The sculptures, drawings, and models by the Saint-Louis based artist explore the interdependent relationship between architectural and human forms. Although primarily focused on architecture and the human body, her art also confronts tensions between construction, deconstruction, and restoration.

Biography:
In 2010, Downen was named a John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation fellow. Significant awards include a 2009 MacDowell Colony National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship with additional support from Leon Levy Foundation and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. In 2007, she was awarded a Cité International des Arts Residency, Paris, France where she first exhibited "Hybrida" an ongoing series of works on paper. Downen was selected for the 2004 Great Rivers Biennial, a grant and exhibition sponsored by Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis and the Gateway Foundation. Downen has been invited to lecture about her work extensively, including the 2007 Luce Irigaray Circle Conference on philosophy in New York. In addition, the Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts in St. Louis has invited her participation in symposiums on modern and contemporary art.

The Otolith Group is a London-based artist collective founded by Anjalika Sagar and Kodwo Eshun that integrates film and video making, writing, organizing workshops, curating, publishing, and developing public platforms for close readings of the image in contemporary society.

Biography:
In 2010 The Otolith Group was shortlisted for the Turner Prize. Exhibitions include the Tate Triennial 2006; the 1st Athens Biennial, 2007; the 2010 Bucharest Biennale for Contemporary Art; the 29th Bienal de Sao Paulo, 2010;and the 2012 Biennale de Lyon.

German sculptor Wolfgang Laib in conversation with Klaus Ottmann, Director of the Phillips's Center for the Study of Modern Art and Curator at Large. Working in Germany and Southern India, Laib creates objects and installations of austere beauty, using naturally occurring elements such as milk, pollen, beeswax, and rice. The notion that there is infinitude in the infinitesimal is beautifully manifest in Laib’s spare but highly aesthetic practice.

Biography:
Laib's work has been exhibited extensively, beginning in 1982 with his participation in documenta 7, Kassel, Germany; in 1986 his first official solo exhibition was held in the Musée d'art moderne de la ville de Paris, France. Since then Laib has been the focus of many museum exhibitions, including in the Kunstmuseum, Bonn, Germany; the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles; Kunsthaus Bregenz, Austria; the Hirshhorn Museum, Washington D.C.; Haus der Kunst, Munich, Germany; Fondation Beyeler Riehen, Basel, Switzerland; the Fondazione Merz in Turin, Italy; and the Museo Nacional de Arte de La Paz in Bolivia.

The site-specific structures and large-scale public artworks constructed of wood, stone, and steel by the American sculptor Alice Aycock allude to ancient architecture, outer space, and literary references. Her works invites the viewer to experience sculpture with body and mind. Recorded May 4, 2011 at The Phillips Collection Center for the Study of Modern Art. Co-sponsored by The George Washington University, Washington, DC.

Ritchie's artistic ambition is to represent the entire universe and the structures of knowledge and belief that we use to understand and visualize it. Recorded April 27, 2011 at the Phillips Collection Center for the Study of Modern Art. Co-sponsored by The George Washington University, Washington, DC.

In her engaging, often humorous or satirical videos and performances, Fraser critiques the very institutions that are involved in the presentation and sale of works of art. Recorded November 19, 2008 at the Phillips Collection Center for the Study of Modern Art. In partnership with the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Sanborn's sculptures explore the natural world through a scientific lens to expose anxieties within social politics and science. Recorded November 3, 2010 at the Phillips Collection Center for the Study of Modern Art. Co-sponsored by The George Washington University, Washington, DC.

Simon, who writes digital software to create abstract artworks, describes how software art challenges the limits of human imagination and demonstrates his systematic approach to creative practice.

The Seattle-based artist trains his photographic lens on the environment of consumerism. Jordan’s supersized images of landfills call attention to the vast quantities of goods Americans waste every day.

Known for his award-winning paraSITE (1998) in which inflatable homeless shelters attach to exterior vents of a building’s heating or cooling system, Rakowitz describes how his art challenges notions of social economies.

With a name that means “I steal,” this Spanish anti-consumerist, artistic collaborative advocates public acts of sabotage. Its members discuss their controversial critiques of conspicuous consumption. Part of Preview Spain: Arts and Culture.

Hans Haacke is known for exposing the links between money, politics, and art. His MoMA Poll (1970) and Germania (1993) remain leading examples of institutional critique and political consciousness.

Concerning himself with socio-economic, political, and ecological issues, Mel Chin unconventionally challenges the concept of "artist as sole creator." His ongoing Fundred Dollar Bill project embraces collective creativity in an effort to financially support the treatment of contaiminated soil in New Orleans. Recorded November 18, 2009 at the Phillips Collection Center for the Study of Modern Art.

Pardo discusses the boundaries between art, architecture and design and the relationship between art objects, architecture, and design. Recorded April 15, 2009 at the Phillips Collection Center for the Study of Modern Art. Co-sponsored by The George Washington University, Washington, DC.

Fred Wilson’s work explores colonization, disenfranchisement, and control of the man-made and natural worlds. He combines museum objects, wall labels, sounds, and lighting to create installations that challenge standard interpretations of the artifacts.

Acconci uses architecture, performance, installation, and film to encourage viewers' participation in his work. Recorded October 22, 2008 at the Phillips Collection Center for the Study of Modern Art. In partnership with the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.