This summer, when New Yorkers (and tourists from around the world) venture to the Rockaways in Queens, they automatically get to partake in MoMA PS1’s public art festival ROCKAWAY! Co-curated by MoMA PS1 director Klaus Biesenbach and his friend—and Rockaway resident—the legendary Patti Smith, the festival is a celebration of the reopening of Fort Tilden after hurricane Sandy destroyed big parts of the popular beach in 2012.
The event, which opens June 29th and continues through September 1st, features an array of art work: Argentinian artist Adrian Villar Rojas has installed a selection of small sculptures made from unfired clay and straw, inspired by the nests of the tiny Argentinian birds known as horneros, in an attempt to provide temporary refuge for birds in the fragile environment.
In Fort Tilden’s military chapel, Canadian sound artist Janet Cardiff’s piece The Forty Piece Motet, a spatialized adaptation of a sacred 16th-century motet created by recording each member of a choir individually and giving each voice its own speaker, will be showcased.
Besides her involvement in creating the event, Smith is also one of the main exhibitors: she’s created a site-specific installation consisting of a four-post bed complete with pure white linens situated in a derelict and abandoned building. Portraying the destruction of personal property that most Rockaway residents experienced during and after Sandy, The Resilience of the Dreamer, as it’s named, will deteriorate but remain during the summer symbolizing courage and resilience.
That’s just a small preview of what will happen during the summer’s ROCKAWAY! Click here to find out more about the exciting festival.