Groan if you will at the punning title of Caroline O’Donnell’s Party Wall, but the name captures the designer’s dual intent. A giant plywood brise soleil made of scap material left over from the production of skateboards, the temporary work bisects the courtyard at MoMA PS1, the Museum of Modern Art’s contemporary art space in Queens, New York. From a distance it reads like a billboard peeking up above the walls that surround the former schoolhouse. Inside the courtyard, it shades, mists, and occasionally spews water at the masses that turn out for the institution’s outdoor Warm-Up dance parties, which kicked off last weekend and continue every Saturday through September 7.
But as the name suggests, the wall also serves another set of users. When it’s not cooling dancing hoards of happily sweaty revelers, it accommodates less raucous gatherings more typical of an afternoon at PS1. One hundred and twenty of its lower panels can detach from the structure. Some pieces with trucks and wheels peel away to become oversized skateboards. At the opening reception for the project, a few guests made awkward attempts at kickflips with the rolling planks, while children splashed in shallow pools tucked inside the wall’s structure. But other pieces become chairs and tables for outdoor performances, screenings, and other events. “For a dance party, you need as much space as possible,” said O’Donnell at an opening reception for the project. “For a lecture, you need a lot of seating.”
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