Herzog & de Meuron and Ai Weiwei Reunite for Interactive Installation at Park Avenue Armory

Swiss architects Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron have collaborated once again with Chinese artist Ai Weiwei on an interactive installation titled "Hansel & Gretel" at the Park Avenue Armory in New York, curated by Hans Ulrich Obrist with Tom Eccles. The work, on view until August 6, 2017, follows their previous joint projects: the Bird's Nest stadium for the 2008 Beijing Olympics and the 2012 Serpentine Pavilion in London. The installation transforms the historic armory into a dark, unsettling environment where visitors are both observers and observed. Drones track each movement, projecting individual images onto the space, while a continuous white light line traces the visitor's path, often interrupted by drone shadows. The piece aims to provoke reflection on surveillance in public space, creating an atmosphere of exceptional control from which individuals seem unable to escape. Obrist revealed that the concept for "Hansel & Gretel" began four or five years ago, when Ai Weiwei was unable to travel freely. The Park Avenue Armory, built between 1877 and 1881 as a military club for the Seventh Regiment of the National Guard of President Lincoln, underwent a long restoration led by Herzog & de Meuron, who sought to enhance its historical layers. The New York Times hailed its 2011 reopening as marking "the most important new cultural institution in New York City."