March 6 to March 23; Daily 12–8 pm. All work collection of the artist unless otherwise noted.
»
The last page in a very long novel., 2008
Words on a page, ink on paper, and hours in the dark
Courtesy Friedrich Petzel Gallery, New York, and David Kordansky Gallery, Los Angeles
LOCATION: SECRET
Brannon composes a “haunted house” film script
based on recordings made during the night at the
Armory. When the exhibition closes the pages are
buried in a secret location within the building’s walls.
While the text remains eternally inaccessible, the
recorded sounds are released as an album. Courtesy
Creative Link for the Arts
»
Our Hour: Radioff, 2008
Mixed-media installation
Courtesy Bortolami, New York
COMPANY ROOM 1
Representing the physical aspects of radio, Brazda
hangs an inverted antenna-like chair from the ceiling
and installs a microphone in the room. Pre-recorded
song requests made by artists and musicians fill the
room while the microphone picks up ambient sound
from visitors, challenging the definition of “live” radio.
Courtesy Diane Ackerman
»
Not yet titled, 2008
Gelatin silver print
SECOND FLOOR HALL
The Army, 2008
Mixed media
COMPANY ROOM M
Breuning restages a 1931 photograph of architects
dressed as the iconic New York buildings they designed.
In a separate sculptural installation, thirty soldiers with
identical Chinese teapot bodies and different heads
represent a dysfunctional army.
»
&»
I Wish It Were True, 2004-
Screening and installation
SUPERINTENDENT'S ROOM
Cordova and Hewitt curate ongoing screenings from
their evolving archive of bootleg independent and
alternative films representing Black and Latino
consciousness. Sculptural stacks of their VHS tapes
are also displayed in the room.
»
True Mirror, 2008
Mixed media, multiple parts
MULTIPLE LOCATIONS, PARK AVENUE ARMORY, WHITNEY MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART
Dexter Sinister occupies the Commander’s Room
releasing a series of parallel texts through multiple
channels of distribution which reflect on the show. More information is available on the True Mirror website.
True Mirrors (TM) courtesy True Mirror Company
»
Black Suit (Sic Semper Tyrannis), 2008
Found suit, framed
LIBRARY / SILVER ROOM
Come and Take It (contemporary verstion), 2008,
Cotton duck
Courtesy Team Gallery, New York
NORTH HALL
Einarsson titles this work with the phrase made famous
by Marcus Brutus upon his assassination of Julius
Caesar: sic semper tyrannis (thus always to tyrants).
Referring to accounts that John Wilkes Booth shouted
the same phrase after shooting Abraham Lincoln,
who was wearing a Brooks Brothers suit when assassinated,
Einarsson encases a suit by this label in a vitrine.
Installed nearby, the artist’s hanging flag contests
notions of the Armory as a place of protection, inviting
visitors to “come and take it.”
»
Not yet titled, 2008
Mixed-media installation
Courtesy James Fuentes LLC
COMPANY ROOM G
After performing on March 9, Gang Gang Dance leaves
behind their stage and a recorded video from the event
»
Untitled (W, SW, NE) for L.D., 2008
Speakers and debris
COMMITTEE ROOM
Continuing his exploration of dislocation and memory,
Griffin’s installation includes a live audio feed from a
field in his native Kansas, transmitting this particular
location through time and space. This simple gesture
links the artist’s rural childhood with his current urban
environment, functioning as a sort of self-portrait.
»
Ties of Protection and Safekeeping, 2007-08
Braided fabric and artificial hair
Courtesy Elizabeth Leach Gallery, Portland, Oregon
LIBRARY / SILVER ROOM
Guth’s ongoing interactive sculpture engages viewers
in an experience of exchange. Participants answer
the question “What is worth protecting?” by writing on
strips of flannel, which are then woven into a growing
braid of artificial hair. At specific times throughout the
first ten days of the exhibition, the artist braids with
visitors in the Library/Silver room.
On Sunday, March 16, the artist completes the project’s
interactive component, draping the work throughout
the room. Courtesy Creative Link for the Arts.
Friday, March 7 at 2pm
Saturday, March 8 at 2pm
Sunday, March 9 at 2pm
Monday, March 10 at 1pm
Tuesday, March 11 at 1pm
Thursday, March 13 at 2pm
Friday, March 14 at 1pm
Saturday, March 15 at 1pm
»
The Inevitable Failure of Restoration, 2008
Looped video, flat-screen monitor, gold frame, and wall label
Courtesy Luxe Gallery, New York, Magnus Müller, Berlin, and Galerie Gebrüder Lehmann, Dresden
MARY DIVVER / RECEPTION ROOM
An elaborately framed flat-screen monitor hangs across
from a wall where Harvey has exposed the original
decoration obscured by many generations of paint.
Considering art’s potential and its limitations, the artist
presents a video depicting her inadequate attempts to
re-create the original wall treatment.
»
Lucky Dragons Video Program, 2008
Video projection, color, sound
Congratulations, 2008
Laser prints
NON-COMPANY STAFF ROOM
Lucky Dragons gives away poster-sized prints showing
images of their performances that isolate and magnify
the points of contact between audience members
playing the touch-synthesizer. A looped video projection
is presented in a nearby hidden room decorated
with flowers and rocks. Pre-recorded animated patterns
provide a record of touches and movement.
»
Untitled, 2007
Polyurethane sprayed on canvas, nine parts
Courtesy Spencer Brownstone Gallery, New York
MAIN HALL
Mosset’s nine-panel monochrome painting replaces the
historical portraits that traditionally line the Main Hall.
»
Triage, 2008
Mixed-media installation
COMPANY ROOM L
Using a room-sized white tent furnished with cots,
DJ Olive (Gregor Asch) creates an environment of deep
ambient sounds with his most recent composition from
the Sleeping Pill series, Triage. The artist encourages
visitors to quietly listen to his work, providing a respite
from the external chaos of the city.
»
New York, New York, New York “Actresstocracy”, 2008
Mixed-media installation
Courtesy Deitch Projects
COMPANY ROOM K / WOMEN'S BALCONY
Pfahler installs posters of The Girls of Karen Black
dressed as historical female characters on placards in
the women’s waiting room and balcony. Well-known
for their campy, glamorous outfits, which often include
stiletto boots and black underwear, these domineering
women contrast sharply with the women who waited
for men during drill practices.
»
Untitled, 2007-08
Ping-pong balls, plastic filament, acrylic, and
lamp hardware
Courtesy Harris Lieberman Gallery, New York, and Daniel Hug Gallery, Los Angeles
FORMER LADIES' WASHROOM
Queenland shifts traditional symbolic associations as
he abstracts familiar objects without eliminating their
original forms. This chandelier, made from ping-pong
balls, retains an aura of elegance despite the humble
materials used, subtly calling attention to the former
grandeur of the Armory.
»
In the Beginning ..., 2008
Mixed-media installation with performance
COLONEL'S ROOM: MON-FRI 1-6 PM
Rodriguez holds daily “therapy sessions” inside a minimalist
white cube. Based on these sessions, he assigns
“patients” art projects to complete as therapy, casting
himself in the role of healer or shaman. Rodriguez later
broadcasts recordings of the conversations outside his
“office,” obscuring the sounds to a faint, incomprehensible
murmur. While commenting on conventional
readings of minimalism, Rodriguez engages the healing
power of art. All sessions have been booked. Courtesy Randy Slifka and Frederic Snitzer Gallery
»
Teenage Lontano/16 Channels, 2008
Mixed-media installation
BOARD OF OFFICERS' ROOM
Featuring speakers staged diagonally across the room,
Rosenfeld’s Teenage Lontano/16 Channels creates
a complex sonic field. To make the initial recordings,
teenage participants performed individual scores,
creating tone clusters that Rosenfeld mixed into a larger
composition of pop song-length tracks. Each speaker
emits a unique recording, offering every visitor a
different audio experience as they pass through the
space. Rosenfeld debuts a live performance of Teenage
Lontano on March 8. Courtesy Alltronics
Technical Systems and Randy Slifka.
»
Women’s Balcony, 2008
House paint on wall
Courtesy Frederieke Taylor Gallery, New York
DRILL HALL
Sigal uses paint to visually and symbolically connect the
two “female” areas of the Armory—the women’s balcony,
where historically viewers were allowed to watch men
drilling, and the more recently established women’s
shelter, which is housed on the Armory’s fourth and fifth
floors. Courtesy Allison Sarofim
»
Not yet titled, 2008
Neon tubes
DRILL HALL
Responding to the devastation in Miami in the wake of
Hurricane Ivan, Skogerson focuses on tattered neon
signs as physical and symbolic traces of the wreckage.
Skogerson’s installation of five re-created and fragmented
neon signs examines the aesthetic paradoxes of disaster.
»
Silent Film of a Tree Falling in the Forest, 2005-06
16mm film, color, silent; 7 min
Courtesy Margo Leavin Gallery, Los Angeles, and John Connelly Presents, New York
DRILL HALL / BUNKER
Thomson depicts six trees falling in the forest, the
classic example of a chance occurrence whose encounter
depends entirely on circumstance. Footage of each
falling tree is separated by clear leader running through
the projector—Thomson’s reference to Nam June Paik’s
seminal work Zen for Film. Screened in a bunker on
the east side of the Drill Hall, the installation, like the
subject of the film itself, can easily be missed.
»
The Scarface Museum, 2008
Mixed-media installation
Courtesy Anna Helwing Gallery, Los Angeles
VETERAN'S ROOM
Ybarra creates an homage to his friend Angel Montes
Jr., for whom Al Pacino’s character in the film Scarface
represented a model of success. Comprised of film
memorabilia inherited upon Montes’ incarceration, The
Scarface Museum reflects on the story of the fictional
gangster/drug dealer as an embodiment of the American
Dream, however flawed. Visitors are encouraged to
donate to the artist’s evolving Scarface collection,
emblematic of Ybarra’s continued engagement with
the public. Courtesy Creative Link for the Arts.