Does the meeting of two people and the overlap of their spheres of action always require their physical presence at the same time and same place? Or could their potential encounter also be imagined and constructed by third parties? Daniela Grabosch’s latest series of works addresses these questions from various perspectives, with a focus on her interest in “what if?”. What if Eileen Gray and Le Corbusier could exchange ideas today about the intersection of their spheres of action?

This question is difficult to answer with absolute certainty. However, in her research, Grabosch finds artistic approaches by exploring Gray’s work as an architect and interpreting it as a representation of social hierarchies. The focus is on Gray’s designed residence, E-1027, which was destroyed by Le Corbusier in her absence and without her knowledge, as he covered the conceptual white walls with large murals. He appropriated the house as an act of revenge after Gray criticized Le Corbusier’s architectural housing concepts. WE ARE ALL ENTANGLED HYBRID ORGANISMS HERE.*1 is not the first exhibition in which Grabosch artistically explores counterpoints to Le Corbusier and thus engages with the representation of hierarchical power dynamics between genders.

Not coincidentally, and due to its significance, the work ENTREZ LENTEMENT— and therefore Gray’s voice — is the focus of the exhibition. The work is an instruction by the architect on how to navigate through the foyer of E-1027. Grabosch translates it into the tangible form of a large modular metal structure. In a smaller format, embedded within the structure, the artist presents 3D prints of her own virtual movement patterns through the house. The filament used for these prints consists of shells from France, thus completing the circle with E-1027. Through these gestures, Grabosch empowers herself as a proxy for Gray’s architecture that was destroyed by Le Corbusier’s violent act. The various movement patterns through the building represent social constructs both within and outside of it. The initial exploration of E-1027 culminated in the video work THERE WAS NO ONE TO TALK TO—, which provides a view of the house and serves as the most concrete reference within the exhibition. Another approach to the architecture is achieved through three (wearable) fabric objects — the use of textiles as a femininely connoted material can be seen as a reversal of the brutal gesture of destruction. The starting point for the shapes of these prop-like fabric objects is a drawing made by Gray depicting the sunlight entering the building at different angles. The color of the work OUR TRANSMITTING [DIS]APPEARANCE WILL ONLY BE TEMPORARY, on the other hand, refers to a text about architectural elements of E-1027 and the resulting color atmosphere.

Each living space is characterized by its own scent, often emanating from its occupants. Grabosch attempts to bring E-1027 into the gallery space and the present moment beyond the purely visual perception through the scent developed specifically for the exhibition in collaboration with Anna Thomas. The imagined conversation between Gray and Le Corbusier, as well as the plants in the building’s garden, serve as a starting point for the ingredients of the scent. The interesting aspect of artistic work with smells is that there are hardly any linguistic tools to describe them. The direct presence of one’s own body in the exhibition space is necessary to experience the work. With WHERE INTIMACY IS FOLDED AROUND ITSELF, Grabosch brings the visitors back to the present after delving into E-1027 and its past. References to Gray’s architecture remain as objects in the exhibition space. This gesture is an attempt to initiate the imagined dialogue between the architect and the architect across time and space, bringing it from the past to the present.

*¹ based on a quote by Donna Haraway