To celebrate the close of the Guggenheim’s 50th Anniversary year in May, the museum is holding an online competition, inviting participants to submit their ideas for reimagining the rotunda. The competition corresponds to the current exhibition, Contemplating the Void: Interventions in the Guggenheim, in which of 200 artists, architects and designers put forth their most fantastic ideas for the space.

Details of the competition can be found here, but the basic gist is that you can submit a hand sketch, computer rendering, watercolor, painting, photo collage, or any 2-D format that communicates your ideas effectively. Participants are encouraged to be truly creative and submit ideas that capture the full potential of the Guggenheim’s rotunda.

The contest sounds rad to me. The prizes, though, I think are slightly lame: a Guggenheim gift package, including a tote bag and two admission tickets. But the judges who will be selecting the winners are the chief curator and the assistant curator of design and architecture, so if you win, you’ll have the pleasure of knowing your ideas have been validated by them. While you’re carrying your Guggenheim tote bag.

Using the Frank Lloyd Wright Rotunda (both its interior and its exterior) as their medium, the ten artists showcased in theanyspacewhatever, the latest exhibition at the Guggenheim, experiment with the gamut of artistic methods and techniques in one, cohesive exhibition. Among them are Rirkrit Tiravanija, Philippe Parreno, Angela Bulloch, Carsten Höller (with his now infamous “Revolving Hotel Room” positioned on the Rotunda’s top ramp) and Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster (you may recognize her name as the force behind the new futuristic breed of Balenciaga boutiques.).

From Parreno’s site-specific illuminated marquee, “label,” affixed to the Rotunda’s entryway façade and Gonzalez-Foerster’s ersatz rain storm installation, “Promenade,” which is achieved by operating eight channels of booming sounds on the Rotunda’s third ramp, to Angela Bulloch’s LED-powered, “night sky,” located way up in the Rotunda’s oculus, the artists (and artworks) in this exhibition all share a common desire: to extend beyond the boundaries of typical museum practice.

The term “any-space-whatever” was coined by French philosopher Gilles Deleuze to describe a cinematic moment of assorted viewpoints, and the phrase is used here to proclaim “the exhibition environment as a dynamic arena.” Translation: The museum, instead of just a place for exhibiting artwork, is employed as the actual catalyst for creating artwork.

Further pushing the defined artistic boundaries (and providing me a much-needed caffeine fix!), Douglas Gordon and Tiranvanija joined forces with illycaffè to create the multi-media installation, “Cinéma/Liberté/Bar Lounge,” which is exactly as stated: a cinema that screens only previously-censored films, a coffee bar and a lounge dotted with comfy bean bag chairs. The bar portion of the installation comes equipped with a friendly barista who offers your choice of a complimentary espresso, latte or cappuccino.

Last but not least (of my notables): Pierre Huyghe’s “Transfer Book,” a book of iron-on transfers illustrating various images of the Guggenheim, is presented to every visitor upon exiting. Did somebody say tee-shirt-making party?

On view until January 7, 2009.

Image courtesy the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York.