Do It In a Day: How to Make the Most of the MoMA PS1 in the Least Amount of Time

Image via Complex Original

In 2000, PS1 became an affiliate of MoMA (The Museum of Modern Art) to extend the reach of both institutions. One perk of the affiliation is free admission to PS1 after visiting MoMA (so keep your ticket). Also, the museum is free of charge for all Queens, N.Y. residents.

On a beautiful, sunny day, don't miss James Turrell's Meeting piece on the 3rd floor of PS1. Meeting is a space where the artist cut the ceiling out of a room to expose the sky, so that visitors can sit underneath artificial lights that show an intensified view of the sky and all its colors. Sitting in the Meeting room and watching the clouds move is a unique experience that you can only get at PS1, because it is a site-specific work.

Sunday Sessions is PS1's performance series that has featured some of the most exciting performance art, moving images, music, dance, and discursive programs in just two seasons. Every Sunday, artists, curators, and thinkers are invited to share their latest work with the museum's audience. Past sessions have included Where are the Arabs?, Halloween Drag Ball, and Respect the Runway: The Red Carpet to Mastery. Sunday Sessions takes place in the VW Dome in PS1's courtyard.

Saul Melman's Central Governor piece is a must-see. During a long performance, the artist chiseled 5,000 pounds of salt block and covered it in gold.

PS1 also has a garden that is open to the public. It has a salad garden with locally grown greens.

PS1 doesn't have a permanent collection, but it has several long-term installations (like Melman and Turrell's pieces). In the basement of the museum, you can view works by Sol LeWitt. In staircase B, you can see work by Alexis Rockman, and on the doors that lead to the terrace, there's Lawrence Weiner's A bit of matter and a little bit more. Also, Pipilotti Rist's Selbstlos im Lavabad (Selfless in the Bath of Lava) can be viewed in the floorboards of the lobby. Every inch of PS1 has art. Don't miss it.

The dinette at PS1 keeps the converted schoolhouse identity of the building alive with its communal, chalkboard tables shaped like old school grammar school desks (and chairs straight out of a public school). The menu comes from the masterminds behind the popular M. Wells Diner, and the food and drink won't disappoint (if you can get a reservation, that is).

Since Hurricane Sandy, Klaus Biesenbach, the director of MoMA PS1 and curator at large of MoMA, has made it his mission to highlight and lead revitalization efforts in the Rockaways. This summer, they celebrated the reopening of Fort Tilden with solo projects by Patti Smith, Adrian Villar Rojas, and Janet Cardiff. In the past, PS1 hosted a VW DOME art series in the rockaways (free of charge) and even provided buses from the museum to the Rockaways for New Yorkers to help clean up the damage after the superstorm. Check out PS1's programming guide to see what is happening at the Rockaways!

A lot of the action at PS1 takes place in the courtyard. The courtyard is an expansive space where artists often display larger-than-life exhibitions, including PS1's Young Architects Program. Be sure to hang out in the courtyard for a few minutes, because who knows what you are bound to see.

For the last 17 summers, DJs from all over the world have come to PS1's courtyard for the annual Warm Up series. Warm Up is the ultimate Saturday daytime event. Warm Up tickets are $18 in advance and $20 the day of.

PS1's book shop, ARTBOOK, has one of the most experimental and cutting-edge selections in the world. ARTBOOK has magazines and books that you typically can't find anywhere else with new arrivals weekly. Artists and critics typically lecture there, too.