Artist Es Devlin unveils a trippy gallery show inspired by Bjarke Ingels’ twisting High Line towers
Es Devlin with Egg; photo by Nikolas Koenig
In a remarkable collaboration, Danish architect Bjarke Ingels and artist Es Devlin unveiled on Tuesday a series of multi-sensory installations in response to The Eleventh, a pair of twisting towers rising on a full-block along the High Line. The three immersive encounters are featured at the XI Gallery, a 12,000-square-foot space in the Meatpacking District. Through the lens of Devlin, known for her work with Beyoncé, Adele and Kanye West, the Eleventh, or XI, is seen on a projection-mapped sculpture, a 360-degree film strip and a rotating pair of sculptures. The gallery is the artist’s first site-specific art installation in New York. Ziel Feldman, the chair of HFZ Capital, the group developing the project, called the Eleventh a defining moment and “a signature development for Manhattan and a triumph of design, living, culture, and wellness.”
Photos by Nikolas Koenig
Devlin’s “Egg” greets guests immediately upon entering the gallery. The map of Manhattan is extruded in a 33-foot wide concave, elliptical hemisphere. With a mirror meeting the map horizontally, the installation gives the appearance of a complete oval. A projection provides the mapped sculpture with different lightings, shifting the way the city looks within seconds.
Photos of Paper, Stone, Glass, Water by BFA
Inspired by sketches made by Bjarke Ingels, Devlin’s “Paper, Stone, Glass, Water” is a mirrored 360-degree film strip. Viewers step into a dark, cold room to watch the two-minute video, in which Ingels talks directly to the viewers about the inspiration behind XI.
Photo of Dance by Nikolas Koenig
The “Dance” installation highlights the relationship of the Eleventh’s two towers in a totally new way, with the two towers arcing around one, like a pair of dancers. The perpetual rotation and the reflection of the model seen in the water below provides a unique perspective of the asymmetrical 26- and 36-story towers.
Renderings by Dbox for HFZ Capital
The Eleventh’s two towers include No. X on the east and No. I on the west. The east tower will feature 87 luxury condo residences designed by Gilles & Boissier. The elegantly-designed homes will start at 100 feet high on the 11th floor, directly above the hotel by Six Senses. The west tower includes 149 condos, designed by Gabellini Sheppard Associates. The tower boasts a 23-foot lobby, simplexes and duplexes on the 5th and 6th floors, and impressive Hudson River views.
RELATED:
