Charles Goldman, All the Doors of My Apartment, 1994, installation view. Courtesy of the artist
Charles Goldman, All the Doors of My Apartment (apartment detail), 1994. Courtesy of the artist
Performance: Refinishing the Doors of the Institution
Friday and Saturday, July 22–23, 11:00am–4:00pm
520 West 143rd Street
New York, NY 10031
take the A,B,C,D or 1 to 145th Street
Advanced notice is recommended, capacity is limited
For two days in July, the Broodthaers Society will be removing its front doors to conduct some long-overdue maintenance. The doors will be detached and set up in the gallery in order to be stripped, repaired, sanded, and refinished before being reinstalled in the building's entrance.
There have been many examples of doors as art over time, both literally and figuratively, but in this case we are reminded of a work by Brooklyn-based artist Charles Goldman. Twenty-eight years ago, Goldman presented a stack of eight used doors leaning against a wall in a Chicago gallery. Those present were asked to believe that the installation, titled All the Doors of My Apartment, was, in fact, all the doors of Goldman's apartment temporarily removed from their hinges and presented in the gallery. As such they constituted a kind of nonsite, a suspension of use and time, the inference being, of course, that the site in question—Goldman's apartment—was simultaneously wholly accessible to the word.
For Refinishing the Doors of the Institution (2022), Goldman will assist the Broodthaers Society in removing its own front doors, while periodically recollecting the implications of All the Doors of My Apartment (1994). Refreshments will be served.
The BSA is located on the parlor floor of a Harlem brownstone and is only accessible by stairs. If you have an access request, please contact us via email or call +1 718 916 7938 to make arrangements
520 West 143rd Street
New York, NY 10031
take the A,B,C,D or 1 to 145th Street
Advanced notice is recommended, capacity is limited
For two days in July, the Broodthaers Society will be removing its front doors to conduct some long-overdue maintenance. The doors will be detached and set up in the gallery in order to be stripped, repaired, sanded, and refinished before being reinstalled in the building's entrance.
There have been many examples of doors as art over time, both literally and figuratively, but in this case we are reminded of a work by Brooklyn-based artist Charles Goldman. Twenty-eight years ago, Goldman presented a stack of eight used doors leaning against a wall in a Chicago gallery. Those present were asked to believe that the installation, titled All the Doors of My Apartment, was, in fact, all the doors of Goldman's apartment temporarily removed from their hinges and presented in the gallery. As such they constituted a kind of nonsite, a suspension of use and time, the inference being, of course, that the site in question—Goldman's apartment—was simultaneously wholly accessible to the word.
For Refinishing the Doors of the Institution (2022), Goldman will assist the Broodthaers Society in removing its own front doors, while periodically recollecting the implications of All the Doors of My Apartment (1994). Refreshments will be served.
The BSA is located on the parlor floor of a Harlem brownstone and is only accessible by stairs. If you have an access request, please contact us via email or call +1 718 916 7938 to make arrangements