March 15, 2009
A casual stroll down West 22nd Street yesterday reinforced my theory of infinite recursion in the New York art world. On the east end of the street I saw a gallery has co-opted the spray-painted upside-down cocktail glass of Missing Foundation, the former 1980's East Village punk-cum-violence sensation whereas at the west end I found the newly-reopened Dia:Chelsea in a wonderfully stripped-down version operated by the X Initiative. The vibrancy and creativity of this new collective deserves serious attention, especially at this critical time when the helium has been let out of the hideously overinflated hot air balloon that symbolized art at auction as well as the Chelsea gallery scene.
Whereas just last summer you could walk by 548 West 22 Street and see a leasing opportunity sign, and just a few weeks ago you would have been surprised there by the pop-up offices of Ralph Lauren during Fashion Week, now the raw energy that originally symbolized this first outpost of New York art in far-west Chelsea has returned.
The non-profit X will exist for one year and present its programming over four phases (one for each season). Site-specific projects, in-depth exhibitions, performances, lectures and weekly events restore the spirit we all came to admire at Dia: currently on the ground floor you'll find Mika Tajima's The Extras, a curious installation combining film set, stage, green room and prop house that play on the irony of unfinished luxury condominiums and scaffolding—which assuredly symbolize the scourge of recent development in far-west Chelsea. On the middle floors, an extensive survery of the videography of Derek Jarman features a number of his rare pieces, a nice revival given the dearth of his work on display in recent years. On the roof, Christian Holstad's Light Chamber (Part 2) offers a clever diatribe on the nexus of war and body modification in American society, featuring a colonic machine, tanning bed, sandbags, war implements and blaring music in the former cafe. Essentially the only visible remnant of Dia is the Dan Flavin untitled light work in the stairwells as the Jorge Pardo lobby work has been covered over. And perhaps that makes sense: covering over the mistakes of recent years that led to Dia's New York demise. As I wrote in this space on December 1, 2006:
Saltz makes two key points about Dia that merit more discussion: "Dia has the credibility and pockets to do anything it wants" and "It could even move back into its 22nd Street space." When the renovated space reopened in early 2000—with the bold Pardo project—Dia reinvented itself as the fresh-faced pioneer of Chelsea. As the crowds swelled to bloated Chelsea with its countless galleries, Dia seemed too small; ergo additional renovations allegedly commencing three years ago. Despite the tiny elevator and narrow staircase, the space has worked and could still work—were only the initiative there. Meantime, Dia's permanent Manhattan installations the Earth Room and Broken Kilometer remain open.
Even with its presence at the Hispanic Society of America, Dia remains a shadow of its former self. I thought about this while hiking over frozen mud and ice to Robert Smithson's Spiral Jetty on Great Salt Lake a few weeks ago. The Dia Foundation acquired Spiral Jetty ten years ago, and early last year learned of an attempt by Pearl Montana Exploration and Production to conduct exploratory drilling near the Spiral Jetty. While derelict rigs dot the Great Salt Lake close to the Spiral Jetty, this latest attempt would have overwhelmed the fragile ecosystem. It's worth dwelling on those last two words—fragile ecosystem—for it appears the X Initiative will succeed where Dia left off, chronicling the fragile ecosystem that has become the New York art scene. Stay tuned for X-sponsored March 19 Town Hall Meeting at 548 West 22 Street at 6:30.
As I began with my theory of infinite recursion, I close by mentioning X's benefit event for Throbbing Gristle on Friday, April 17th. Seems only fitting that on the same block where a gallery has co-opted Missing Foundation's cocktail glass that the group that inspired Missing Foundation will be fêted.
Photo: Sprial Jetty, February 27. Copyright © 2009. All rights reserved.
Tags:
christian holstad, dan flavin, derek jarman, dia chelsea, jorge pardo, missing foundation, robert smithson, spiral jetty, throbbing gristle, x initiative
© All rights reserved.
Posted on 3/15/2009
(
Permanent Link
)
Send to Friend
