MASS MoCA Installation Comprises more than 800 Million Grains of Rice

Print Story | Email Story
While the census is not often the inspiration for major works of art, this February 10 – 25 MASS MoCA’s Hunter Center will be home to an arresting installation titled Of All the People in All the World which brings to unique life population densities, growth patterns and the changing demographics of our world. MASS MoCA is one of just three U.S. venues for the installation, the only one on the East Coast and the only one representing all the people in the Americas. Previous U.S. installations have included only the U.S. population. A landscape of rice – many, many tons of rice, more than 875,000,000 grains in all – will be used to dramatize the enormity of the population of the Americas and the miniscule place of one person in it. (All the rice will be recycled, and will re-enter the food chain upon completion of the performance.) Far from a static display, this landscape will constantly change as performers from the UK artists collective pile, measure, sort, and re-pile the rice to represent different comparative statistics, population changes, and demographic anomalies. Visitors are invited to submit their own population-based queries, and some of these questions will be incorporated into the exhibition/performance. The event will take place Saturday, February 10 through Sunday, February 25, from 11 - 5 and special evening hours (7-10 PM) on February 16 & 17 and February 23 & 24. “Our aim in producing this work is to capture a picture of the world in all of its vastness and mystery as well as its everyday ordinariness,” explains Stan’s Cafe artistic director, James Yarker. “It links today with yesterday, big moments in history with personal memories, great successes of the human race alongside its terrible failures and the challenges it continues to face.” Upon entry, visitors are presented with a single grain of rice; the significance of the one grain becomes clear as one takes in the mounds of rice representing all the people in the Americas. Breathtaking in scope yet beautifully elegant in its simplicity, the exhibit is ever-evolving as the performers carefully measure out quantities of rice to represent thousands of different statistics. Ranging from serious and sobering facts – the number of people living in gated communities next to the number living in prison, the number of people who die each day next to the number of people born – to lighthearted pop culture trivia – the number of viewers of the American Idol finale next to the number of viewers of Cheers’ last episode – these statistics are reconfigured into the rice piles that bring these groups into dramatic relief. “This work is best understood as a two-week long performance, which our visitors can enjoy in quick hits, or over prolonged or repeated visits. It is powerful to discover subtle links between the individual, single grain, and the larger community and the world that are represented in the piles before you.” said Sue Killam, Managing Director of Performing Arts at MASS MoCA. “At any one time the Hunter Center will resemble a vast sculptural landscape -- and you can enjoy the work as a piece of visual art -- but over time, the performers alter the topography as they manipulate piles of rice in response to statistical queries. Visitors can engage the performers in conversation about the work itself, their own histories, even their own ideas for statistics...and in this way the work is part theater, and part social science. At previous venues, patrons have come for short visits, but ended up staying for hours, getting caught up in the act of visualizing an amazing array of strange and beautiful comparisons.” The juxtapositions can be moving, shocking, celebratory, witty, and thought-provoking. “What we’re trying to do is raise people’s awareness of different subjects and to make those numbers that we see in the news, hear on the news everyday, make those more understandable and give them a visual sense,” says Craig Stephens, Associate Director for Of All the People in All the World. Since its premiere at the Warwick Arts Centre in the United Kingdom, Stan’s Café has toured its landmark exhibit in a variety of venues spanning the globe – Canada, Germany, Italy, Spain, Ireland, and Australia. The collective was started in 1991 and functions as a group of artists from a variety of disciplines working under the artistic direction of James Yarker; together they create leading-edge art that consistently taps the popular imagination. The exhibit is supported in part by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and The British Council. Tickets for Of All the People in All the World are $5, with the option for a multi-day pass at $20, children under five are free, and $12.50 includes gallery admission. MASS MoCA members receive a 10% discount. Doors open at 7 PM with snacks from Lickety Split and full bar available. Tickets are available through the MASS MoCA Box Office located off Marshall Street in North Adams, open from 11 A.M. to 5 P.M. Wednesday through Monday (July 1 through August 31, from 10 A.M. until 6 P.M. daily). Tickets can also be charged by phone by calling 413-662-2111 during Box Office hours or purchased on line at www.massmoca.org .
If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.

North Adams to Hold Community Meeting On Route 2 Overpass

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The North Adams Route 2 Overpass Study (R2OS) will host its second community engagement event on Saturday, April 05, 2025 from 10am until noon. 
 
This event, referred to as the Community Visioning Session, will take place in person at the Berkshire Innovation Center on the Mass MoCA campus. 
 
The community is invited to join the project team for a presentation of project updates and to share their thoughts and questions.
 
Participants are encouraged to visit the new online project platform for further information at https://www.rt2overpass.info/.
 
For those unable to attend the Community Visioning Session, interactive activities and opportunities for input can be found on the project website.
View Full Story

More North Adams Stories

A & E
image description

Weekend Outlook: Enjoy Art & Music This Weekend

A & E
Health News
image description

Smile Programs Visits North Adams Public Schools

Health News
Community News
image description

North Adams Council Votes Sanctuary for Transgender Community

Community News
Community News
image description

North Adams Panel Advises Traffic Sign Removal, Debates Animal...

Community News
Community News
image description

North Adams Share the Love Campaign Surpasses Fundraising Goal

Community News
Schools
image description

North Adams Struggling to Redact Security Issues From School...

Schools
Latest Stories
Previous Next

What's Trending?