Zaha Hadid’s “pod” container for the Chanel Mobile Art exhibit generated well-deserved hype for a sinewy tour of contemporary artists’ takes on the luxury retailer’s iconic bag. I managed to take it in on the exhibition’s final day in the States. It moves to Moscow next.
Best parts were the pod itself, the gravelly Jeanne Moreau’s come-hither narration, the fun house gimmick of parting curtains and climbing stairs, and experiencing the exhibits in assembly line fashion (visitors were spaced out at 30 second intervals which made for moments of solitude and crowd throughout the tour).
As for the exhibits, some were cool, some I could dismiss. Overall the whole thing read as simultaneously obsessed with luxury status but also aware of the industry’s blind shallowness. Mobile Art was both self-righteous and self-loathing, occupying an uncomfortable midpoint between sneering consumerism and aesthetic idealism.