Director, Glenn Lowry: The series, Ground Zero, is made of a combination of inexpensive materials and high-end design objects. The sculptures have a drastically different scale than those made in the preceding years. Curator Laura Hoptman.
Curator, Laura Hoptman: Instead of an ensemble of sculptural objects, it really is an installation. You walk in and you have a direct contact with each of the sculptures, which are person-sized. The theme is New York City and refers to the tragedy of September 11th.
Glenn Lowry: Genzken created this series in response to an architectural competition to build a new landmark and memorial site at Ground Zero.
Laura Hoptman: And each building that Genzken is suggesting is very specific. There is a parking garage, there is a church, there is a fashion store. And most interestingly, at least for me, there is a disco. So, in other words, what Genzken is suggesting for the Ground Zero site is a place for the kind of enjoyment that she directly connects with New York City – that is, song, dance, fashion and joie de vivre.
There is a lucidity and organization in the objects that have been gathered from daily life, a clarity of narrative, a lightness in fact, a way of translating the present that is unique to Genzken's vision but also very much about us, about what we experience in the streets of New York and in Berlin.