The architecture of LABoral, or more fully LABoral Art and Industrial Creation Centre, was originally designed by Luis Moya as an orphanage for miners’ children, although subsequently altered and expanded to house a series of vocational training centers in concrete braced vaults, which were inspired by the Caracalla Baths in Rome. The resulting 6 exhibition spaces, in the North-East end of the old workshops and the ball court, have over 4,000 square meters with the two  being used for FEEDFORWARD each in excess of 1,000 square meters.

We are working with Angel Borrego of the Office for Strategic Spaces for the exhibition design. The space will be divided by a series of translucent scrims, with projection screens embedded in them as necessary. In the exhibition catalog, Angel writes, in part:

“The schizophrenia inherent in the function of museum architecture and, to a lesser extent, of an exhibition design is predicated on the fact that exploring the spatial and conceptual potential proffered by an exhibition seems to actually increase the distance between the beholder and the exhibited work. If the quantity, and depth, of the design creates a proportional distance between the spectator and a direct experience and reading of the work, how then can we address this commission? How can an exhibition be designed to do away with the undesirable imposition of design? In other words, how can one design the disappearance of design itself?

“Feedforward – The Angel of History has given us a second chance to address this critical problem and, most importantly, it proportions a glimpse of a solution. The curators . . . and ourselves at OSS, were opposed to any radical division of the pieces into isolated thematic groups and yet at once refused to entirely relinquish the possibility of providing an organised reading of the issues. We wanted it all, an order imposed on the works but also the coexistence of all the works in a single landscape. Walter Benjamin’s The Angel of History, the source inspiration for the show, offers one of the most physical and intense translations of the advance of time in space. We wanted any visit to the exhibition, any movement of the public, to operate as a representation of the Angel of History, in short, an overall view of the past strewn at his feet.”

I’m excited – and nervous – to see how this looks on Monday, but in the meantime, LABoral sent some pictures of the installation progress.