“A Thing is its Own Best Mask”
Antagonisms of the Architectural Wrap
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/jca.32400Keywords:
wrapped buildings, architectural preservation, urban heritage, surrealism, facadismAbstract
This photo essay interrogates an increasingly familiar sight in the preservation landscape of our cities: buildings encased in images of themselves. The strange details of these architectural wraps are photographed as a means of exposing the surreal fissures that speak to their underlying ontologies, explored here with reference to Slavoj Zizek's concept of the parallax and Graham Harman's notion of immaterialism. This photographic archaeology further seeks to unravel the overarching inconsistencies of heritage and preservation, with the building wrap seen to embody many of the paradoxes and tensions of these fields.
References
Calvino, I. 1997 [1972]. Invisible Cities. Translated by W. Weaver. London: Vintage.
Glancey, J. 1995. “It’s a Wrap.” The Independent, 16 June. Available online: http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/its-a-wrap-1586760.html
Harman, G. and S. Žižek. 2017. “Duel + Duet: Graham Harman and Slavoj Žižek.” Conversation on 1 March, 2017, at SCI-Arc, Los Angeles. Available online: https://www.facebook.com/sciarc/videos/10154404056385872/
Jameson, F. 2006. “First Impressions.” [Review of Slavoj Žižek, The Parallax View] London Review of Books 28 (7): 7–8.
Mundy, J. 2012. “Lost Art: Christo and Jeanne-Claude.” Tate, 12 November. Available online: http://www.tate.org.uk/context-comment/articles/gallery-lost-art-christo-jeanne-claude
Murray, J. 2013. “Cost of Digitally Printed Building Wrap on Mesh Banner.” Wide Format World, 7 August 2013. Available online: http://www.wideformatworld.com/profiles/blogs/cost-of-digitally-printed-building-wrap-on-mesh-banner
Richards, J. 1994. Facadism. London: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203308684
Richards, W. 2016. “Ritual Evidence.” [Interview with Jorge Otero-Pailos] Architect Magazine, 7 March. Available online: http://www.architectmagazine.com/aia-architect/aiafeature/ritual-evidence_o
Roth, M. S. 2012. Memory, Trauma, and History: Essays on Living with the Past. New York: Columbia University Press.
Žižek, S. 2005. “The Christian-Hegelian Comedy.” Cabinet 17. Available online: http://www.cabinetmagazine.org/issues/17/zizek.php
____. 2006. The Parallax View. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
____. 2009. “Architectural Parallax: Spandrels and Other Phenomena of Class Struggle.” Lacan Dot Com. Available online: http://www.lacan.com/essays/?page_id=218
Glancey, J. 1995. “It’s a Wrap.” The Independent, 16 June. Available online: http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/its-a-wrap-1586760.html
Harman, G. and S. Žižek. 2017. “Duel + Duet: Graham Harman and Slavoj Žižek.” Conversation on 1 March, 2017, at SCI-Arc, Los Angeles. Available online: https://www.facebook.com/sciarc/videos/10154404056385872/
Jameson, F. 2006. “First Impressions.” [Review of Slavoj Žižek, The Parallax View] London Review of Books 28 (7): 7–8.
Mundy, J. 2012. “Lost Art: Christo and Jeanne-Claude.” Tate, 12 November. Available online: http://www.tate.org.uk/context-comment/articles/gallery-lost-art-christo-jeanne-claude
Murray, J. 2013. “Cost of Digitally Printed Building Wrap on Mesh Banner.” Wide Format World, 7 August 2013. Available online: http://www.wideformatworld.com/profiles/blogs/cost-of-digitally-printed-building-wrap-on-mesh-banner
Richards, J. 1994. Facadism. London: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203308684
Richards, W. 2016. “Ritual Evidence.” [Interview with Jorge Otero-Pailos] Architect Magazine, 7 March. Available online: http://www.architectmagazine.com/aia-architect/aiafeature/ritual-evidence_o
Roth, M. S. 2012. Memory, Trauma, and History: Essays on Living with the Past. New York: Columbia University Press.
Žižek, S. 2005. “The Christian-Hegelian Comedy.” Cabinet 17. Available online: http://www.cabinetmagazine.org/issues/17/zizek.php
____. 2006. The Parallax View. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
____. 2009. “Architectural Parallax: Spandrels and Other Phenomena of Class Struggle.” Lacan Dot Com. Available online: http://www.lacan.com/essays/?page_id=218
Published
2017-12-04
Issue
Section
Photo Essays
How to Cite
Sterling, C. (2017). “A Thing is its Own Best Mask”: Antagonisms of the Architectural Wrap. Journal of Contemporary Archaeology, 4(1), 91-106. https://doi.org/10.1558/jca.32400
