It was Vivienne Westwood who said that „some people adapt themselves to the world, while others adapt the world to themselves. The world goes around because of the latter group.“

Big events in the global arts scene are usually the well publicized ones. It is more difficult, though, to experience events on a smaller scale that capture one’s imagination and linger on.

I attended one of the hot new creations – New Museum, opened in Manhattan four months ago. The current exhibition Unmonumental captures the zeitgeist of the beginning of the 21th century – shift from simplicity to complexity, destruction of icons, and fragmentation. All that is a perfect prerequisite for collage, a hot form expression for artists across the board.

What’s impressed me most, however, during the past months both because of its conceptual and visual nature is to be found not in NYC, but some 200km east of it – in East Hampton. Artists Arakawa and Madeline Gins have built their Bioscleave House or Lifespan Extension Villa there, and I’m completely mesmerized by both its conceptual and visual nature.

Working together for 45 years, the artists have declared it their task to eliminate ageing and defy death. As Madeline Gins puts it: „It is immoral that people have to die.“

It is their brand new villa that now embodies their vocal protest towards death. No traditional concept of floors, walls or ceilings to be found here. Instead, Akinawa and Gins have chosen to live with irregular surfaces, floor reminiscent of the moon’s surface, walls painted in about 40 colors, and windows in various heights. They believe that a building where one has to continually watch out and think of one‘s body in relation to surroundings, defies ageing and death. They tell us that it is comfort of our homes – traditional concept for Westerners – that predates death.

Akinawa and Gins have already built a housing project and a park called Site of Reversible Destiny in Tokyo. Just like their Bioscleave House, being out of physical balance is what defines those projects, too. Curiously enough, people report substantial increase in well-being after spending some time in this sort of environment.

A lot of people have expressed their disbelief that this project is anything but a provocative expression of art, even those close to Arakawa and Gins. I think it’s not important whether this project has any significant practical implications or whether architecture is truly able to defy death. Even if their work is purely a metaphor for eternal life, not a proven formula for it, I take it as a fantastic example of how an individual fantasy transcends pragmatism that’s ever present all around. Or else, it is a great example of what Westwood calls adapting the world to oneself.