2022 AR - ONGOING
On display in the Auto Court, Kristyna and Marek Milde's Homescape installation. These works of art were originally created for a 2014 installation at Wave Hill entitled Hills and Valleys of the Sofa Wilderness and are on indefinite loan from the artists to Manitoga.
2014, aluminum, insulation material, soil, moss, grass, ferns and stones, 29 1/2″ x 64″ x 32″ and 29 1/2 x 32″ x 32″
Homescape - Kristyna & Marek Milde
On view at the main House with Tour Participation and during special programs and events.
The sculptural installation HOMESCAPE by artists Kristyna and Marek Milde forms an outside lounge environment in Manitoga's Auto Court. Originally commissioned by Wave Hill for a 2014 exhibition Hills and Valleys of the Sofa Wilderness, this site-specific project, inspired by Manitoga, investigates the cultural forms found in interior design as they relate to the natural environment and landscape topography. HOMESCAPE examines the isolating effects of sedentary interior culture - addressing its sensory and environmental deprivation and is part of the Mildes' larger body of work linking domesticity and nature by employing the activity of sitting as a means to experience broader social and environmental issues. While the installation reframes the activity of sitting, it also aims to provoke environmental awareness through interactive spatial experience.
HOMESCAPE
HOMESCAPE invites visitors to sit down, to rest and to relax. The "upholstery," however, is made with soil, living plants, ferns and moss taken from Manitoga's grounds and transplanted into the metal frames. The landscape takes the form of furniture, which visitors to the site are encouraged to use. While serving as a place to sit, the installation allows participants to experience the sensuality of natural materials and textures as well as to explore the idea of connecting domestic comforts to landscape and nature.
The artists point to Russel Wright's own strategies in connecting the architecture, interior design and daily living at Manitoga to the natural surroundings: “Experiencing Manitoga was very inspiring to us. Russel Wright's integrative approach to nature and his sensitivity to site is transformative, proving that modern life and nature may connect with integrity.”
HOMESCAPE is intended to be installed in both indoor and outdoor environments. Perception of the piece evolves and changes as it shifts between the contexts of interiors and exteriors. When installed outside, the piece evokes the notion of domesticating a site, blending rather seamlessly with the surrounding landscape. When installed within a building interior, as at Wave Hill, the work evokes a contrast to the white cube environment and triggers a moment of awareness of nature.
ABOUT KRISTYNA & MAREK MILDE
Kristyna and Marek Milde are Brooklyn based artists and curators, originally from Prague, Czech Republic, working together as a collaborative tandem. Their work takes the form of interactive installations, site-interventions and DIY projects that investigate codes and mechanisms of established cultural forms of domesticity and modern lifestyles, exploring its connection to the context of environment and nature. They have exhibited internationally including at the MoMA Studio, New York; Wave Hill Sunroom Project Space, Bronx; Smack Mellon Gallery, Dumbo, Brooklyn; Anna Wallace Gallery, New York; Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art (HVCCA), Peekskill; Temple Contemporary, Philadelphia; Space Gallery, Pittsburgh, Silent Barn, Brooklyn; DOX Center for Contemporary Art, Karlin Studios in Prague, Czech Republic. Their work is part of private and public collections including the permanent public installation at Chateau Trebesice, Czech Republic. They have most recently been awarded the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council's Process Space Residency for 2016 at Governors Island. In 2007 they received their MFAs at the Queens College, New York. From 2008 till 2015, they both worked at the Czech Center NY, a prominent Czech Cultural Institute on the Upper East Side, where they curated and organized a wide range of international programs, events, exhibitions and residencies.