Procession
Procession
Nicole Eisenman
“I wish she would have stayed long enough in her discomfort to experience the magic within the movement.”
– Elizabeth MaThis Cheatham
Museum Information:
Whitney Museum of American Art
Exhibition:
Whitney Biennial 2019
On Partial Display:
May 17th – October 27th
Admission:
$25
“Horrors… horrors… horrors!” a woman says, as she turns on her heels and heads back inside. She reminds me of my grandmother with her graceful features and strong opinions on what is acceptable and what is not.
Intrigued, I step out onto the 6th floor terrace of the Whitney Biennial to find Nicole Eisenman’s Procession.
“Oh, if only Mimi was with me,” I giggle to myself; she would have been horrified. And, me—I loved it instantly—and not just the five-year-old within me.
Procession
Nicole Eisenman
Procession
Nicole Eisenman
I adore how Procession draws me in and unfolds before me; how the longer I hang with it, the more it revels. I am thoroughly intrigued by Eisenman’s use of unexpected materials and her seemingly perfect placement of imperfection… gum on the leader’s right heel, square tires on a human hauling wagon, and thirteen, if I count correctly, rusted tuna cans.
A person holds up trashcan lids for tanning, another’s feet are warmed by thick New York Giants socks. Odd, where are they going and isn’t one of them hot or cold?
We are all captivated—my fellow travelers and I. We walk around Procession as if in a labyrinth… the trickling of water from Eisenman’s fountain mixes with the humming of cars below bringing about an almost meditative state…
Procession
Nicole Eisenman
Procession
Nicole Eisenman
Unexpectedly, I am brought out of my trance. “Oh my, did that sculpture just fart?!”
“Yes,” the guard tells me with a big grin.
Here, time is kept with the ‘passing of gas’… in the beginning, every three minutes …now, seven pass between surprised squeals of laughter. Wow—this piece is so fabulously odd.
I think about the woman from earlier and wish she would have stayed long enough in her discomfort to experience the magic within the movement.
I wonder where in my life I can apply that same lesson.