New Museum

The New Museum is industrial strength architecture with no time for romance. No fooling around, this is off the shelf ingenuity and frugality at its brutal best. The stacked boxes are a striking addition to the Bowery and deserves a visit to see the embodiment of truth and beauty in architecture.

For the sake of its virtue, the hurried look evident in the assembly of the kit of parts is forgivable. But, flaws such as the prominent stress cracks that have developed on the exposed concrete floors, and the dirt collecting reveal at the base of walls gives pause to the technical skills of the architects. Rough beauty depends heavily on sensible detailing.

Unfortunately, the rude materials were eclipsed by the behavior of the guards and staff who were oblivious to the museum’s desire to present an informal alternative to uptown stuffiness. Their grim humorless attitude took the fun out of any light-heartedness that provocative installations might inspire. When a visitor innocently mistook a disposable plastic drop cloth for trash, they were given the frowning of a lifetime. The misinterpretation should have been expected as a part of “experimental” work.

People were restrained and reluctant to comment or linger and left post haste to more relaxing environs such as MOMA and other tight-assed institutions. My advice to the New Museum is to lighten up, you’re on the Bowery. Provocative is, as provocative does and I’m at a loss to know, how can experimental art demand status quo behavior? The New Museum needs a new attitude.