The New Cubism

摘要

The Oxo Cube. Even before it opened in September, the New Art Exchange in Nottingham had acquired an unforgettable moniker from locals. And with good reason. As designed by architect HawkinsVBrown, the building is quite simply a sharp-edged, four-storey cube (admittedly faced in jet black bricks rather than something in a gravy brown). And its crisp cubic shape is reflected in two dimensions by square frameless windows scattered randomly across its facades.rnWith such a striking architectural image, the 1,360m~2 New Art Exchange attains one of its prime aspirations - to be a landmark. "Certainly this big black building is in local people's minds," says its chief executive, Jim Robertson. "But they haven't quite made the connection as to what it's for."rnWhat it is for might be more easily ascertained by browsing the New Art Exchange website than by staring at its facade. It is, the site says, "the first dedicated African, African-Caribbean and south Asian facility for contemporary arts outside London". It offers a rich mix of visual art, theatre, dance and arts education to residents of all ages and ethnic backgrounds in Nottingham's deprived inner suburb of Hyson Green. With this objective, the organisation roped in ￡5.5m in grants from six public authorities, including an increasingly rare Arts Lottery grant of ￡2.9m. Some ￡3.1m was spent developing the scheme.