One of the pieces that intrigued me (and probably many other people) in the Club 57 exhibit was the Cosmic Closet. It was a secluded room in the exhibit with two black curtain entrances and inside was a large collection of random things. Some things I took notice of were posters, toys hanging from the ceiling, and a few pieces of furniture. I can clearly recall a headless doll hanging in front of me. Everything was covered haphazardly in bright neon paint and there was some artificial light in the room to make the paint glow a bit. Even parts of the floor were neon, while others were mirrors. It was a very bright and surreal room, especially because other than the paint, nothing seems to connect the objects in the room to one overarching theme.
A big theme in Club 57 was the combination of different and alternative art forms to represent the scene change happening underground – literally. Below a Polish Church on 57th Street, people came there to experience new forms of expression and new ideas. The Cosmic Closet is an example of this because it combines random objects, light, and bright neon paint to make a very bright, surreal, and psychedelic form of sculpture. The objects with no correlation except the bright neon paint seems to represent the different kinds of people that would attend this club. They all have colorful personalities and open minds to new ideas, different ones from the “norm” above ground. The sculpture represents the purpose and the fun of the club and is itself a place where people can experience something new and exciting. The bright lights, or new ideas, give another dimension to the room, make the paint glow, and is what made Club 57 so intriguing to those who were looking for an exciting and different group of people.
This was also my favorite part of the exhibit, and I recall not ever wanting to step out of that trippy environment. I loved the artists use of neon paint and blacklight, which was popular in the 1970s-1980s. The different textures and various objects were also interesting, I recall seeing a string of skulls and various monster masks hanging from the ceiling or along the walls. Other than that, there was a disco ball and a doll house. I can see how taking a psychedelic in that room would really mess with someone’s perception of reality.