Visitors get lost in a dreamlike immersive environment in Pipilotti Rist show at Luhring Augustine (photo by twi-ny/mdr)
Luhring Augustine
531 West 24th St. between Tenth & Eleventh Aves.
Through October 16
Admission: free
212-206-9100
www.luhringaugustine.com
www.pipilottirist.net
heroes of birth slideshow
In fall 2008, Swiss artist Pipolotti Rist transformed MoMA’s Marron Atrium into a meditative multimedia immersive environment with “Pour Your Body Out (7354 Cubic Meters),” a twenty-five-foot-high, two-hundred-foot-long site-specific video installation about the interrelationship between nature, humanity, and the animal kingdom that could be seen while resting in a specially designed central island. Rist has now transformed Chelsea’s Luhring Augustine gallery with “Layers Mama Layers,” an immersive environment in which film of grazing sheep and futuristic green laser swirls are projected onto both sides of rows of translucent sheets of fabric hanging from the ceiling. Visitors become part of the installation as they walk through the rows, the film beaming onto their bodies. Whereas the projections are sharp on the outside sheets, they become more and more diluted and abstract the closer to the center you get, with the people walking past turning into eerie, otherworldly shadows. Meanwhile, a hypnotic lullaby plays, furthering the dreamlike atmosphere. (Don’t start counting those sheep.)
Pipilotti Rist’s “Massachusetts Chandelier” lights up the back room at Luhring Augustine with glowing underwear (photo by twi-ny/mdr)
In the back gallery, Rist has installed “Massachusetts Chandelier,” a video sculpture composed of underwear she collected from friends and family, arranged as a large light, hanging from the ceiling, onto which she projects brightly colored images that makes it look alive. Be sure to check out the wallpaper as well, although you might have a bit of trouble explaining to children what one of the repeated images is. In the front room, “All or Nothing” is a small, three-panel video of the wallpaper, along with an altar of flowers and a watercooler where you can grab a drink. Rist’s work is always engaging, and “Heroes of Birth” is no exception, a fun show guaranteed to please.