Amie Siegel’s Provenance sheds light on the relationship between art and capital. The furniture’s value was determined by the setting. First, in Chandigarh the chair was tattered and unwanted as it sat in different workplaces unnoticed. As the film went on, the furniture was refurbished to a more desirable, profitable form. With this, it could be sold for thousands of dollars at auctions, or sit in lavishing homes as a symbol of the family’s wealth.

The aesthetics used in the film were important in Siegel’s message. The perfectly clear images, as well as the surround sound makes you feel as though you’re part of the journey. To add to this, there wasn’t a typical frame to the film, it was simply projected onto a white wall. This made it more personal, like you were travelling to each stage with the furniture.

Lighting played a key role in Siegel’s film. The lighting was dark in the warehouses of broken chairs to signify worthlessness. On the other hand, the lighting was piercingly bright in the beautiful homes and the attractive yacht. This technique made the furniture more appealing and desirable as its value increased.

The unique form of storytelling backwards served the purpose of tracing the value of the chair from its original decrepit beginnings. In this journey, Siegel captures capitalism in the art market. Showing the furniture in exquisite homes, and then being sold at outlandish prices at auctions demonstrates the materialism in today’s art world.

It was interesting that we saw the film from the ‘end’. In our eyes we saw the chair being constantly upgraded from its original shabby state in the first setting in an orderly fashion. Overall, I found that film as a form of art was more captivating, and the lack of narration made the message mysteriously powerful.

The lush beauty of Madison Square Park is the perfect complement to Rachel Feinstein’s simplistic sculptures. Simplicity was the theme I felt from all three sculptures. Straightforward features such as the white color, perfectly cut images, and spontaneous scribbles, made me think that the artist was trying to tell us that beautiful art doesn’t always have to be extravagant. We can find beauty in pieces as straightforward as a floating ship, or a structure on the edge of a cliff that looks like a child had a free-for-all with a pencil.

The theme of simplicity is also symbolized in the artist’s choosing the natural park setting; these ‘cut outs’ that look so simply made remind us that if we don’t pay attention, we may just miss life’s subtle forms of art… Just like if your passing through Madison Square Park and don’t look up from your phone, you might miss the artistic beauty taking place.

Rachel Feinstein also encompasses a theme of contradiction through her sculptures placed around Madison Square Park. The pieces themselves are contradictory to the surrounding area. They appear to be made of cardboard and scribbled on in pencil, something a young child would see in a pop-up storybook. This apparent ‘folly’ is out of place in the heart of a sophisticated financial district. Feinstein’s Flying Ship contradicts the meaning of a sailboat by flying midair through the trees of the park. The ship is incompatible as it floats on air without a sense of water.

Each sculpture looks as if it’s a prop from a theatre’s set. The greenery of the park contrasts with the white powdering of the sculptures. The towering skyscrapers serve as the final backdrop to the setting, while the park’s guests serve as the audience of these theatrical inspired ‘set piece’ sculptures.

The main reason I found this installation so interesting was because at first glance they appeared so simple, but after analyzing their location I found the hidden contradictory message of the folly.