by Alicia Li
After a two-year-long wait, the New Museum opened the doors to its newly renovated building, welcoming visitors to their current exhibition: New Humans: Memories of the Future. The show features more than 150 artists whose work takes up the historicaly, cultural, and societal changes in our conception of what it means to be human and the impacts of on humanity new technology. One artist's work that displayed the message impeccably was Precious Okoyomon with her piece When the Lambs Rise Up Against the Bird of Prey.
Okoyomon's piece is tucked away in the stairwell of the older portion of the New Museum, which connects the third and fourth floors; or better known as the "shaft" of the gallery. An animatromic figure sits within a niche of the stairwell, surrounded by a pinkish-salmon-toned felt that takes on the appearance of muscle tissue or flesh. The dark-skinned blond figure is kneeling, dressed in all white, and has lamb ears. Within the space, she darts her eyes and moves her upper body around, in a continuous cycle of observation.
The work plays off a tension between predator and prey. Okoyomon originally installed the figure in a forest-like environment, and moving the animatronic from a "naturalistic" place to one that is made of flesh-like fabric. The act of moving the figure from a natural habitat to a flesh-like one, encourages the conversation of predator and prey; as if the female lamb has been consumed. The New Museum's curatorial choice to place the figure within the "belly" of the stairwell heightens this tension as well. My first encounter with the piece, I knew something was in the wall. Imagine my shock to find out it was moving as well. This choice was an exceptional one as it forces the viewer into the position of watching the prey, a cultural symbol of docillity, be consumed by the gallery.
I enjoyed reading your review of this particular piece since it definitely caught my attention at the New Museum. When I initially saw it I was quite unsettled, and I agree with how the anticipation of seeing something in the staircase and then it being a moving figure was an interesting choice. Almost as if the viewer is creeping up on this figure who is, as you mentioned, mimics prey. I didn’t put together that while at the same time, the figure’s eyes and jump-scare cause the viewer to act as the prey, until reading your critic.
ReplyDeleteYour review made me feel like I missed out on a great exhibition (I was absent!!) within the first few sentences. You draw us in by showcasing the fact that this is a brand new building, and continue to intrigue the reader through explaining the overarching themes of the exhibition. I enjoy that you don't simply explain what you saw, but also prompt the reader with open ended questions which make us think deeper about the piece. Focusing on the location of a piece within a gallery is something I feel that I've barely read in exhibition reviews, your commentary on the stairwell really made me feel like I could perfectley picture the location without physically being there.
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