Contact: Hiroko Kikuchi
617 452 3586
hiroco@mit.edu
The MIT LIST VISUAL ARTS CENTER announces a
Dedication Ceremony for
Dan Graham’s Yin/Yang Pavilion
Saturday, May 8, 4–6 PM
MIT Simmons Hall
229–243 Vassar St.
Cambridge, Mass. 02139
CAMBRIDGE, MA — The List Visual Arts Center (LVAC) is pleased to announce a
dedication ceremony for Yin/Yang Pavilion (2003), a new work by artist Dan Graham.
The dedication will take place on Saturday, May 8, from 4 to 6 PM at MIT’s Simmons
Hall, designed by architect Steven Holl, which houses the pavilion on an outdoor
terrace. The dedication includes remarks by MIT President Charles M. Vest, Associate
Provost for the Arts Alan Brody, Simmons Hall Housemaster John Essigmann, and
LVAC Director Jane Farver. A reception for the artist will follow. The LVAC administers
MIT’s Percent-for-Art Program, which commissioned Yin/Yang Pavilion. A committee,
which included the architect and members of the MIT faculty, staff, and student body
selected Dan Graham for the commission.
Yin/Yang Pavilion is made of concave and convex two-way mirrored glass, a medium
that creates constant fluctuations between transparency and reflection. The pavilion is
activated by viewers who move through its curving spaces and experience anamorphic
reflections of the sky, surrounding objects and landscape, and the superimposed
images of other spectators. Graham says, “the observer becomes conscious of himself
as a body, as a perceiving subject, and of himself in relation to his group. This is the
reversal of the usual ‘loss of self’ when a spectator looks at a conventional art work.”
The floor of the Yang half of the circular pavilion is covered with white raked gravel
referring to Japanese Zen gardens, while the Yin floor consists of a shallow pool.
Seating surrounding the pavilion further enhances the interactive and interpersonal
nature of Graham’s artwork by providing places where students can relax or interact.
This event is hosted by the Simmons Hall housemasters Ellen and John Essigmann and
the LVAC.
Dan Graham is an American artist who was born in Urbana, Illinois in 1942, and has
lived in New York City since the 1960s. He is an artist compelled by his thoughts rather
than mediums, working in text, film and video, architecture, and performance. Graham
began making art while he was the director of the John Daniels Gallery (exhibiting
minimalist and proto-conceptual artists such as Sol LeWitt, Donald Judd, Robert
Smithson, Carl Andre, and Dan Flavin) in New York in 1964. His parody “Homes for
America” (first published in 1966 in Art in America) broke new ground; since then, he
has functioned as an important and influential writer, performer, filmmaker, sculptor, and
architect.
In recent decades, Graham has concentrated on architectural structures, and he has
created more than twenty “pavilions”—freestanding, sculptural objects—that comprise
the core of his production as an artist. Among them are The Two-Way Mirror Cylinder,
at the Dia Art Foundation in New York City’s Chelsea neighborhood; Cylinder Bisected
by Plane, at Naoshima Cultural Village, Naoshima Island; Japan; Two Way Mirror,
Museo de Bellas Artes, Caracas, Venzuela; and the Kunstwerke Café in Berlin. Since
his first exhibition in 1969, Dan Graham has been included in over 70 exhibitions
worldwide including exhibitions at the Lisson Gallery in London, and Marian Goodman
Gallery and the the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, both in New York City. In 2001–
02, a retrospective of his work was on view at the Museu de Arte Contemporanea de
Serralves, Oporto, Portugal; Musee d'art Moderne de Ia Ville, Paris; Kroller-Muller
Museum, Otterlo, Holland; and Kiasma in Helsinki.
MIT LVAC’s The Annual Max Wasserman Forum on Contemporary Art, The University as Patron of
Cutting-edge Architecture, will take place on May 8, 10 AM to 1 PM, in MIT Room 26-100.
Panelists include James Ackerman, Kimberly Alexander, John R. Curry, Frank Gehry, Steven Holl,
Kyong Park, Robert Venturi, and Charles M. Vest. William J. Mitchell will be the moderator. Call
617 452 3586 for information.
Exhibitions on view at the MIT List Center for the Visual Arts: Marjetica Potrc: Urban Architecture
and Artur Zmijewski: Selected Works, 1998-2003.
Directions to Simmons Hall:
By T, take the Red line to the Kendall/MIT stop,
head 2 blocks west (away from Boston and the
Longfellow bridge) to Vassar Street, turn left,
and continue across Massachusetts Avenue.
Simmons Hall, a large white building with
colored windows, is located a 79 Vassar Street,
midway down a long block, across from the
playing fields. Or, take Red Line to Central
Square, walk back toward Boston on
Massachusetts Ave., turn left on Vassar Street
List Visual Arts Center
By car, coming across the Longfellow Bridge,
turn left off Main Street onto Vassar. Cross
Massachusetts Ave. and continue down Vassar
Street. Parking will be available in West Annex
Lot and West Parking Garage on the right-hand
side of Vassar Street before you reach Simmons
Hall.
All exhibitions at the List Visual Arts Center are
free and open to the public. Wheelchair
accessible. Accommodations provided by
request.
Gallery Hours
Tuesday – Thursday
Friday
Saturday & Sunday
Closed Mondays and July 4th.
12 – 6 PM
12 – 8 PM
12 – 6 PM
Information
617 253 4400 or http://web.mit.edu/lvac
Please call Hiroko Kikuchi at 617 452 3586 for
inquiries.