Long-term Installations

Pipilotti Rist: Selbstlos im Lavabad (Selfless in the Bath of Lava)

1994

Selbstlos im Lavabad is comprised of a small video embedded in a hole on the floor. In the video, the artist swims nude in an incandescent lava bath and cries out “I am a worm and you are a flower!” This video was first exhibited in Basel, Switzerland in 1994. In a later exhibition in Zürich, Switzerland, the video was placed at the foot of a Madonna and Child sculpture emphasizing the religious notion of damnation as suggested by the video.

Selbstlos im Lavabad is located in the Lobby floorboards.

Pipilotti Rist. Selbstlos im Lavabad (Selfless in the Bath of Lava). 1994. Photo: Martin Seck. Courtesy MoMA PS1.

 
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Long-term Installations

Long-term installations can be seen all year-round at MoMA PS1. Works by an impressive roster of artists, such as James Turrell, Pipilloti Rist and William Kentridge, are on view throughout the building. These site-specific installations range in scale and medium; some are obvious to the eye, while others are so ingrained in the environment, the act of discovery becomes part of the process. Since MoMA PS1 is the largest non-collecting contemporary art institution in the world, these works belong to the artists.