You go to the Museum of Modern Art knowing what you want to see. Everyone looks for the Campbell’s Soup Cans. On a Saturday afternoon in August we found them, and we also found a long wall of empty boxes by an artist born in Lithuania.
Thirty-two soup cans
Andy Warhol painted his 32 Campbell’s Soup Cans in 1962, one for each flavor sold at the time. They hang in rows, just like cans on a store shelf. You have probably seen them many times, but they are better in person, at full size.
George Maciunas and One Year
The boxes are by George Maciunas. He was born in Lithuania in 1931 and moved to New York in 1948. He went on to found Fluxus, an art movement that mixed art, jokes and everyday life. MoMA has a large Fluxus collection, given by Gilbert and Lila Silverman in 2008.
One Year, from 1973 to 1974, is just what it sounds like. For about a year, Maciunas saved the packaging from everything he used. Then he stacked the empty boxes in columns along a wall. From a distance, it looks like a city skyline. Up close, it is like a diary.
The museum’s label explains that Maciunas was sick for most of his life. Next to the instant milk and imitation rum, there are columns of antacids, skin creams and asthma medicine. Once you know that, the piece feels a lot more personal.
The kids’ label beside it asks a good question: how would you arrange a year’s worth of your own trash?
An evening on Broadway
MoMA is in Midtown, so it is easy to pair with a show. That evening we went to Titaníque, a musical that retells the story of the ship through the songs of Celine Dion.
Practical Info
- Where: 11 West 53rd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues, Manhattan.
- Tickets: Timed entry. Book online to skip the queue, and check current prices.
- Busy times: Weekend afternoons are crowded around the big names on the upper floors.
- Allow: Two to three hours. It is a big building, so pick your floors.
