9.5.2004P.S. 1 Warm-up Sessions The annual P.S. 1 Warm-up sessions may just be THE quintessential NYC clubbing event. It's a unique experience where art merges with music, popular culture and people so diverse they could only be from New York; all combining to create something part club, part fashion show and part social mixer. This Saturday's Warm-up, the last of this year, was the perfect note to mark the traditional end of the summer, Labor Day weekend. For the closing weekend of Summer 2004, the all-star duo The Cosmic Twins - christened by Detroit techno innovator Derrick May & French-born, NYC-based house legend Francois K. - helmed the decks for the festivities. Six hours of musical bliss for a crowd ready to party. As expected, we heard classics like "Strings of Life" and "Knights of the Jaguar", but we also heard a wide range of funky-jazzy-house, jungle, micro-bleeps and banging techno; all mixed into a seamless blend of music for people to dance to. And dance they did; I haven't seen such an inspired crowd all summer. The twins had the masses on the "dancefloor" and all through out the courtyard bouncing with fists in the air and cheering all afternoon. Well over 7,000 were in attendance attendance throughout the day, and it seemed each of them came ready for fun. The gathered masses included the requisite hipsters, clubbers, celebs (does Moby count?), DJ groupies, families with their kids in tow. I think many were just happy to make it to the actual party and past a regular admission line that wrapped around three city blocks and stretched for hundreds and hundreds of people. For those people clever enough to arrive between 12pm - 2:00pm entry is actually free; but of course, most people don't seem to take advantage of this and arrive fashionably late to face interminable queues. Lucky for us, membership has its privileges as MOMA members - as well as LIC residents and accredited members of the press - have access to the shorter special VIP line and free admission. That was a big benefit this weekend on top of the good feeling of supporting a NYC art institution.  The setting of this year's Warm-Up was no less spectacular. Every year MoMA's Young Architects Program hosts a competition for emerging architects to design the PS1 courtyard space and envision an "Urban Beach" environment as the setting for the Warm-Up series. This year's "Canopy", designed by nARCHITECTS, was constructed primarily of freshly cut green bamboo and featured spaces for lounging and relaxation including a wading pool and a sandy area for sunbathers. The bamboo theme was widely agreed by the party goers, to have trumped all previous years with it's transparent intergration with the courtyard's open space and integrated water mist sprays to provide temperature relief. We spent more than a minute dancing in the mist, lost in a cloud of good intentions and quality music. You can't quite capture the energy of the dancefloor and the raucous screams and hands-in-the-air excitement in words but while you're there it's the most inspired feeling. It's an amalgam of all that NYC is and what electronic music and clubbing should aspire to be. For those who missed out this year, shame on you! This is a NYC summer institution and a clubbing must. See you in 2005! Photo credit: Chris McNaughty P.S. 1 - photos 1, Chris McNaughty P.S. 1 photos 2 posted on 3:40 PM |