BIO
Lawrence Wallen (he/him)
is an artist/architect/scholar living and working on Gadigal Land of the Eora Nation.
Now - Professor in the School of Architecture at the University of Technology Sydney.
Previously - Professor at the Zurich University of the Arts, Switzerland (2002 - 2012), Guest Artist at the Centre for Art and Media (ZKM) and Lecturer in the School of Fine Arts at the University of Canterbury.
(for full institutional CV click here)
Educated - as an artist (Universität für angewandte Kunst, Vienna) and architect (RMIT, Melbourne)
PRACTICE
Wallens practice operates across a range of modes employing artistic strategies and performative readings, resulting in an extensive collection of Spaces, Books, Drawings, Performances and Architecture. Recent exhibitions and residencies in Vilnius, France, Cyprus, Cairo and Italy operate in dialogue with and underpin his writing and artistic production.
His recent work articulates the role of memory and the persistence of spatiotemporal elements of culturally significant sites, buildings and landscapes, through a series of drawings. This continuing body of work contributes to a discourse that explores and documents the enduring qualities of specific places that resonate beyond their physical site. Posing the research question; can the material and immaterial layers of histories of a site be represented through drawing, Wallen superimposes layered drawings of the Neo-Paphos Roman theatre onto the displaced Pre-Hellenistic theatres that stood there previously; the Kew Gardens onto the Ascension Islands that was terra formed in the 18th century and Giotto’s work in Assisi onto the landscapes of Mount Subasio, creating an abstracted field that makes visible the site's presence and past beyond its contemporary material reality. The resultant drawings using ink, charcoal tempera, and some time-based media, represent the material and immaterial layers of histories of site as collapsing horizontal planes combining both synchronic and diachronic axes.
WRITING
Lawrence's research and writing (primarily a joint project with a long-standing collaborator Thea Brejzek) continue to explore the cosmopoetic (world-making) and epistemological (knowledge-creating) functions of the model in Art, Theatre and Architecture, its digital equivalence inside cross-platform manifestation of a dialogical model of interactivity and immersion and its application in terms of performative approaches to atmosphere.
Emerging research is centred around the fragment as a microcosm of the whole made visible through their upcoming publication 'The Performance of the Architectural Fragment', London: Bloomsbury, that identifies and examines the production and reception aesthetics of (performative) architectural fragments/objects on the postdramatic stage and argues their role in an ongoing critical spatial discourse within representation, art and architecture
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EXHIBITIONS and PERFORMANCES Selected
fragment of landscape Art Gallery Le Logge, Assisi, Italy: (2020)
on the memory of trees, Vilnius Sviesu Festivalis, Lithuania. (2019)
five Camargue landscapes. Eglise Saint Laurent, Eygalières, France (2019)
on topographies, Kensington Contemporary, Sydney, (2017)
On the reconstruction of landscape. National Gallery, Cairotronica, Cairo. (2016)
The fractured landscape of mount Subatico, City Gallery Le Logge, Assisi, Italy (2015), Carlton Project Space, Sydney, Australia. (2014)
Ascension 1-3, NG Art, (2013),
Writing the Landscape. BEEPART kūrybinės dirbtuvės, Vilnius, Lithuania. (2012)
The Mediterranean Diaries. Nicholson Museum, Sydney, Australia. (2012)
A Grammar of Space. FCA Gallery, UoW; UTS Gallery, Sydney, Australia. (2012).
Leucosis 2 in Inside Out, ArtTech, Object Gallery, Sydney. DMU Cube Gallery,
Leicester. , Manchester. , Falmouth, UK. (2010 - 2011).
Past Mapping. K G I T, Seoul, South Korea. (2007).
Spatial Narratives. National Gallery, Prague, Czech Republic. PQ11 (2011)
Sensing Architecture, Venice Architecture Biennale + Artimage, Graz.(2008)
Repetitive Systems. Cairo Biennale, Cairo, Egypt. (2008).
Limits. installation. Zurcher-Theaterspektakel, Shedhalle Zürich, Switzerland. (2006).
Galata/Karaköy.Istanbul Design Week, Istanbul, (2004)
Robotgarden. Pacific Flora, Hamamatsu, Japan. (2004) (installation Wallen, sound Shimizu producers Iglhaut, Fujisaki)
Pop33 Electronic Farcade- Europäisches Patentamt Munich (2003)
Reflect. Liste 01. Art Basel, Switzerland (2001) (collaboration with Porpel)
ZKM: Centre for Art and Media Karlsruhe (commissioned works)
Guest Artist, Artist of the Collection
Heptameron (Winkler) (Stage Desin)– Munich Biennale & ZKM 2002
The Web of Life – networked installation – (projected media) with Jeffrey Shaw, Michael Gleich, Bernd Lintermann and Torsten Belschner ZKM, ICC-Tokyo, ISEA-Nagoya, Beijing, Sao Paolo, Zagreb. Rotterdam, Bonn, Bratislava, Melbourne Brisbane etc. (2002)
The garden - Deutscher Pavillon Expo 2000 Hannover. (2000)
The robots - (media + location-based interactivity) Themenpark Halle 4 Expo 2000 Hannover Germany. In collaboration with Jean Nouvel (2000)
Portrait - Installation Media Museum, ZKM, Karlsruhe (1999)
rear mirror - ‘automobility’ video Installation Vitra Design Museum Weil am Rhein (1999)
Lanònima Imperial S.C.C.L., Barcelona.
Digital Scenography, Video and Design
De Los Afectos. Premier: Grec Festival Mercat de les Flors de Barcelona; Festival Danza Gijón 08, Teatro Central, Sevilla. 2008
En La Noche Herida Por El Rayo. Premier: Dance Theatre Additional iterations: Grec Festival Mercat de les Flors de Barcelona; La Fundición, Bilbao, Spain. (2006).
Struck by lightning. Diversions Dance Company, Wales Millenium Centre, Cardiff, Wales. 2006
La Mar de Formas. Premier: Dance Theatre Lanònima Imperial S.C.C.L., Barcelona. Additional iterations: Sant Andreu Teatre, Barcelona; Teatro Zorrilla de Badalona. 2006
Cosa de Hombres. Premier: Grec Festival Mercat de les Flors de Barcelona. Additional iterations: DanceTheatre Lanònima Imperial S.C.C.L., Barcelona; Festival Internacional de San Luis Potosí, Mexico; Sala Xavier Villaurrutia, Mexico. (2005)
The Gaze Of The Other (urban intervention: performance and installation).Vic, Catalonia, Spain. 2004
Scala 1:∞ Premiere: Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art of Rovereto and TrentoTeatro Viriato, Viseu (Portugal) Festival Escena Abierta, Burgos, Spain, Zorrilla, Badalona, Spain. Teatre Principal, Dansa València, (2003)
Die Schöpfung (Haydn) Kreuzkirche Dresden for the opening of the Dresdener Musikfestspiele (2001)
liturgia de Somni i Foc Barcelona Teatro Nacional de Catalunya Madrid Teatro de Madrid, Bregenz Festspielhaus. (2000)
European Cultural Capital (Vilnius and Pafos)
Exhibition and Symposium
Co-located structures, Elektriki - Pafos European Capital of Culture, Cyprus. 2017
Mapping Vilnius / Modelling Vilnius—European Cultural Capital, Vilnius 2009.
Staged City / City on the Stage. Vilnius Art Academy, European Cultural Capital, 2009.
Selected Performance Design Selected
Walking In The Limits. Premier: Theaterspektakel, Zürich. Festival La Bâtie, Genf. Grand Théâtre, Luxembourg. März Musik, Volksbühne, Berlin. Reber, Krug, & Wallen (2006-2007).
Terra Incognita (concert installation) Donaueschinger Musiktage, Donaueschingen, Germany. Wallen, L.P., & Winkler, G. (2004).
Ariadne auf Naxos. Sydney: Australian Opera. Sydney Opera House / Melbourne Arts Centre Brejzek, T., Potra, D. and Wallen, L.P. Strauss, R. (2003), Opera
As I Crossed a Bridge of Dreams. (Eötvös) Premier Donaueschinger Musiktage / Cité de la Musique, Paris. - Ensemble Intercontemporain. Brejzek,and Wallen, (2000),
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PUBLISHED
Monographs
Brejzek, T. and Wallen, L. (2023), The Performance of the Architectural Fragment, London: Bloomsbury Methuen (in press)
Identifies and examines the production and reception aesthetics of (performative) architectural fragments/objects on the postdramatic stage and argues their role in an ongoing critical spatial discourse within representation, scenography and architecture.
Brejzek, T. and Wallen, L. (2018), The Model as Performance. Staging Space in Theatre and Architecture. London: Bloomsbury Methuen
Investigates the concept of the model and sets out a new typology and theoretical framework. Shortlisted as the best book on performance design (2015-19) by the Prague Quadrennial. Led to invitations to speak at the Royal College of the Arts London, National Theatre London, Melbourne Design Week, and universities in Sweden, Switzerland, Singapore and the Netherlands.
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Edited Research Books
Brejzek, T., Wallen, L.P. and Greisenegger, W. (Eds.).Space and Desire. (2011), Zurich: Zurich University of the Arts. Peer-reviewed, funding from The Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF). ISBN: 978-3-906437-25-5
Brejzek, T., Wallen, L.P. and Greisenegger, W. (Eds.). Space and Truth (2009), Zurich: Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK), Peer reviewed, funding from The Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF). ISBN: 978-3-906437-279
Brejzek, T., Wallen, L.P. and Greisenegger, W. (Eds.). Space and Power (2008). Zurich: Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK). Peer-reviewed, funding from The Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF). ISBN: 978-3-906437-35-4
Guest Edited Journals
Brejzek, T. and Wallen L. (2021), On the Virtual Model, Special Double Issue Theatre & Performance Design, Taylor and Francis.
Brejzek, T. and Wallen L. (2018), On Models, Special Double Issue on Theatre & Performance Design, Taylor and Francis.
Across two special double issues we invited theorists and practitioners to respond to our research on the model, extending our focus to observe the virtual model and its capacity to redefine location, time, and narrative, provoking dialogues and connections that emerge between material realities and the immaterial virtual realm.
Refereed Journal Articles and Scholarly Book Chapters
Brejzek, T., & Wallen, L. (2021), ‘Model & Fragment: On the Performance of Incomplete Architectures’. Architectural Design (AD) Wiley, London.
Brejzek, T. and Wallen L. (2021), 'The Virtual Fragment', On the Virtual Model, Special Double Issue Theatre & Performance Design (in press).
Brejzek, T. and Wallen L. (2021), ‘On the Past and Future of the (Practice) PhD’ Cubic Journal Hong Kong.
Del Favero, D. Thurow, S. Wallen, L. (2021), ‘Inhabitable models – immersive intelligent aesthetics for scenographic design’, On the Virtual Model, Special Double Issue Theatre & Performance Design.
Brejzek, T., and Wallen, L., (2021), ‘The IKEA x UTS Future Living Lab as Learning Laboratory’, Interiority Journal.
Brejzek, T. and Wallen, L., (2022), Max Dupain and the Representation of Architecture in Marcel Breuer's Torin Building, in Bauhaus x IKEA, Melbourne: URO
Brejzek, T., and Wallen, L. (2021), Le Corbusier and Eileen Gray at Roquebrune-Cap-Martin: Some Notes about Resistance and Performance in Activism at Home. Architects’ Own Dwellings as Sites of Resistance, Berlin: Jovis.
Wallen, L. (2020), On the reconstruction of landscape, Leonardo Volume 53, Issue 1.
Brejzek, T., Dincer, D. and Lawrence Wallen (2019), Designing the Threshold: A Close Reading of Olafur Eliasson’s Approach to ‘Inside’ and ‘Outside’, Interiority Journal.
Brejzek, T. and Wallen, L.(2018), ‘Cosmopoiesis, or: making worlds. Notes on the radical model Worlds of Anna Viebrock’, Theatre & Performance Design.
Wallen, L.(2015), ‘Report from Sydney’, Theatre and Performance Design.
Brejzek, T. and Wallen, L.(2016), unstable architectures; or camping, modernism, and beyond, in C. Perren and S. Breen Lovett (Eds.). Bauhaus Edition 47: Expanded Architecture; Temporal Spatial Practices. Baunach: AADR / Bauhaus Foundation.
Brejzek, T. and Wallen, L. (2014), ‘Artistic Research - Collateral Damage or Epistemological Tool?’ In Writing from the Inside of Practice; Doctoral Writing in the Creative and Performing Arts. Chicago: Libri Publishing.
Brejzek, T. and Wallen L.(2013), ‘Cronulla NSW 2230 Australia: A Fotonovela’, Performance Research.
Brejzek, T. and Wallen, L.(2013), ‘Subject, Site and Sight: Freud and Tschumi on the Acropolis’, in C. Perren and S. Breen Lovett (Eds.), Reverse Projections. Berlin: Broken Dimanche Press.
Brejzek, T. and Wallen, L.((2012). Landscape and Desire, Space and Desire: Scenographic Strategies in Theatre, Art and Media. Zurich: University of the Arts.
ARTIST TALKS, KEYNOTES AND PUBLIC LECTURES (selected last ten years)
Royal College of Art, London: The Image/Object Symposium (2019)
Lasalle College of the Arts, Singapore: book launch, panel and lecture (2019)
Chalmers University, Gothenburg, Sweden: The Autonomous Model (2019)
National Theatre, London, UK: On the Model in Scenography (2018)
Universitas Indonesia, Inarch, Jakarta: Keynote: Between Reality and Desire (2018)
Melbourne Design Week: The Autonomous Model (2018))
American University in Cairo, Egypt: on the double (2016)
Ludwig-Maximilians University, Munich: Cosmopoiesis (2016)
University of Hyderabad, India: Scenographies of State: Chandigarh, (2015)
Universitas Indonesia, Depok, Indonesia: The 1:1 Architectural Model as Performance and Double (2014)
Institut del Teatre, Barcelona, Spain, On the Performance of Materials (2011)
RESIDENCIES (last ten years)
2022 (2 weeks) Darat al Funun, Amman, Jordan
2022 (2 weeks) The Writing Residency, Assisi, Italy
2020 (5 weeks) The Writing Residency, Assisi, Italy
2018 (6 weeks) NG Creative Residency, Provence, France
2017 (5 weeks) Bogliasco Foundation Fellowship, New York, Bogliasco, Italy
2016 (4 weeks) Research Fellow – Berlin Technical University, Berlin, Germany
2015 (5 weeks) International Artist Residency – Arte Studio Ginestrelle, Mt Subasio, Italy
2014 (3 weeks) Research Fellow – Ionion Center for the Arts and Culture, Kefalonia, Greece
Ongoing - Guest Artist, Artist of the Collection ZKM Centre for Art and Media Karlsruhe, , Germany