J. Sybylla Smith, In Conversation with Mona Kuhn
Episode #44, Summary
Mona Kuhn crafts a poetic narrative inspired by the work and life of mid-century modern architect R. M. Schindler.
Episode Notes
Kuhn reimagines a love relationship referenced in the extensive Schindler archives to create a dreamscape of portraiture, still life and landscape of an unnamed protagonist dwelling within the home and courtyard of Schindlers iconic Kings Road house. Solarization offered the perfect photographic tool for Kuhn to cross time and space while honoring the process of the Surrealists which was innovated at the time the house was built. Schindler and Kuhn both see and celebrate moments when light is its own architecture.
In this conversation, Mona Kuhn discusses, among other things:
Images as semantics
Sensory inspiration
Embracing the unknown
Bringing architecture to light
The courage to be yourself
Learning to walk again
Creating visual poetry
Reaching critical mass
Editing to be true to your story
New ways of exhibiting
Wunder!
Referenced in the episode
Mona Kuhn Kings Road installation shots
Time and Space - Steidl Interview with Mona Kuhn
MAK center of Art and Architecture
835 Kings Road at AD&A at UC Santa Barbara
The Gift - Lewis Hyde
The Age of Light - Whitney Scharer
UNESCO World Heritage Site” Hollyhock House