P.S.1 - Public School No. 1
P.S.1 (Public School No. 1) Contemporary Art Center is affiliated to Moma and "oldest and second largest non-profit arts center" in the United States. I was attracted to this place by recent Photography Exhibitions from Stephen Shore and Peter Hujar. I found that the magic place itself is a piece of art.
Peter Shore's pictures in early 70's are a large collection of his journey across the country, named "American Surfaces". It is very straight forward recording of the places and people that he came accross. This first reminds me of the book "On the Road". The power comes from the journey itself rather than sophisticated photo techniques. The curiosity and mystery is aroused by the pictures, make people wonder the feeling of the photographer and every element in the image, which becomes unfamiliar to us in the 21st century. And after finished a whole room of pictures, you do feel you have just experienced the same kind of trip, but within an surprisingly short amount of time, isn't this the kind of feeling that we look back at the places that we have taken for granted but revisited after some time?
Stepping out of the room, I became more attracted by the building itself. I was speculating the lives used to be there when it was still a public school. The voices of the children, and all kinds of other sound pass you over your shoulder like a wisper of wind.
The cafeteria is very lovely place, and the Root Beer Float makes me "feel like a child again".