1969 at PS1

The Interventions
1969 at PS1 is an exhibition ‘exploring a cross section of art made during a period marked with revolution and socio-political tumult’. It features works of art that were produced during or acquired by the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) in 1969 and is the first large-scale exhibition at PS1 to draw works from all departments of MOMA. Now in its 80th year, MOMA says that it is not attempting to ‘recount’ the events of 1969, but wants to present a ‘cross section of works with their narratives and point of view’. The show contains works of famous artists such as Robert Rauschenberg, Bruce Nauman, Martha Rosler, Andy Warhol and Helen Frankenthaler to name a few. In an effort to connect the past with the present and to throw light on 1969 in a current context, the exhibition also features ‘Interventions’. These are works produced by current generation artists who have attempted to relate the art produced in 1969 to their pieces done in 2009.

The artists were given complete freedom in their artistic expression and complement the show by emphasizing themes already present in it or works and themes that are absent. This group, consisting of Base, the Bruce High Quality Foundation, Mathew Day Jackson and David Tompkins, Hank Willis Thomas and Stephanie Syjuco, have attempted to related the ‘tumultuous times’ of 1969 to the present.

Stephanie Syjuco is a conceptual artist based in San Francisco and her works use 'tactics of bootlegging, reappropriation and fictional fabrications to address issues of cultural biography, labor and economic globalization'. Syjuco’s Custom Transitional Utility Object (Morris Mover) is one such intervention. It is a take on Robert Morris’s Untitled 1969 felt piece, a rectangle felt blanket 180”x72” in length, which is slit vertically (the cuts stopping about 12” short of the top) to create five strips or arms. The lack of climate control options at PS1 prevented the original Morris from being in the show, due to the felt’s tendency to attract dirt and insects. Syjuco's work is displayed in the exact manner of the original at MOMA by hanging it high on a wall and letting the five arms cascade down the wall and fan out on the floor. Syjuco has recreated the sculpture using a similar felt blanket with same dimensions, produced industrially in an American factory, but has added utility value to it.

Her sculpture was used to wrap and move artworks, which were going to be shown in the exhibition, from MOMA to PS1. She documents the journey of the work through photographs, which are also on display. The purpose of recreating the fabric sculpture is stated as “making transparent the labor and process involved in its creation”. But Syjuco is unable to translate this purpose in her work. Through the documentation, she captures the utility of the piece ‘after’ its creation and not ‘how’ it was created. In no way is it reflecting on the transparency of labor and creation, except stating that it is made in America and has the same dimensions as the original.

Another intervention by Syjuco is Temporal Aggregrate/Social Configuration (Borrowed Beuys), which as the title suggests, is borrowed from Joseph Beuys’ The Sled from 1969. Syjuco’s sculpture comprises of a wooden “Davoser” (German-made sled) with blankets and a flashlight strapped towards the back of the sled and bottle with white matter (presumably lard, as Beuys has lard in his piece) sealed with a piece of plastic under its cap in the front. On the floor in front of the sled, she has laid out different ropes, straps, more flashlights, bottles and jars filled with white matter, vintage felt blankets and a brown taped box. The original Sled could not be shown in the exhibition due to the same climate concerns and its effect on the felt, wax and wood components of the sculpture.

Syjuco’s works are as much an artistic process as is the finished outcome. In keeping with this, in addition to recreating an ‘absent’ work, Syjuco’s method of recreating this piece is interactive. She accumulates her materials by borrowing them from friends, associates and just about anyone by posting messages on facebook and blogs on social sites. On one such blog on worldpress.com titled “Can you lend me a Joseph Beuys artwork? Seriously…”, she explains her project, what she needs, her purpose, the need to borrow, shipping and other details. So why the need to borrow? Syjuco explains, “Essentially, I am asking for the general public to rummage through their closets to come together to do what MOMA itself can’t do: lend a Joseph Beuys artwork for the show.” At the conclusion of 1969, the borrowed works will be returned to their owners and perhaps put to everyday use.

Syjuco’s pieces do fulfill the purpose of the show as they recreate works that are absent, the works that could not be exhibited due to practical reasons, but there is definitely no connection, no effort to present 1969 in a current context. Syjuco’s interventions lack something vital. It feels as if you are watch a theatre show with the understudy, who is no doubt good, and perhaps also brings her own element to the show, but lacks the same punch and charisma of the original.

Her sculptures raise more questions than they answer: Is the sole purpose of her work just to fill in for Beuys or Morris and will be rendered obsolete or redundant when the right climate control is achieved? Moreover, how do we address the works, can we consider them as originals or as copies? If 40 years from now, PS1 presents a show titled 2009, it seems highly unlikely that these works will be exhibited in the show. It will always gain a back seat either to the original it reappropriates or to the multitudes of other work produced in 2009. Her interventions for the 1969 show might never stand on their own merit, as they will always be remembered in conjunction with the Beuys or the Morris pieces.