MoMA PS:1
Although this particular institution was smaller than the rest we’d seen, I felt like this was the most interestingly laid-out museum we visited. This institution had a gallery in its basement, only consisting of a few pieces by unrelated artists. The show-stopper in that space was the gilded boiler. This piece was completed by Saul Melman, and consisted of Melman chiseling out 5,000 pounds of salt block, covering MoMA PS1’s old boiler with gold leaf, and entitled the piece, Central Governor.
After discussing the piece with museum employees, I discovered that Melman also lived in the space for six months, and despite Melman understanding the proper way to gild a surface, Melman intentionally left the sheet sections visible on the surface of the boiler. Melman didn’t just stop at gilding the boiler itself, but extended the craft to other areas of pipes and sprockets, intentionally leaving some areas entirely alone. This idea also showed Melman’s interest in the world and language of alchemy, calling specific attention to the properties associated with gold and salt.
The end product is a beautiful depiction of light, and imbues the space with a sense of subdued regality. The limited light that entered the space is reflected off of the boiler and casts itself beautifully onto the opposing surfaces around it, giving a mundane object a subdued glow. This was a great space to simply sit inside of, allowing the glow to envelop you.