MoMA PS1 2012: Warm Up 2012, Wendy by HWKN, and M. Wells

July 16, 2012

We love MoMA PS1 any time of year: the Museum of Modern Art's Long Island City outpost–just a stop or two away from Glenwood's luxury New York City apartments in Midtown Manhattan–not only consistently puts on interesting (if occasionally uneven) contemporary art exhibitions, but the building itself, a former NYC public school, is enormously appealing in its creakiness. But it's during the summer, when the courtyard explodes with energy, that MoMA PS1 really comes to life, with a vibrancy and communal, creative spirit unmatched by any other museum in town. Here then, a quick look at what's going on at MoMA PS1 2012 .

MoMA PS1 Warm Up 2012  

MoMA PS1 Warm Up 2012, the peerless Saturday afternoon dance party/experimental music festival, began last weekend, with the by-now-expected joyous, sweaty crowds packing the museum's courtyards. The line up of bands, sound artists and DJs on any given Saturday is always impressive–these are world-class artists getting people moving every week–but the Warm Up 2012 committee has maybe outdone themselves. We had a blast last Saturday (especially awesome: the synth-pop set by Trust), and we definitely want to go back for, among others, Matthew Dear on July 21, Micachu and The Shapes on July 28, Schlohmo on August 11, and Thom Yorke's Atoms For Peace to close out the season on September 8. 

Wendy by HWKN, Winner of the 2012 Young Architects Program Commission  

This year's winners of the Young Artchitects Program–and, so, the creators of this summer's courtyard installation–are Matthias Hollwich and Marc Kushner of HWKN, and their gigantic, blue, spiky beast, Wendy. Wendy is cool for lots of reasons, and we don't just mean the random water cannon blasts, the gusts of natural air conditioning, and the outdoor mist "parlor." Wendy by HWKN also actually cleans the air just by existing! It has something to do with its blue nylon shell, which is "treated with a groundbreaking titania nanoparticle spray to neutralize airborne pollutants," and the result is the equivalent of taking 260 cars off the road this summer. One thing: we heard that you could climb up inside Wendy, but on Saturday, presumably due to the Warm Up crowds (we couldn't get a straight answer), security was not letting people in. Maybe during the week? 

The Art at MoMA PS1 2012

Of course, all the fun going on outside shouldn't prevent you from checking out the art inside MoMA PS1. We liked several of the summer-long exhibitions, including Max Brand's somewhat insane paintings on the second floor, and it's always a good idea to pop into James Turrell's miraculously serene Meeting up on three, and Janet Cardiff's sound installation, The Forty Part Motet, offers a nice, air-conditioned respite from the sweaty mayhem in the courtyard. But our favorite new show at MoMA PS1 2012 was definitely Lara Favarwetto's Just Knocked Out, which had confetti blowing around, a room with dirt floor (and buried treasure), a wall of some rather phallic spinning "buffers," a confetti cube, and an ingenious help-yourself library of books, each one of which contains at least one "found" image that the artist has used in her work. Fun, clever stuff. 

The M. Wells "Food Tent"

Sometime soon, the great Hugue Dufour and Sarah Obraitis of M. Wells will be opening their hugely-anticipated M. Wells Dinette in the PS1 cafeteria space. Until then, though, you can get some excellent M. Wells-ian snacks and treats in the courtyard, including a first-rate Corn Dog (with pickle-mustard dipping sauce), a Chicken Caesar Salad Sandwich, Fried Olives (don't miss these), Maple Cotton Candy, and Rainbow Ices. 

MoMA PS1 Summer 2012 details 

For more information on Warm Up 2012, Wendy by HWKN, Lara Favaretto and/or the M. Wells Dinette, as well as directions, hours, and admissions to the museum, please see the MoMA PS1 website, as well as more summer fun at MoMa PS1, MoMa PS1 in 2010, and the Ps1 Warm Up in 2011.      

MoMA PS1 Warm Up Events

Posted in NYC Dining, NYC Events, Other Neighborhoods | Tagged James Turrell • Janet Cardiff • Lara Favaretto • M Wells • Marc Kushner • Matthias Hollwich • Max Brand • moma ps1 • MoMA PS1 2012 • MoMA PS1 Warm Up 2012 • PS1 MoMA • Warm up 2012