{"data":{"id":"13375","type":"artwork","attributes":{"id":13375,"topgoose_id":4868,"portfolio_id":null,"tms_id":13375,"title":"Strange Attractor","display_artist_text":"Sarah Sze","display_date":"2000","accession_number":"2001.1","dimensions":"Dimensions variable","medium":"Mixed media","department":"collection","classification":"Installations","credit_line":"Gift of Marianne Boesky, Ed Cohen and Adam Sender","is_virtual":false,"is_portfolio":false,"portfolio_tms_id":null,"portfolio":null,"edition":null,"publication_info":"","description":"\u003cp\u003eSarah Sze, \u003cem\u003eStrange Attractor\u003c/em\u003e, 2000. Mixed media, dimensions variable. Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; gift of Marianne Boesky, Ed Cohen and Adam Sender 2001.1. © Sarah Sze\u003c/p\u003e","object_label":"\u003cp\u003eSarah Sze’s \u003ci\u003eStrange Attractor\u003c/i\u003e was originally commissioned for the monumental fourth-floor window of the Whitney as part of the Museum’s 2000 Biennial exhibition. The work could be seen in two ways: by walking around it in the gallery space, and by looking at it from street level, 75 feet below. Like many of Sze’s site-specific installations, \u003ci\u003eStrange Attractor\u003c/i\u003e transforms the miscellany of everyday life into an idiosyncratic ecosystem or model universe, with every object dependent on each other. It constellates thousands of common items—all purchased in the neighborhood around the Whitney—including balsa wood, aspirin tablets, mirrors, plastic spoons, tickets, artificial plants, and a twisting conglomeration of ladders. Small fans cause bits of paper to flutter, an air humidifier creates a constant cloud of steam, and a set of clear plastic tubing circulates water throughout the massive work, adding a delicate motion and dynamism. In the midst of frantic chaos, seemingly spiraling in every direction, Sze creates a sensation of unity and balance.\u003c/p\u003e","ai_alt_text":"A large suspended kinetic sculpture made of wires, metal parts, lights, and small found objects.","alt_text":"A suspended cloud of mirrors, plastic spoons, ladders, and other miscellaneous items chaotically interconnected","visual_description":null,"on_view":false,"created_at":"2017-08-30T15:52:55.000-04:00","updated_at":"2026-02-06T11:59:49.062-05:00","images":[{"id":103601,"url":"https://whitneymedia.org/assets/artwork/13375/2001_1_cropped.jpg"}]},"relationships":{"artists":{"data":[{"id":"7409","type":"artist"}]}}}}