While the show is about the history of light as surveillance, Kiwanga is also interested in the ways in which people avoid being seen. The title “Off-Grid” alludes to this: the term suggests living off the grid, but also, says the artist, becoming invisible or going rogue. The curtain from “Cloak” is semi-transparent – it allows view and blocks it at the same time, and when people stand behind it, it acts as a kind of shelter.
The exhibition also includes a sculpture from 2019 titled “Maya-Bantu”. Consisting of metal rods suspended from the ceiling and covered with sisal strands that brush and glow in the light, the work also evokes aspects of a colonial past. The artist first became interested in the material after seeing large-scale plantations in Tanzania. The crop is native to Central America; it was brought to the region by German colonizers and exploited as an important cash crop. In ‘Maya-Bantu’, says Kiwanga, sisal is in an unconfirmed state: ‘It is not yet a rug or rope or anything, but it is no longer a plant. It’s just this raw material – a matter of possibility.”
The risk of Kiwanga’s decision to work with natural light only will become more apparent as daylight diminishes, as visitors face darkness in the galleries. For now, says Carol Fassler, a security guard at the New Museum, darkness is only an issue for the last 45 minutes or so of Thursday night viewing time at the museum. Visitors are initially confused, Fassler says, but that adds a dimension to the work.
“As it got dark, people started asking questions about why there were no lights, so I had to tell them about the history of the lantern laws,” Fassler said. “It’s as if, as it got darker, the whole thing shed a light on her ideas.”
Kapwani Kiwanga: Off Grid
Until October 16, The New Museum, 235 Bowery, Manhattan; 212-219-1222; newmuseum.org.
