A yellow microphone on a concrete background.
Courtesy Rashid Johnson/MoMA PS1

Rashid Johnson Wants You to Speak Your Mind

The Chicago-born artist’s new participatory installation at MoMA PS1 offers visitors a physical platform to share their stories.
By Aileen Kwun
September 12, 2020
1 minute read

Museums have begun to reopen in New York City—with appropriate precaution—and after months of prolonged closures and digitized programs, we couldn’t be more enthused. On our calendars for the season is “Rashid Johnson: Stage,” an installation opening next week at MoMA PS1 in Long Island City, Queens, and offering a participatory platform for dialogue and exchange. Five SM58 microphones of varying heights and a yellow powder-coated stage, adorned with Johnson’s signature markings, will provide a soapbox for visitors to speak their minds in the museum’s courtyard. “It’s almost impossible for me to actually categorize a linear or structured time in my work or, oftentimes, in the work of others,” as Johnson, who works in a panoply of media, including painting, sculpture, film, and installation, told us on Ep. 25 of our Time Sensitive podcast. At once referencing hip-hop culture, public oratory, protest, and public intellectual and cultural life, “Stage” will play back participants’ statements, as well as host a range of programs and performances, through fall 2021.