Thom Mayne: Shaping Accident

L.A. Louver is proud to present the debut American exhibition of a new body of work by Los Angeles-based architect and artist Thom Mayne. Investigating the philosophical intersections of impermanence and materiality, Mayne demonstrates how technology – at the frontiers of computer language and object-creation – can reframe and readdress timeless questions at the essence of artmaking.

Each artwork in Shaping Accident begins with a computer algorithm, which assists the translation of concepts into physical forms that fuse drawing, sculpture and printing. Mayne’s process, although highly technological, is informed by the theoretical laws and currents of the natural world, primarily selection, iteration and evolution. The artist begins by electing the initial forms (known as “primitives”) as the foundational DNA for generating a wide variety of output.

These primitives are then subjected to complex digital scripting, a process directed by Mayne that sets instructions for the software to negotiate various tasks such as rotation, stacking, transparency and opacity. Even within highly stipulated parameters, a multitude of images are produced and developed through a potentially limitless loop of coding, analysis and decision-making. This aspect of Mayne’s practice provokes contemplation of the role of chance, choice and artist control in the creative process.

Mayne’s compositions are then realized through an advanced 3-D printer that deposits manifold layers of UV ink on a surface to create compositions of infinitesimal linear strata, layered to construct an elevated texture across the surface of aluminum, wood or paper panels. This rarified printing technique allows Mayne to achieve precision, while retaining a grain that harkens back to his experimental artworks of the 1980s that incorporated rust, pigment, gold leaf and other unstable materials that could change over time.

Works are oriented within rectangular or square confines, which signal a traditional picture plane and the physicality of painting. Punctuated by exclamations of translucent washes and dynamic parabolic embellishments, the resulting effect is a rich, futuristic web of explosive color and harmonizing forms.

This exhibition marks an important developmental stage in Mayne’s creative and fine art practice. Having established clear rules for this new medium – including a rectilinear frame, the use of organic and inorganic materials, and a determined, infinitely iterative process – Mayne as artist continues to push against his own parameters without breaking them.