Warm Up / Liquid Sky / Droopscape at PS1

Yesterday marked the kick-off of the increasingly (ridiculously?) popular Warm Up, the PS1 art/dance party that runs on Saturdays all summer long, and Scoboco was most definitely in the hou... errr... courtyard. Admittedly, Bo, Co and I were there more to check out the new Young Architect's Contest winner—and it's excellent this year, called Liquid Sky / Droopscape and designed by the L.A.-based Ball-Nogues—than to rip it up on the dance floor, but we certainly had a nice afternoon soaking up the sun, getting soaked (that'd be Co), people-watching from the stairs, snacking and cracking (up), and doing a run through the museum itself.

Anyway, the outdoor installation. Ball-Nogues's Liquid Sky dominates the scene, with its five giant, tinted-mylar "treetops" throwing kaleidoscopic shadows down upon the main courtyard, and shading the communal hammocks that ring the base of each "trunk." At the top of the trees are the obligatory Warm Up mist-makers, though in this case they were spraying something that felt more like rain and, frankly, was more than a little annoying, which is probably why they turned them off by around 4:30. But overall we loved the piece—the sound of the mylar (it's more like a heavy, reflective plastic than the material they use for those balloons) in the breeze, and the way it changed the light, and the festive air it lent the concrete space.

But my favorite new addition was Droopscape: a saggy mylar "belly" in the smaller courtyard (where the food is served), supported by two freestanding structures at the top of which sit tip buckets that slowly, sloooooooowly, fill with water until gravity finally takes over and it dumps its deluge below, preferably upon some unsuspecting partygoer. Kind of gimmicky, sure (and reminiscent of the great Crown Fountain in Chicago's Millenium Park), but it'll definitely keep you entertained while you're waiting on line to order your burgers and beers.


As far the Warm Up party goes, we arrived not long after 3:00, and there was already a slight wait to get in. When we left at around 5:45, the line snaked around the museum's exterior and out of sight. And by that time the inside already felt too packed! On this day, also, the DJ's started—and stayed too long—in too mellow a mood, giving us early-arrivals nothing to move to, the bass and bump kicking in when it was already too crowded to really dance.

PS1 is located in Long Island City, Queens, a short walk from stops on the 7, the E/V and the G trains. Warm Up happens every Saturday from 3:00 until 9:00 through September 1. Admission is $10, which includes free run of the museum itself. They make kids—or, at least, Bo and Co—pay full price this year, though I'm not sure whether this is actual policy or a mistake up at the front desk.