Ensemble

Matta-Clark termed his activities and that of the group around him as anarchitecture, a contraction of the concepts anarchy and architecture that literally signify ‘non-architecture’. Anarchitecture is a confluence of a critique of cultural institutionalization (proper to conceptual art), a direct involvement with the environment (proper to land art), and a preference for the physical (proper to performance art). Anarchitecture was an informal group, very much open to alternative art forms, feeling related to dropouts and sympathetic to activism. Using architecture, Matta-Clark wished to literally and figuratively open up new possibilities: ‘He came to see buildings, rooms, urban space, neighborhoods and places where people come together as situations wherein his “interventions” could create something new’.

That was not just abstract or utopian; it also had to do with creating work- and meeting spaces for young artists. In this vein, together with Carol Gooden and Tina Girouard, he started the restaurant ‘Food’ in New York in 1971, becoming an artistic project, commercial enterprise and social initiative as well. Artists cooked for other artists, and often these meals became elevated to performances. Art events and performances were also organized there.