The Museum of Modern Art presents an installation of two sculptures by New
York artist and landscape designer Paula Hayes that will be on
view in the Museum's lobby from November 17, 2010 through February 28,
2011. The installation, Nocturne of the Limax maximus, includes a
fifteen-foot-long, wall-mounted horizontal sculpture called Slug, and a
free-standing floor-to-ceiling structure titled Egg. Organic in form and
containing a variety of living plants, the vessels will enliven the
space during the winter season. The installation is organized by Ann
Temkin, The Marie-Josée and Henry Kravis Chief Curator of Painting and
Sculpture, The Museum of Modern Art, in collaboration with the artist.
Since the 1990s, Hayes has produced botanical sculptures-organically shaped
vessels made from blown glass, silicone, or acrylic, and filled with a
rich variety of plant life-that expand upon the classic terrarium, both
through their imaginative containers and the microcosmic universes
within. For the MoMA project, Hayes began thinking about the concepts of
fertility and fertilization. While working on her initial drawings, she
was inspired by a documentary film portraying the intricate mating
ritual of the Limax maximus, or Leopard slug (which takes place in early
summer, usually during the night), and the fluid columnar forms that
emerge during the process of fertilization. Slug and Egg are made in
cast acrylic and hand-blown glass, and filled with vegetation. Aided by
built-in lighting and weekly maintenance, these "living artworks" bring
nature directly into the Museum as they challenge conventional
definitions of sculpture.
