a complete environment," she said, adding, "Control is an illusion, and all you really control is how you react to it. Nature] and life happened.
Creating an environment where the many aspects of his work dialogue with each other and become part of a shared experience brings D'Annibale joy. “It's an honor and a privilege to be an artist right now,” D'Anibal said, adding, “This is a critical moment for art and art that matters and art that connects and builds communities outside the white box of galleries… and [it] about creating a culture around a collective dream and a place where people can go."
Point Dume B=f(P,E) is expected to be open to visitors beginning in February 2023. Public hours and public programs are planned, including special collaborations with other artists. For more information, contact D'Annibal via the website .
