Art Arena
Encyclopedia
ARTARENA is an "art film museum" planned for Sunderland
in northeast England. It is intended to show items from the Roland Collection of Films on Art on 45 screens; visitors will wander between them wearing headphones that switch to the appropriate soundtrack.
The original concept called for a futuristic €35m building in London. This gave way to a £2m reconstruction of the West Park United Reformed church on Stockton Road in Sunderland, which is planned to open in April 2012. Visitors will pay a small fee to get in and then rent headphones by the hour; over 160,000 are expected in the first year.
and arena
(meaning sand, from the original sand ground of arenas in Ancient Greece
). The Art Arena is a large and opened gallery space, which has the specificity to present art films about classical and contemporary art
forms and not physical artworks. The films presented are extracted from the Roland Collection, a collection of films and documentaries that have been collected over a 30 years period by Anthony Roland. The design of the Art Arena includes many projection alcoves that are playing simultaneously. With the use of geolocalized
wireless headset technology, the visitors can move freely through the projection spaces and experience each film, by only hearing the projection which they are viewing. This device allows the removal of space dividers such as acoustical walls between the projection spaces.
. The initial plan for an "Art Arena Roland Museum" was for a futuristic €35m complex in London combining exhibition space, film storage, and over forty projection spaces.
In 2010 the plan emerged to redevelop the Sunderland site. The church was built as a Congregational church in 1881-3, to a design by JP Pritchett. The URC put it up for sale in March 2010, at which time it was also being used by the West House Christian Fellowship, the Sunderland Filipino Church and the Mountain of Fire church.
City of Sunderland
The City of Sunderland is a local government district of Tyne and Wear, in North East England, with the status of a city and metropolitan borough...
in northeast England. It is intended to show items from the Roland Collection of Films on Art on 45 screens; visitors will wander between them wearing headphones that switch to the appropriate soundtrack.
The original concept called for a futuristic €35m building in London. This gave way to a £2m reconstruction of the West Park United Reformed church on Stockton Road in Sunderland, which is planned to open in April 2012. Visitors will pay a small fee to get in and then rent headphones by the hour; over 160,000 are expected in the first year.
Concept
The term “artarena” is the contraction of two words, artArt
Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect....
and arena
Arena
An arena is an enclosed area, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theater, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectators. The key feature of an arena is that the event space is the...
(meaning sand, from the original sand ground of arenas in Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...
). The Art Arena is a large and opened gallery space, which has the specificity to present art films about classical and contemporary art
Contemporary art
Contemporary art can be defined variously as art produced at this present point in time or art produced since World War II. The definition of the word contemporary would support the first view, but museums of contemporary art commonly define their collections as consisting of art produced...
forms and not physical artworks. The films presented are extracted from the Roland Collection, a collection of films and documentaries that have been collected over a 30 years period by Anthony Roland. The design of the Art Arena includes many projection alcoves that are playing simultaneously. With the use of geolocalized
Geolocation
Geolocation is the identification of the real-world geographic location of an object, such as a radar, mobile phone or an Internet-connected computer terminal...
wireless headset technology, the visitors can move freely through the projection spaces and experience each film, by only hearing the projection which they are viewing. This device allows the removal of space dividers such as acoustical walls between the projection spaces.
History
The Art Arena concept of a cultural space was originally developed in 2002 by art film collector Anthony Roland and architect David SereroDavid Serero (architect)
- Biography :He was born in 1974 in Grenoble. He graduated with a Master in Architecture and Urban planning from Columbia University and with an Architecture Degree from Ecole d’architecture Paris-Villemin. He lives and works in Paris and in New York....
. The initial plan for an "Art Arena Roland Museum" was for a futuristic €35m complex in London combining exhibition space, film storage, and over forty projection spaces.
In 2010 the plan emerged to redevelop the Sunderland site. The church was built as a Congregational church in 1881-3, to a design by JP Pritchett. The URC put it up for sale in March 2010, at which time it was also being used by the West House Christian Fellowship, the Sunderland Filipino Church and the Mountain of Fire church.
Future
Discussions have already taken place on replicating the format in churches elsewhere in the UK. Roland is planning a much bigger establishment in London's Docklands, with 200 projection spaces.External links
- Roland Collection - planning documents and budgets
- The Art Arena Charity