Inside Outside / Petra Blaisse: A Retrospective

We are pleased to announce the first comprehensive retrospective of the Amsterdam-based studio Inside Outside / Petra Blaisse in Switzerland, curated by Fredi Fischli and Niels Olsen. Since its foundation in 1991, the studio has realized world-wide projects ranging from the design of textiles and exhibitions and the production of entire interiors to landscape architecture. As the name implies, the variable relationship between inside and outside is a central issue that feeds into the interdisciplinary approach of combining knowledge and craftsmanship from several fields. From the start, Inside Outside has collaborated closely with the Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) and with many other architects, curators and artisans.

Inside Outside creates spaces that are interrelated and hybrid, interacts with specific surroundings and challenges our expectations through an often startlingly unconventional use of materials and techniques. Two large-scale curtains produced for the exhibition present a retrospective of Inside Outside’s work. They literally unfold the studio’s production strategies, as illustrated by Blaisse’s “recipe drawings,” which not only detail the craft involved in production but also give an insight into the studio’s systematic approach to design.

These curtains are hybrid since they both exhibit and display; they are translucent and move in space. Their use in the exhibition quintessentially illustrates the studio’s blithe disregard of the conventions dictated by materials. The fragile, diaphanous textile out of which the upper part of the curtain is made defies its colossal size, while the lower part, a translucent PVC, serves as a support for archival material documenting the studio’s wide-ranging projects in interior design and landscape architecture. The curtains are mounted in the center of the building by German architect Gottfried Semper. Semper emphasized the crucial and intricate relationship between architecture and textiles, assigning strong space-defining qualities to the latter. Inside Outside have responded to this with a site-specific intervention consisting of soft architecture that creates the illusion of a false perspective and enables us to perceive the space differently.

During the exhibition, there will be a programme of lectures and talks with renowned protagonists from the fields of research and practice, that will unfold along central topics inherent to the practice of Inside Outside / Petra Blaisse (see below).

Forbo Flooring Systems is the main partner of the exhibition.

Inside Outside talks
A collaboration between gta exhibitions and E.A.T. / Engadin Art Talks

Wednesday, October 10, 2018
ETH Zurich, Zentrum, HG E 7 (fully booked)
Live transmission: HG E 5

5–5:20pm:
Petra Blaisse, An introduction on “Exhibiting Architecture”

5:20–6pm: 
Penelope Curtis, “Art on Display—The Post-War Context”

6:30–8pm: 
Sarah Morris, Introduction and screening of “Finite and Infinite Games”

Thursday, October 18, 2018
ETH Zurich, Zentrum, HG F 7 (fully booked)
Live transmission: HG F 5

6:30–7:30pm 
Rem Koolhaas, lecture on “Inside Outside”

About gta exhibitions
gta exhibitions is part of the Institute for the History and Theory of Architecture (gta) at ETH Zurich. The exhibition program serves as an interface between theory and practice, showcasing research and teaching in the Department of Architecture.

About E.A.T. / Engadin Art Talks
E.A.T. / Engadin Art Talks is a forum and festival for art, architecture, design, film, science, and literature which takes place in Zuoz, Engadin. E.A.T.’s mission is to provide an interdisciplinary platform for a global dialogue on the arts and different creative fields.

Internationally recognised for its line-up of leading artists, architects, writers, scientists, and disruptive minds from all over the world, E.A.T. / Engadin Art Talks has invited so far more than 100 speakers that have presented their ideas and visions on challenging social relevant themes since its inception in 2010. In addition, E.A.T. is presenting a series of talks throughout the year in Zurich under the umbrella of E.A.T. × Zurich.