24 h Museum

Artselect by Artmarkets

24 h Museum

Published on Januar 22nd, 2012

Prada presents the 24 h Museum, designed by Francesco Vezzoli with AMO, Rem Koolhaas‘ think tank. The 24h Museumopens in Paris on Tuesday 24 January for 24 hours only, till Wednesday 25 January, in the historic Palais d’Iéna, the building designed by Auguste Perret between 1936 and 1946, today home of CESE (Conseil Economique, Social et Environnemental), the French ‘third Chamber’.

© Francesco Vezzoli

AMO’s installation for the 24 h Museum is divided in three sections, each inspired by a particular type of museum space: historic, contemporary and forgotten. The three sections are instrument to the sequence of events that take place during 24 hours in different areas of the ground floor of the Palais d’Iéna. The central space is a large metal cage made from grills and neon lights that encloses the work by Francesco Vezzoli.

In the three sections – historic, contemporary and forgotten – Vezzoli is creating a “non-existent museum” where he shows his personal tribute to the eternal allure of femininity through interpretations of classical sculptures that make reference to contemporary divas. “They are my icons turned into sculptures and placed on marble pedestals”.* At the top of the stairway, epicentre of the building, Vezzoli is placing a majestic sculpture of a female, reinterpreted with the features of a mysterious goddess. Vezzoli’s vision is of a museum that exists for just 24 hours and which is also a celebration of a collective rite that mixes visitors, red-carpet, Oedipus’ complex and night visions.

The 24 h Museum opens on Tuesday 24 January with an invitation-only dinner. At 11.00 pm it is turned into a disco-club visible online at the site. The next day it is open to the public from 7.00 am to 12.00 pm and from 2.00 pm to 4.30 pm. Some guided tours for schools take place in the afternoon, followed by a closing vernissage from 6.30 pm to 8.30 pm. When the 24-hour period ends at 8.30 pm on 25 January 2012, the 24h Museum created by Francesco Vezzoli and AMO closes.