Into the Woods

Longterm stairwell installation at MoMA PS1 Artist Interventions, since 2005.

Ernesto Caivano: Into the Woods

“For MoMA PS1’s stairwell A, Ernesto Caivano created a wall mural based on an ongoing story he developed over three years called After the Woods. While After the Woods consists of drawings and paper sculptures, Into the Woods is composed of black latex paint and gouache to create a dense visual web of images composing Caivano’s larger-than-life sized environment. The exaggerated scale of the piece creates a total experience for the viewer, allowing an escape into this imaginary world. Naked and gnarled tree branches wind around the walls and sprout up and out onto the ceiling, entangling the viewer in their dark and magical embrace.”

“Artist interventions at MoMA PS1 can be seen year-round. These site-specific installations range in scale and medium; some are obvious to the eye while others are more subtly placed. Many installations have remained on view since the 1970s, when MoMA PS1 was The Institute for Art and Urban Resources Inc. Since MoMA PS1 is the largest non-collecting contemporary art institution in the world, these works belong to the artists.”

MoMA PS1 website text credit

After the Woods centers on the reunion of a young man and woman after a separation of 1000 years. Willed into existence by a conscious landscape that has rediscovered the code embedded within it, the man becomes a Knight adorned in armor while the woman is transformed into a Princess who over time evolves into a spaceship. While her metamorphosis represents the advancement of artificial intelligence his transformation triggers the evolution and expansion of the natural landscape. The Knight’s quest for the Princess leads him towards a realization and releasing code, disseminating consciousness like a form of alchemy throughout his immediate environment. The forest grows and becomes populated by fantastical creatures creating a new magical eco-system through which technology and nature are combined.