MoMA PS 1 has turned its eye toward the embattled Rockaway Peninsula, which is still struggling to bounce back from Hurricane Sandy. In collaboration with Volkswagen, the museum has set up a "VW Dome 2," a geodesic dome in the Rockaways that will serve as "a community gathering space, lecture hall, cinema and gallery" from now through May 18th. Yesterday afternoon, Michael Stipe joined PS 1 director Klaus Biesenbach and others for the dome's ribbon cutting.
The installation/community center is part of Expo 1, which is described as an "exploration of ecological challenges in the context of the economic and socio-political instability." The more traditional aspect of Expo 1 consists of an exhibit at MoMA PS1 that opens in May called "Dark Optimism," a phrase coined by the amorphous online magazine Triple Canopy, which will be instituting a "school" at the museum to imagine various futures for society that aren't entirely apocalyptic.
The "Dark Optimism show will also feature a "colony" in the PS1 courtyard designed by Argentinian architecture firm a77 that will enable "artists, thinkers, architects, and other cultural agents" to live together in the museum's outdoor courtyard for the duration of the exhibition. a77 is known for working with recycled and salvaged materials to create temporary and permanent housing, and it will be interesting to see how their colony plays off the coutyard's Party Wall.
P.S. 1 will also present a solo show of the photographs by Ansel Adams, as well as a cinema series that includes video games, advertising, and other moving images typically outside of the cinematic canon. In addition, Expo 1 starts with an open call for sustainable designs for rebuilding the waterfront, the best of which will be showcased at the Dome in at Rockaway Beach. (Got anything? Check the MoMA PS1 website for application deets in the next few days).
At the VW Dome 2 ribbon-cutting ceremony yesterday, locals and those who volunteered in the neighborhood after the storm greeted each other affectionately, and commended the intentions of Expo 1. Braddock Walsh, one of the founders of the Rockaway Beach Surf Club—a not-for-profit community space which became a central space for Sandy Relief Efforts—said, "I think it's great that people are trying to bring attention to Rockaway...a lot of houses and business in the area were devastated after the storm. Any attention we can bring to the Rockaway community is great, because as you can see, it's still devastated. Our boardwalk no longer exists and we need help rebuilding."
