MoMA PS1, November 2022
A Public School Turned MoMa in Queens.
Most of us, on this beautiful Saturday morning, had not been in Long Island City since the beginning of the pandemic. We found the place quite changed; a lot more development, yet some of the old coffee houses gone to give room to more residential construction. Bittersweet.
The public school - turned MoMA space is truly remarkable. As we entered the front door of the exhibition space, after going through the old school playground, we could not quite make out where the female whisper was coming from; till we, literally, almost stepped on the hole on the floor with little people trying to get our attention (see the Selfless in Bath of Lava video below). What an intro!
MoMA PS1, Long Island City, NY
Founded by curator Alanna Heiss, MoMA PS1 (originally known as P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center) was a defining force in the alternative space movement that gained momentum in New York in the 1970s. A rare example of this movement still anchored in its original site, PS1—a historic nineteenth-century public school building in the heart of Long Island City, Queens—has been transformed into a world-renowned place for artistic experimentation and creativity.
Located in what was once a thriving industrial enclave minutes from midtown Manhattan, PS1 has now become a cultural landmark in one of the fastest-growing, urban residential neighborhoods in the country. Decommissioned as a public school in 1963, the building was first secured from the city by the Institute for Art and Urban Resources Inc., a non-profit founded by Heiss in 1972 to provide studios and exhibition space in underutilized buildings across New York City.
Pipilotti Rist
Selbstlos im Lavabad (Selfless in the Bath of Lava), 1994
Single channel video installation; 19 min
Courtesy the artist, Hauser & Wirth, and Luhring Augustine
Jumana Manna
Palestinian artist’s, Jumana Manna’s, Cache Series explores the evolution of now obsolete structures for grain storage in his home country to urban infrastructure for growth. The rotten bread, maybe left over by construction workers, connects the original purpose of these storage containers to their current usage. The rotten bread, bagels, pita, etc. are all ceramics - we checked…
Inhabiting the Sky: James Turrell’s “Meeting”
An old classic - first installation in 1980 - literally breathes fresh area in the old public school space. Completely open, it brings the outside in. On a beautiful October day as this one, the sky had this bright blue color, and a refreshing breeze blew in from the own opening. Apparently, on cloudier days or at night, the room gets illuminated, leaving the audience to ‘make’ its own color and ‘inhabit the sky’.
Danielle De Jesus
The role of community gardens in New York City - like the ones in Bushwick depicted by the artist - has been evolving through urban development and gentrification. The artist’s Puerto Rican heritage is evident - casitas dot some of the garden, as well as elders playing dominoes.
Acrylics on U.S. currency, 2022
Courtesy the artist and Calderon, New York
