The Self-Destructing Art Show

Doors open Saturday, November 6 at 11am
Reception and performances from 6pm
Open weekends 12 – 6 or by appointment through Tuesday, November 23

Artist talk on Sunday, November 14 from 2-4pm.  With Brendan Coyle, Kerry Downey, Ryan C. Doyle, and Nicholas Fraser.  Moderated by Ginger Shulick.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of Homage to New York, Jean Tinguely’s seminal self-destructing sculpture.* After fifty years, it remains one of the most radical pieces in the history of modern art. In an art scene dominated by the commodification of art objects, Tinguely’s gesture is a crucial reminder that not all art can be possessed. Flux Factory will pay tribute to the work by asking artists to respond to Homage to New York. We will explore the potential of destruction as a creative force and the fleeting beauty of decay. Some pieces will go with a highly performative bang during the opening, and others will slowly dwindle and decay throughout the show. Nothing will survive!

Participating artists: Ranjit Bhatnagar; Conrad Carlson & Ryan C. Doyle; Brendan Coyle; Daupo; Ben Dierckx; Kerry Downey & Claudia Peña Salinas; Nicholas Fraser; Ghostfuk3r (aka David Carson); Ryan O’Connor & Hackett; Douglas Paulson; Johanna Povirk-Znoy; John Roach; Dana Sherwood; Angela Washko.

Curated by Jean Barberis and Georgia Muenster.

Shuttles to Flux Factory from PS1 will be running Saturday and Sunday, November 6 and 7,  in conjunction with the New York Art Book Fair.

For press inquiries, please contact Georgia at Flux Factory.org.

*On the evening of March 17th, 1960, in the garden of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, 250 people gathered to view the piece as it destroyed itself. The eight-meter high sculpture was a beautiful and complex mechanism made of eclectic objects gathered from the refuse of the city: wheels from various bicycles, tricycles, and baby carriages, a bath tub, a go-cart, a piano, bottles, fire extinguishers, a weather balloon, various tools, and a cacophony of bells, car horns, and radios. Once the irreversible process was set into motion, the device committed suicide by sawing, hammering, and melting itself into bits and pieces before a zealous firefighter put an end to the mayhem. In the end, the crowd dismantled the piece, taking charred souvenirs from the smoking rubble.

The Self-Destructing Art Show is made possible in part through support from the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs and the New York State Council on the Arts.