11/5/2013
Expo 1
MoMA PS1, New York
New York. Acting in the guise of a festival-as-institution, it imagines a contemporary art museum dedicated to ecological concerns, presenting a simultaneity of modules, interventions, solo projects, and group exhibitions including a school, a colony, a cinema, a geodesic dome, Rain Room, and more.
EXPO 1: New York, an exploration of ecological challenges in the context of the economic and socio-political instability of the early 21st century opens at MoMA PS1, The Museum of Modern Art, and Rockaway Beach.
Acting in the guise of a festival-as-institution, EXPO 1: New York imagines a contemporary art museum dedicated to ecological concerns, presenting a simultaneity of modules, interventions, solo projects, and group exhibitions including a school, a colony, a cinema, a geodesic dome, Rain Room, and more. EXPO 1: New York is made possible by a partnership with Volkswagen Group of America. Rain Room is on view at MoMA, courtesy of RH, Restoration Hardware.
The concept of EXPO 1: New York was developed by MoMA PS1 Director and MoMA Chief Curator-at-Large Klaus Biesenbach with Hans Ulrich Obrist and an advisory group including Peter Eleey, Paola Antonelli, Pedro Gadanho, Laura Hoptman, Roxana Marcoci, and Jenny Schlenzka. EXPO 1: New York is organized by Klaus Biesenbach with Christopher Y. Lew, and Lizzie Gorfaine, with specific curators for several of the modules and exhibitions.
Klaus Biesenbach explains, “EXPO 1 is informed by many of the participatory and performative practices of contemporary art in recent years, but translates and focuses them into social practice.” Biesenbach continues, “Architecture in its construction and use is performative and experiential, as in the Colony and the Rain Room. The VW Dome 2 in the Rockaways is also a community center, not only a place to present, project, and host art events. Teaching on a daily basis, as in the EXPO School run by Triple Canopy, becomes again an urgent artistic practice, as in the days when Joseph Beuys revolutionized the art school system in Europe. Providing the viewers with a daily moving pictures program, a special dish at M. Wells, and the opportunity to cultivate plants on the rooftop broadens the experience of the museum as a place to take in, be part of, and invest. ‘Dark Optimism’ means there is a future, if you want it to be there.”
To honor MoMA PS1′s own pioneering history in social practice and politically and ecologically engaged exhibitions, Klaus Biesenbach and Hans Ulrich Obrist consulted PS1′s founder Alanna Heiss and asked her to be an honorary curatorial voice in EXPO 1: New York. In addition to her guidance in the overall project, she is curating and re-staging her ground-breaking project, Pool from 1998 with the artist Meg Webster.
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Rain Room
May 12, 2013–July 28, 2013
MoMA PS1 announces a major component of EXPO 1: New York, entitled Rain Room (2012), which will be presented at The Museum of Modern Art, from May 12 through July 28, 2013. A large-scale environment by Random International, Rain Room is a field of falling water that pauses wherever a human body is detected—offering visitors the experience of controlling the rain. The presentation of Rain Room at The Museum of Modern Art is part of EXPO 1: New York, a large-scale festival exploring ecological challenges. Rain Room is on view at The Museum of Modern Art, courtesy of RH, Restoration Hardware. EXPO 1: New York is made possible by a partnership with Volkswagen of America.
Known for their distinctive approach to digital-based contemporary practice, Random International’s experimental projects come alive through audience interaction and Rain Room is their largest and most ambitious to-date. The work invites visitors to explore the roles that science, technology, and human ingenuity can play in stabilizing our environment. Using digital technology, Rain Room is a carefully choreographed downpour—a monumental work that encourages people to become performers on an unexpected stage, while creating an intimate atmosphere of contemplation.
The presentation of Rain Room at The Museum of Modern Art is the US premiere of the monumental installation, and follows its debut at Barbican Centre in London (October 2012-March 2013).
Image: Agnes Denes. Wheatfield – A Confrontation: Battery Park Landfill, Downtown Manhattan. 1982. Vintage Cibachrome print. 16 x 20 inches (sheet size). © Agnes Denes. Courtesy Leslie Tonkonow Artworks + Projects, New York.
MoMA PS1 press contact:
Rebecca Taylor, Communications Director (718) 786-3139 rebecca_taylor@moma.org
MoMA PS1
22-25 Jackson Ave. at the intersection of 46th Ave. - Long Island City, NY 11101
12–6 PM, Thursday through Monday, closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
Admission
Admission is suggested: $10 for adults; $5.00 for students and senior citizens; free for MoMA members, MoMA Corporate Members, MoMA admission ticket holders, Long Island City Residents, NYC public school students, Members of the Press, & other Museum Staff with valid ID. Certain special exhibitions and programs may require a separate admission ticket. MoMA tickets must be presented at MoMA PS1 within 14 days of the date on the ticket and are not valid during Warm Up and some MoMA PS1 special exhibitions, events or benefits.
Admission to EXPO 1: New York
Visitors who pay the full suggested admission receive a ticket valid for entrance to special exhibitions presented as part of EXPO 1: New York. This ticket may also be applied toward the price of a MoMA membership through July 28th or a MoMA admission ticket.