{"id":67590,"date":"2014-03-06T15:25:31","date_gmt":"2014-03-06T20:25:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/?p=67590"},"modified":"2014-03-07T13:57:14","modified_gmt":"2014-03-07T18:57:14","slug":"eternal-city","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2014\/03\/06\/eternal-city\/","title":{"rendered":"Eternal City"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"whitney<\/a>

Photo: Sadie Stein<\/p><\/div>\n

The Whitney Biennial has generated any number of reviews\u2014the more comprehensive ones will tell you about the distinguished curators, the three \u201cbiennials within a biennial,\u201d the ambient sound installations.<\/p>\n

So far, I have not read anything about the Apple.<\/p>\n

On a chilly evening earlier this week, I attended a preview with a friend. It was, as others have recounted, crowded<\/a>. \u201cI thought you were the artist,\u201d said a woman as I studied one of the pieces, a voluptuous ceramic by Alma Allen. \u201cBecause of the way you\u2019re dressed, I mean.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThank you,\u201d I said. Alma Allen is a man.<\/p>\n

By the door, a young woman was handing out canvas bags. \u201cJust the ladies,\u201d she said as we exited.<\/p>\n

I waited until I was home to open my gift bag. Inside was a black box. \u201cBCBGMAXAZRIA + WHITNEY MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART,\u201d said one side of the box. Another side said \u201cCelebrating 25 Years of Style.\u201d A third said, \u201c25th Anniversary Chrome Apple.\u201d And the fourth featured text:<\/p>\n

\n

This chrome apple epitomizes the eternal relationship between fashion and art. We present this gift to you in celebration of BCBGMAXAZRIA\u2019s 25th anniversary and the 2014 Whitney Biennial Sponsored by BCBGMAXAZRIA.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

<\/p>\n

No one dare accuse this box of false advertising. For inside was indeed a chrome apple, which was itself a small box, covered in spikes. I stared at it for some time. I took a picture and sent it to some friends. \u201cLooks more like a durian,\u201d commented one of them, accurately. I left it on the counter and went to bed.<\/p>\n

The next morning, there it was. When I went downstairs to get my mail, I deposited the apple, in its explanatory box, on a small table in the lobby that serves as a tacit giveaway area for the building; it\u2019s usually populated by books. This table has voodoo qualities. I have never seen anything there go unclaimed, be it an outdated Lonely Planet Madrid<\/em>, an old VHS tape, The Kosher Cajun Cookbook<\/i>, or a pair of light aerobics weights, although in the spirit of full disclosure, I myself am now the owner of those last two.<\/p>\n

And yet, when I went downstairs again some four hours later, it was still there, sitting in solitary splendor. My brow knit with disgruntlement. I spied a four-year-old neighbor.<\/p>\n

\u201cHi, Pablo!\u201d I said. \u201cWould you like this metal apple? See? It\u2019s a little box. That looks like an apple.\u201d<\/p>\n

He inspected it gravely, suspiciously. \u201cWhy are there spikes on it?\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause it\u2019s \u2026 art,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want it,\u201d he said with brutal candor, and went upstairs.<\/p>\n

\u201cYour loss,\u201d I muttered, and stuffed the box into my tote.<\/p>\n

On the subway, I found myself seated near a family of obvious tourists carrying a large Build-A-Bear bag.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m sorry to interrupt,\u201d I said, \u201cbut I\u2019d like to offer you a souvenir of the Big Apple. It\u2019s from the Whitney Museum.\u201d I proffered the box.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, thank you,\u201d said the mother hastily, moving her little girl down the car away from me.<\/p>\n

\u201cSee if I care,\u201d I said too loudly.<\/p>\n

I schlepped the apple around for the rest of the day. Come nightfall, I went into a Starbucks to use a bathroom, and my eye fell on the bag of the man ahead of me in line. It was the gift tote from the Whitney.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought only women got that,\u201d I said. It took some moments before he had any idea what I was talking about.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, someone gave me hers,\u201d he said. \u201cBut I didn\u2019t get any of the stuff that came with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not fair,\u201d I said. Then the bathroom door opened, and my moment had passed.<\/p>\n

Later that day, I went back to the Whitney to try to actually get a crack at the sound installations. \u201cWhat\u2019s that?\u201d said the guard who was checking my bag.\u00a0But he would not confiscate it. So I left it in the lobby.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Whitney Biennial has generated any number of reviews\u2014the more comprehensive ones will tell you about the distinguished curators, the three \u201cbiennials within a biennial,\u201d the ambient sound installations. So far, I have not read anything about the Apple. On a chilly evening earlier this week, I attended a preview with a friend. It was, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":178,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[419,13115],"tags":[13094,13092,13095,13093,13091],"class_list":["post-67590","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-arts-culture","category-our-daily-correspondent","tag-apples","tag-biennial","tag-chrome","tag-gift-bags","tag-the-whitney"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nEternal City by Sadie Stein<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"March 6, 2014 \u2013 The Whitney Biennial has generated any number of reviews\u2014the more comprehensive ones will tell you about the distinguished curators, the three \u201cbiennials\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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