The MoMA PS1 public art festival Rockaway! is at its third edition in the usual dramatic settings of Fort Tilden. The abandoned US fort site (40.566667, -73.883333) was opened in 1917 at the end of First World War and in use by the US Army until 1995 [1]. Fort Tilden is currently part of the Gateway National Recreation Area, featuring bunkers, abandoned industrial buildings, semi-destroyed structures next to natural dunes and bird nesting areas.
Centerpiece of the 2018 edition of Rockaway! is Narcissus Garden (1966–present), a site-specific installation by Yayoi Kusama’s (Japan, b. 1929) comprised of "1,500 mirrored stainless steel spheres" [2]. Kusama first presented the installation and enacted a performance in 1966, at the 33rd edition of La Biennale di Venezia, by the Italian Pavilion. The artist, dressed in gold kimono was tossing the mirrored sphere, next to signs with the written statements “Narcissus Garden, Kusama” and “Your Narcissism for Sale.” Each sphere was offered for sale at 1,200 lire [2].
