Wednesday, 7 May: 2PM - 3:30PM
Friday, 9 May: 5PM - 6:30PM
Sunday, 11 May: 11AM - 12:30PM
Audiences will encounter The Pin, a new performance by Berlin-based artist Pilvi Takala, co-commissioned by High Line Art and Frieze and curated by Taylor Zakarin, Associate Curator, High Line Art. Takala’s practice is centered on poking, prodding, and questioning conventions and codes to investigate the hidden rules that govern our everyday environments – offices, parks, shopping malls and other public spaces. This latest performance continues her inquiry into discomfort and behaviour, using subtle disruption as a powerful artistic tool.
The Pin is set in motion by actors – identifiable only by a pin, or badge, fastened to their shirts – who canvass the park, blending in with the public until they spontaneously approach unsuspecting passersby. Each performer is trained to improvise based on a script written by the artist, following the responses of the participating public. The seemingly happenstance interactions expose our preconceived expectations of how we engage with others in public spaces, and what might bring strangers to either connect or disengage. In setting up these exchanges, Takala makes visible how we grapple with polite contact, inclusion and exclusion, while blurring the line between reality and fiction.
The Pin marks the second co-commission between High Line Art and Frieze, following Matty Davis’ Die No Die (The High Line) in 2024. Takala is also a past recipient of the Frieze Emdash Artist Award (2013).