Philippe Parreno unveils new commission at the revamped MoMA
The French artist has created a site-specific installation for the entrance of the New York art museum. Here, we go behind-the-scenes with an exclusive interview, and photographs captured by Parreno himself
Philippe Parreno knows a thing or two about making an entrance. Since his memorable Anywhen commission for Tate Modern in 2016, the multi-disciplinary French artist has gone on to transform museum and exhibition spaces around the world into immersive, mystifying experiences that blend light, film and sound with a magical aplomb.
Parreno’s latest undertaking is a new site-specific work for the revamped Museum of Modern Art, which reopens on 21 October. Starting off beside the original entrance of the museum, and spanning the newly expanded lobby and walkway, which extends through to 54th Street, Parreno’s interactive piece, Echo heralds a new era for the institution.
‘When [museum director] Glenn Lowry approached me, he said he was interested in doing something throughout the lobby, to make it a real public space,’ explains Parreno. ‘I think the idea came after I did the commission at Tate Modern – something that was there like a ghostly presence, something that will be present and something that will not be present. I took that as the thread throughout the project.’
‘Normally I’m occupied with exhibition making,’ the artist adds. ‘An exhibition is a display where we have a timeline or an architecture, where you hang a series of objects. So you can say that an exhibition always has a beginning and an end – it’s time-based. I thought this could be a different approach. For the first time, I’m going to reorganise myself around that notion of manifestation. All that will appear without a timeline.’
From this starting point, Parreno worked with coders to programme some of his favoured motifs and objects – marquees, hanging lamps, mirrored shutters and a screen – to function continuously over the two-year duration of the commission, spanning both night and day. ‘[I thought] about the object as a kind of creature,’ he reflects. ‘It would wake up, move, behave and then sleep and dream. I was trying to get an auto-poetic system [where there] was a set of rules that could be reinvented by the system.’
The kinetic aspects of the installation are informed by gleaning data from the surrounding site. Seismometers that have been installed throughout the building, to measure factors including the varying tensions in its structure, the velocity and direction of the wind, sounds both outside and inside, along with the number of people visiting the museum. These variables are perceived by the installation (which Parreno calls ‘the creature’) and produce unpredictable movements that really occur by chance.
Parreno states, ‘I didn’t want to use any mathematical equations or algorithms, so everything is really linked to perception. It’s a creature that reflects what it perceives and when it perceives more than one thing, it produces another operation – the movement of a light or the strength of the light. It’s an echo, which is the title of the work.’
The aural component, a consistent element in Parreno’s work, was also taken a step further through the creation of a soundtrack that will never repeat itself. Parreno explains, ‘I worked with my sound designer Nicolas Becker, and we approached Venezuelan musician Arca to [perform] a song that Nicolas produced and the third layer was a start-up company based in London called Bronze, whose goal is to produce records that regenerate themselves when you play them, so the same concert will never be played twice. They take a granular approach; the sound particles can be redistributed according to the artist’s vision along with other factors. Altogether, we’ve produced two years worth of soundtrack and whispers.’
The final result is a subtle, moving piece that flickers and makes sounds in a haunting and otherworldly manner. MoMA director Glenn D Lowry adds, ‘Philippe's commissioned piece is remarkably well-suited not only to the architecture of the renovated and expanded lobby, but also to the ambitions and goals of the museum, as we endeavour to neither repeat ourselves nor remain static.’
INFORMATION
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox
Pei-Ru Keh is a former US Editor at Wallpaper*. Born and raised in Singapore, she has been a New Yorker since 2013. Pei-Ru held various titles at Wallpaper* between 2007 and 2023. She reports on design, tech, art, architecture, fashion, beauty and lifestyle happenings in the United States, both in print and digitally. Pei-Ru took a key role in championing diversity and representation within Wallpaper's content pillars, actively seeking out stories that reflect a wide range of perspectives. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and two children, and is currently learning how to drive.
-
Sir Kenneth Grange’s influential industrial designs are chronicled in a new book
‘Kenneth Grange: Designing the Modern World’ explores the life and work of the pioneering British industrial designer
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
Chin, chin! Asprey’s new Peninsula London boutique raises the bar
Asprey barware designs from the house’s joyful, jazz-era back catalogue are available at its new boutique in The Peninsula, London
By Caragh McKay Published
-
Step inside Precious Okoyomon’s post-apocalyptic forest in Madrid
In Madrid, Precious Okoyomon and Hans Ulrich Obrist reconvene for Obrist’s annual site-specific curation for Fundación Sandretto Re Rebaudengo
By Will Jennings Published
-
‘LA Gun Club’: artist Jane Hilton on who’s shooting who
‘LA Gun Club’, an exhibition by Jane Hilton at New York’s Palo Gallery, explores American gun culture through a study of targets and shooters
By Hannah Silver Published
-
Detroit Institute of Arts celebrates Black cinema
‘Regeneration: Black Cinema 1898-1971’ at the Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) brings lost or forgotten films, filmmakers and performers to a contemporary audience
By Anne Soward Published
-
BLUM marks 30 years of Japanese contemporary art in America
BLUM will take ‘Thirty Years: Written with a Splash of Blood’ to its New York space in September 2024, continuing its celebration of Japanese contemporary art in America
By Timothy Anscombe-Bell Published
-
Todd Gray’s sculptural photography collages defy dimension, linearity and narrative
In Todd Gray’s New York exhibition, he revisits his 40-year archive, fragmented into elaborated frames that open doors for new readings
By Osman Can Yerebakan Published
-
Frieze LA 2024 guide: the art, gossip and buzz
Our Frieze LA 2024 guide includes everything you need to know and see in and around the fair
By Renée Reizman Published
-
New York artist Christopher Astley showcases an alternative natural world
At Martos Gallery in New York, Christopher Astley’s paintings evoke an alternative natural world and the chaos of warfare (until 16 March 2024)
By Tianna Williams Published
-
The Whitney plots Harold Cohen’s artistic AI adventures
‘Harold Cohen: AARON’, at the Whitney Museum of American Art celebrates the artist’s software – the earliest AI program for artmaking – as an artwork in its own right
By Hannah Silver Published
-
Ludovic Nkoth’s vibrant paintings reflect on migration
Cameroon-born, New York-based Ludovic Nkoth uses acrylic paint to strike a balance between abstraction and figuration
By Ugonna-Ora Owoh Published