From the press release:
"Greater New York 2005, jointly organized by P.S.1 and The Museum of Modern Art, will go on view at P.S.1 on March 13, 2005
showcasing over 160 artists from the New York area. This exhibition builds from the spirit of its first incarnation, Greater New York, which opened at P.S.1 in 2000, shortly after the two institutions became affiliated.
Greater New York 2005 presents artists who have emerged since 2000. Their work explores both this specific time period, during which New York City has changed dramatically; shows vitality, energy, and exciting promise; and anticipates new artistic directions. The exhibition includes artists from New York’s five boroughs, as well as nearby towns in New Jersey.
A very clever and creative fake press release was also doing the rounds (courtesy of Gawker).
Anyway what this all means is that PS.1 is the place to be discovered at if you are an emerging artist. There was an overwhelming amount of art on all three floors as well as a huge turn out of people.
An installation on the way into the main building.
I saw lots of work that I liked but I am just going to focus on two video pieces that I thought were stunning.
The first piece was called "Prepare a Place" by Jay King and Diaz de Leon from Brooklyn. It was a digital video piece that started off with a solo violin player walking on to a stage and starting to play his music. It could have been an audition of some sort as there were a couple of people listening in the audience. The musician starts to play and the scene changes to series of fast cuts of different musicians. It's hard to describe but the best way I can put it was watching the pulse of music become visual as a series of cuts, pulses of light and swirling dance movements. It seemed as if the piece was showing us the inner world of the musician as he played. Perhaps the following stills from the piece can give you an idea of what I am talking about. The accompanying sound track was awesome. This is one fine art DVD I would be lining up for to add to my collection!
The Musician
Visual Music
More Visual Music
The second piece that I liked was called "Freedom" by Christopher Drager-Helenes. It was black and white images filmed on 16 mm transferred to DVD. In it a voice drones on - the words are intelligible but every now and again English subtitles appear on the screen and we realize it is words from President Bush's State of the Union address. When I watched the words juxtaposed with the moving images it opened up new layers of meaning to the idea of freedom and the things that can be done in it's name that take freedom away.
For further thoughts on PS. 1 check out:
- Newsgrist which has an interesting backdrop on the exhibition. Also tidbits on the upcoming Whitney Biennale 2006
