New York Earth Room

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New York Earth Room

Address

141 Wooster St

New York, NY 10012 

Phone

(212) 989-5566

Area

Neighborhood

Downtown Manhattan

Price

Free

Web Page

http://www.earthroom.org/

Type of Makom

Museums Type

Art museum

Semi-useful stuff

Mikomos rating

0.00

(0 votes)

Description

Huge room filled with earth; very interesting.

Walter de Maria has made three earth rooms during his career so far. His first was called "50 m3 Level Dirt" made in 1968 which filled the Friedrich's Munich Gallery with dirt to a depth of one meter. It was impossible to view the entire gallery space to see if it was entirely covered, for the viewer could only see it from the doorway. The viewer had to either imagine the work or just simply believe that it did exist as described.

The next earth room was made in Darmstadt, Germany in 1974. Both the first and second earth rooms no longer exist. The third earth room called "The New York Earth Room" was commissioned and is maintained by the Dia Center in 1977. This earth sculpture expands 197 cubic meters utilizing 335 square meters of floor space filled to a height of 22 inches. Again, the gallery space had to be reinforced to withstand the total weight of 280,000 lbs. The work is on the second floor of a building at 141 Wooster Street in Soho in New York. To reach the work, you must ascend a very steep staircase. As you move up the stairs, you begin to smell the earth and to feel the humidity that it usually holds. At the top of the stairs is a small foyer where you can look into the first of three rooms. In the doorway is a sheet of glass that prevents the dirt from spilling out. "The New York Earth Room" has been open to the public since 1980. [1]

Hours Subject to change. Always verify.

The New York Earth Room is open to the public Wednesday through Sunday, noon to 6 pm (closed 3:00-3:30). [2]