On Sunday afternoon, for the 22nd season in a row, MoMA PS1 turned their sprawling courtyard into a jam-packed dance party, the first of nine Saturdays this summer that the contemporary art museum will host their popular Warm Up music series. Tickets to the party—which featured headliners Freddie Gibbs and Madlib as well DJs and experimental musical acts like Kelly Lee Owens, Kedr Livanskiy, JOY, and duendita—were completely sold out, as thousands of sweaty revelers sucked down beers and nutcrackers, jumped around like lunatics (or passed out in hammocks).
The event also marked the big unveiling of the massive new courtyard installation by this year's Young Architects Program winner, Pedro and Juana. Called Hórama Rama, the piece is an immersive, cyclorama "junglescape" that's not only visually striking but provides several welcome functions at the big outdoor party. There's a bunch of seating, on benches and stools cobbled together from recycled two-by-fours, as well as those hammocks. There's shade, courtesy of the cyclorama's frame, and there's a waterfall that, sadly, lands on a giant sponge propped up way too high for anyone to stick their head under.
Another debut of sorts happened on Saturday, as the new MoMA PS1 restauranteur Mina Stone gave us a first taste of her Mediterranean-inspired cuisine, though when her actual cafe opens here in September the menu will include a lot more than Santorini Hot Dogs. A couple of the galleries were open within the museum, but unlike the old days when the party took over the entire place, most of the art is now locked up once the festivities begin.
No matter, there was plenty of excellent people-watching to be had outside in the swelter. Next Saturday DJ Bass and Equiknoxx lead another solid line-up; the full list of all this summer's shows can be found here. And remember that every week Warm Up offers a limited number of free tickets to LIC residents, available on a first-come, first-served basis.
