If you’re a museum lover like myself, then you know New York City has some of the most popular museums right at your fingertips. In 2016, I checked off several museums I had yet to go to, and most recently I heard about the New Museum. As a native New Yorker, I was surprised I had not heard much about it. However, their newest exhibit has gained popularity since its opening at the end of October.
Located in Manhattan’s Lower East Side, The New Museum of Contemporary Art, or the New Museum for short, exhibits new work by American and international artists, with an emphasis on innovation in a variety of media. Their current most popular exhibit, “Pipilotti Rist: Pixel Forest,” has trended on social media and after seeing numerous photos and articles about it, I felt this museum was worth visiting.
Forgetting about the long lines for this exhibit, I was surprised to see a line in front of the museum when I went Thursday evening. Fortunately we didn’t wait longer than 15 minutes, unlike others who waited for longer on a line that went for almost the entire block. The museum also offers a discount for students, which should be taken advantage of. For only $12, the museum is definitely worth the wait.
“Pipilotti Rist: Pixel Forest” is the first New York exhibition of the work of Swiss artist Pipilotti Rist. According to the New Museum’s website, Rist has become internationally renowned as a pioneer of video art and multimedia installations. Her captivating works embrace viewers in sensual, vibrantly colored kaleidoscopic projections that fuse the natural world with the technological sublime.
The exhibit spans three floors of the museum, beginning on the second floor. The first level of the exhibit includes vibrant projections on transparent sheets hanging from the ceiling as well as on the bare walls, all in a dim lit room with a high ceiling.
There is an interpretive wall of ceramic items, as well as a miniature display of a minimal setting. As you turn the corner, there are also D.I.Y single-channel videos from the late ‘80s which are covered overhead, so it is an individualistic experience for each viewer.
The third floor is by far the most popular level of the exhibit. It displays the actual ‘Pixel Forest,’ a vibrant jungle of sorts with 3,000 hanging LED lights, which frequently change colors seemingly synchronized to the videos playing on the walls toward the back.
The lights pulse and come alive as you become entangled in the dreamlike environment. It is beautiful and full of curiosity, and you could spend hours in just this level, losing yourself in the array of colors.
Toward the back, there are large carpets along with pillows on the floor, inviting viewers to comfortably lay or sit, watching the two side by side projected videos on the walls, immersing yourself in the visual experience. Making our way further, there is an unexpected sight hanging above: a chandelier of mostly nude underwear, both men’s and women’s, highlighted by the changing colors of the lights. Finding the exit to the floor, there is one last part. Nearly missed, there is a tiny 3D model of a house and it seems to be aglow, as a projected light follows the miniature room giving viewers a more intimate tour of the setting.
The final floor of the exhibition, is located on the fourth floor. On this floor, there is an immersive video installation titled “4th Floor To Mildness” which invites visitors to lay comfortably on collected beds, gazing toward the ceiling at two amoeba-shaped screens. The screens display projected footage underwater which Rist, who lives and works in Zurich, filmed over the summer in a part of the Rhine that she knows from childhood. There are close ups of a naked woman’s body, wrinkled from the water, with floating green lily pads as well as rotting ones. It also includes haunting compositions by experimental Austrian artist and musician Anja Plaschg. Massimiliano Gioni, the curator of Rist’s installation, says “Sometimes we say that this is Monet’s ‘Water Lilies’ except from the other side, below the surface.” Personally, as I lay comfortably, gazing above, the more I watched the more I attempted to interpret the message it served to convey. For me, the video along with the accompanied music melds the serenity of nature with the haunting atmosphere of drowning underwater.
Lastly, if you’re visiting in the evening, I highly recommend traveling to the top floor, to the Sky Room. Although it is not always open to visitors, it provides an open balcony with a view of the New York City skyline. It is a beautiful sight especially with the night sky and New York City coming alive with countless glimmering lights.
Go visit the New Museum and explore the highly-regarded exhibit “Pipilotti Rist: Pixel Forest” before it closes January 15th!