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Green Roofs That Top a Dark Future

Placed on tomblike pedestals, Karl Krause's roof segments at Flashpoint ask whether such efforts make a difference in the end. Left, David Erdman's
Placed on tomblike pedestals, Karl Krause's roof segments at Flashpoint ask whether such efforts make a difference in the end. Left, David Erdman's "Diploid Project," at Gallery 4. (By James M. Thresher -- The Washington Post)
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The art that they make comes with a risk: If architects slip into the shallow waters of form and divorce their product from function, they encounter the problem too many artists face every day: They make something gorgeous but empty. The uneven "Useless" illustrates the successes and failures of their undertaking.

Take David Erdman's computer model video describing an elaborate water and light element -- one that might one day stand outside an important building but as yet has no actual client. At first, the elegant model proves compelling to watch. Form unfolds and retracts, water sprays and light shines, all from an organic spine made from what looks like interlocking dinosaur vertebrae.

But soon visual pleasure gives way to a pressing concern. Namely: So what? An architect's greatest strength evolves from his own constricting parameters: The discipline is both a logic problem and an aesthetic one. Without those limits, meaning can get lost.

A smart architect invents his own constraints. Here, Mark Wentzel uses an iconic mid-20th-century Eames chair to meditate on the mercurial nature of aesthetics. Wentzel inflated the sleek chair to Rubenesque proportions. By doing so, he's imposed one era's aesthetics on another's, underscoring the protean nature of beauty. His piece works because it's gorgeous and smart.

In recent years, so many artists have entered design and architecture in order to tap those disciplines' real-world applications. Here, architects reach toward art. Is it better to retain use value or to exist outside the economy of usefulness? At Project 4, the answer isn't clear.

Earth on Stone on Earth Is Naturally So at Flashpoint, 915 G St. NW, Tuesday-Saturday noon-6 p.m., 202-315-1310, to Aug. 31. Panel discussion on Aug. 21 at 7 p.m.: "The Eternal Human Habitat: Leadership, Democracy and Collaboration in Environmental Action," moderated by Karl Krause. http://www.flashpointdc.org.

Useless at Project 4, 903 U St. NW, Wednesday-Friday 2-6 p.m., Saturday noon-6 p.m., 202-232-4340, to Sept. 8. http://www.project4gallery.com.


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