The new Renzo Piano designed Harvard Art Museums reopened on November 16, 2014, with the unveiling of a recently acquired site-specific commission, Flying Book Under Black Rain Painting by Rebecca Horn, at the Busch-Reisinger Museum. In conjunction with the presentation of this new work, a special exhibition, Rebecca Horn: Work in Progress, will run through May 10, 2015.
The Busch-Reisinger Museum, specially commissioned Flying Book Under Black Rain Painting, a kinetic sculpture that will be on long-term view in the new Prescott Street entrance as part of the museums' Art in Public Spaces initiative. The sculpture, also known as a "painting machine," sprays ink across the wall and over three books that open and close. The three books, The Book of Disquiet by Fernando Pessoa, Amerika by Franz Kafka, and Ulysses by James Joyce, were chosen by the artist for the way they resonate in a university context. The work is activated by motion detectors that sense the presence of visitors in the space. As the museum press release states, "The installation thus seeks to achieve anew the artist's long-standing goal–as she noted as early as 1972 about her seminal early performances–of dissolving 'barriers between passive spectators and active performers.'"
Concurrently, the exhibition Work in Progress will feature Horn's multiples, photographs and early films, spanning three decades. The exhibition will continue through May 10, 2015.
Throughout the duration of the exhibition the museums will also show Horn's full length feature films in the new Menschel Hall. The films will be shown on Sunday afternoons, and include, The Gigolo (Der Eintänzer) (1978), Buster's Bedroom (1990), Moon Mirror Journey (2011), and her earliest films from 1970 - 1972. The viewings are free with the price of museum admission.
For more information please visit the Harvard Art Museums website.