Sydney Albertini at Parrish Art Museum …And Also, I Have No Idea

Sydney Albertini at Parrish Art Museum

…And Also, I Have No Idea

August 10th-September 2nd

Photos and text by Hanne H7L

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The late painter John Little’s former home/studio at Duck Creek Edwards farm is itself a captivating space, and Parisian-born artist Sydney Albertini has transformed it for …And Also, I Have No Idea in an off-site installation presented by Parrish Art Museum. It is such a rare treat to come across innovative audience-participatory art, and Albertini has crafted such a work of art exquisitely. One can easily see why Albertini has selected Little’s studio for the location of her latest installation, Little having been a textile designer in life and textiles being such a strong component of Albertini’s work. The space as a part of the museum’s off-site series is an excellent complement to the museum’s new potato barn buildings that feature activities and attractions both indoors and outdoors; a refreshing change of pace from most museums that tend to be indoors-only venues.

Consisting of three domestic “scenes;” the bedroom, living room and dining room, Albertini’s work is part design, part performance, part installation and wholly inspired. Audience members are encouraged and in some cases required to don Albertini’s handmade knitted masks which despite their strong resemblance to ski masks have a playful yet mysterious quality, their colorful palette and patterned designs complementing the colors of the bed, living room and dining room sets that integrate both “soft” knitted and “hard” materials. By wearing the masks, audience members are granted admission to these sets to interact and play out archetypically domestic scenes.

I was so pleased to see so many visitors electing to participate in the pieces by wearing the masks and in doing so, act out and illustrate the domestic identities and roles Albertini wishes to explore. In particular there were quite a few families with young children in attendance, all the better suited to enact the household scenes Albertini has set up for them. All said and done, the work is sure to be enjoyed by audiences of all ages and is on view Friday-Sunday from 12-5pm and by appointment.