Iannis Xenakis at the Drawing Center

Okay---it's 2010---and I've already had two extremely inspiring art experiences! First James Turrell, and now, Iannis Xenakis at the Drawing Center. Iannis Xenakis, for those of you who haven't heard of him, was an architect, musician, engineer, and amazingly inventive individual. In the way that Buckminster Fuller was a mad genius with geodesic domes, Xenakis's specialty was a parabolic shape, out of which emerged abstract sound pulses based upon mathematical formulas, as well as actual structures. I first learned about Xenakis doing research for my world's fair project; in 1958, he designed the Philips Pavilion for the 1958 world's fair in Brussels, Belgium, collaborating with Le Corbusier and the composer Edgar Varese. Essentially the first video installation piece, one can only imagine how blown away people in 1958 must have been. The Drawing Center will be hosting a curatorial discussion this Saturday the 16th, as well as a performance of Edgar Varese's Poeme Electronique.