It's not everyday that a replica of a space shuttle pops up in New York City, or anywhere else in the world for that matter. Always one to deliver the unexpected, the New Museum in Manhattan has transformed its fifth floor gallery space to simulate the inside of a spaceship for it's newest exhibition, 'Report on the Construction of a Space Module', in conjunction with the Eastern European contemporary art network, Tranzit.
The organisation, which consists of autonomous but interconnected creative groups based in Austria, Hungary, Romania, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, has chosen to exhibit 117 art pieces from the region against this fictional background, which draws from space shuttles that appeared in science fiction films during the Cold War period. The minimalist, white installation opens with a chamber that comes complete with a transporter portal, which is surrounded by video screens showcasing slideshows of Soviet Modernism and other archive imagery, audio and video footage (from 1957 to present day) from around the region.
A second chamber leading off this first one is dominated by one large screen, which in addition to showing a loop of 25 films, interviews and video commentaries with artists, will serve as a communication launch pad where the show's artists will be able to communicate with people back in their hometowns during special public programming.
This Mission Control-esque room leads on to a smaller video installation, and then finally an antechamber, which has been filled with over 75 artworks, ranging from sculpture and video works to print and drawing, and appears like a cultural time capsule of sorts. Tranzit's challenge to the traditional institutional approach towards presenting artworks is really at the core of the group's message. 'We hope for the exhibition to make the facts of time relativity, cultural translation and spatial distance not only explained by curatorial conventions (i.e. text and wall labels), but also by visitors as they move inside the space and experience it as explorers,' they say.
Organised as part of the 'Museum as Hub' initiative, New Museum's international partnership programme, Tranzit's art historical approach to contemporary art works and new commissions exposes the cultural lexicon of this Eastern European region in a refreshing way. The spaceship setting not only recalls the futuristic fantasies that were prevalent on the European side of the Iron Curtain, but also highlights the ideological significance of the space race in the region.
Eastern European art network, Tranzit, who selected the 117 works shown, transformed the fifth floor of the museum into a spaceship, complete with a transporter portal, inspired by the many Soviet science fiction films of the 'space race' era
One such film is Jindřich Polák's 'Ikarie XB-1 (Voyage to the End of the Universe)', 1963.
The spaceship portal is surrounded by video screens showcasing slideshows of Soviet Modernism and other archive imagery, audio and video footage (from 1957 to present day)
In a second chamber, one large screen shows a loop of 25 films, interviews, video commentaries, and will serve as a launch pad for the artists to communicate with people back in their hometowns during special public programming
A still from Anna Artaker's film, '48 Heads from the Merkurov Museum (after Kurt Kren)', 2012
Three films selected by Tranzit's intra-European network - connecting Austria, Hungary, Romania, the Czech Republic and Slovakia - are shown in an empty green room
Finally an antechamber, which has been filled with over 75 artworks, ranging from sculpture and video works to print and drawing, appears like a cultural time capsule of sorts
'Unlearning Instincts', 2013
‘Nuage (Cloud)’, 2009
‘Sculpture of the Twentieth Century’, by Stano Filko, 1968-69
'Mirror on the Wall IV', by Zsuzsi Ujj, 1989/2013. Budapest
Tranzit's challenge to the traditional institutional approach towards presenting artworks is really at the core of the group's message. Here they place works like Mondrian's 'Composition with Yellow and Blue' 1963, 1979 and 1996, on a shelf, intermixed with other artists' works
Denisa Lehocká's 'Untitled', 2013 sits in front of 'Cactus',1975/2013 and 'Flowers', 1971/2013 and 'Open Forum - Game on an Actress' Face', by KwieKulik, 1971
'Flowers', by Krzysztof Zarebski, 1971.
Austrian artist Heinz Frank's 'Daybed (unique example)', 1969-70 sits on the floor of the antechamber
'We hope for the exhibition to make the facts of time relativity, cultural translation and spatial distance not only explained by curatorial conventions (i.e. text and wall labels),' says Tranzit, 'but also by visitors as they move inside the space and experience it as explorers'
The spaceship setting not only recalls the futuristic fantasies that were prevalent on the European side of the Iron Curtain, but also highlights the ideological significance of the space race in the region
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