The image of the work is not available online.

Automation House, 1972

The camera became Gordon Matta-Clark’s companion throughout his artistic career and an instrument of perception for his architectural interventions. Automation House is an exercise in spatial perception and on the role of bodies in a building full of people. By means of a mirror, the artist captures people’s movements in a spectacular manner. The framing alters the normal perspective of the space, while the depth of field allows for different situations to be juxtaposed. A mixture of performance and filmic construction, the work leaves the viewer confused and unable to identify automatically the actions in the image. The principle of framing with mirrors prefigures Matta-Clarks’ famous ‘building cuts’: the reflections in the mirror create openings that transform all architectural logic.

Technical details

Original title:
Automation House
Registration number:
3124
Artist:
Matta-Clark, Gordon
Date created:
1972
Date acquired:
2008
Fonds:
MACBA Collection. MACBA Consortium
Object type:
Audiovisual recording
Media:
16 mm film transferred to video, b/w, sound, 32 min
Credits:
MACBA Collection. MACBA Consortium
Copyright:
© Estate of Gordon Matta-Clark, VEGAP, Barcelona
It has accessibility resources:
No

The MACBA Collection features Catalan, Spanish and international art and, although it includes works from the 1920s onwards, its primary focus is on the period between the 1960s and the present.

For more information on the work or the artist, please consult MACBA's Library. To request a loan of the work, please write to colleccio [at] macba.cat.

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