'9 + 1 Ways of Being Political' Exhibition at MoMA

Spanning utopian works from the 1960s to a performance piece examining present-day domestic spaces, the exhibition 9 + 1 Ways of Being Political: 50 years of Political Stances in Architecture and Urban Design at the Museum of Modern Art offers a critical look at modern architecture's activist potential. The show, organized by curator Pedro Gadanho (featured in "In Living Color," June 2012) and curatorial assistant Margot Weller, posits that there's currently a rebirth of political engagement in architecture that hearkens back to the early 20th century avant garde. The exhibition, open until March 25, features works grappling with radicalism, iconoclasm, social borders, public space, and the politics of shelter. "This is not an exhibition about protagonists, movements, buildings, or specific designs; it is, rather, about a cultural practice that reacts to and comments upon the conditions of its time," states the introductory text. If you can't make to MoMA, spy six of the featured works in the following slideshow and catch a video of the performance piece Ikea Disobedients here. Slideshow

Jason Crum (American, 1935–2004). Project for a Painted Wall, Hartford, Connecticut. Perspective. 1969. Gouache on photograph. 13 3/4 x 16 7/8″ (34.9 x 42.9 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Purchase, 1969.