Recently, I realized that although it was a mere half mile away and free to Long Island City residents and MoMA members (we’re both- so fancy), I had never been inside PS1. So, I checked out the hours, packed up the family and marched over to see what we had been missing.
As it turns out, we’ve been missing a lot. We got there shortly before opening (the walk was embarrassingly quick- this happens a lot in my neighborhood as Queens is much smaller and closer than it seems) and joined an eager crowd of young families, hipster types and stylish tourists waiting by the front doors.
You enter through the famous courtyard, which currently contains a sort of inflatable geodesic “performance dome.” No performing on a Saturday morning, so we moved through. We’re saving our courtyard time for this summer, anyway, when VP+C friends and architectural favorites HWKN construct their “Wendy” structure. More on that later.
Watch out for Wendy!
The current exhibitions were honestly amazing to all three of us–tiny, 10-month-old Teddy, art-loving Lisa and Ari, who’s typically skeptical about modern art on the best day. Here are a few of our must-see favorites.
From the first floor, you can head down a quick flight of stairs to Surasi Kusolwong’s installation piece, Golden Ghost (The Future Belongs To Ghosts) (2011). It’s essentially a mosh pit filled with brightly colored industrial yarns. You’re supposed to actually climb in and dig through to search for one of a number of hidden necklaces. You find it, you keep it. We didn’t look too hard for the gold, honestly, but found 20 minutes worth of fun rolling around in the fibers.
The other mind blowing exhibit that you have to see to believe is Janet Cardiff’s The Forty Part Motet, which is simply 40 speakers on stands, arranged in a semicircle around a huge, sunny exposed brick room. Each speaker plays a separate voice, create the most incredible symphony you have ever hear. The full cycle of music takes 14 minutes, and we stayed for the whole thing, circling the room to hear each voice.
Janet Cardiff's The Forty Part Motet
And while we all found it weird, it’s worth mentioning Darren Bader: Images, which hopes to create new homes for shelter animals. Bader has actually installed live cats, an iguana and a croissant (I’m not sure what one has to do with the other), and a vegetable medley that he makes into salad Saturdays starting at 3:00 PM and Mondays starting at 2:15 PM. Sadly, we missed the salad.
And one final note: I won’t spoil James Turrell’s Meeting for you, but it’s worth popping in. Particularly on a nice day.
If you’re looking for lunch in the neighborhood, try:
From any of these, it’s a two minute walk to the gorgeous Gantry Plaza State Park, with the best Manhattan views imaginable.
Have fun!
