YOKO ONO at MOBILE ART CHANEL CONTEMPORARY ART CONTAINER BY ZAHA HADID 2008 - 2009

On 12th March 2008 the travelling project Mobile Art by Chanel was inaugurated with a party in Hong Kong. The art container by architect Zaha Hadid will circulate for two years throughout Asia, the United States, and Europe.

“Art is the only saviour in a way, because all politicians have a stand, a particular stand, a political stand, but art doesn’t. Art is international. We speak the international language, so all of us can benefit from it.” Yoko Ono

Following ancient Japanese tradition, Yoko Ono invites every visitor to Mobile Art to write a wish on a piece of rice paper and to tie it to the branches of a tree. At the end of the exhibition, all wishes are collected and go to IMAGINE PEACE TOWER in Reykjavík, Iceland. A participative work in the spirit of the FLUXUS movement, Yoko Ono's Wish Tree is the conclusion of the Mobile Art route.

fig.: © Yoko Ono, Wish Tree, 1996, courtesy of the artist

The Mobile Art Pavilion for Chanel by Zaha Hadid Architects has been inspired by one of Chanel ’s signature creations, the quilted bag. More about the quilted bag by Chanel>

Hadid’s innovative architecture is the reason Karl Lagerfeld invited her to create the Mobile Art Pavilion.

“She is the first architect to find a way to part with the all-dominating post-Bauhaus aesthetic. The value of her designs is similar to that of great poetry. The potential of her imagination is enormous,” Karl Lagerfeld explained during the launch of the Mobile Art Pavilion at the 2007 Venice Art Biennale.

The work of selected artists has been commissioned for the exhibition. Zaha Hadid created an entire landscape for their work, rather than just an exhibition space. Visitors will be guided through the space using the latest digital technology developed in collaboration with the artists.

“The fascination of the Mobile Art Pavilion is the challenge of translating the intellectual and physical into the sensual – experimenting with completely unexpected and totally immersive environments for this global celebration of the iconic work of Chanel. I see the Pavilion as a kind of total artwork that continually reinvents itself as it moves from Asia, to the USA and Europe,” concludes Zaha Hadid.

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fig.: Mobile Art Chanel Contemporary Art Container by Zaha Hadid © CHANEL 2008