The Museum of Modern Art/MoMA lets its hair down for the short winter days ahead, courtesy of Pipilotti Rist: Pour Your Body Out (7354 Cubic Meters). The video/sound/sculptural installation takes over and effectively reconfigures the massive Donald B. and Catherine C. Marron Atrium, previously occupied by Barnett Newman's Broken Obelisk. What had formerly been a glass-bound box with a corporate feel that only came to life during MoMA's opening parties is now a womb-like place with luscious carpeting and a low-slung circular sofa. It's an ideal spot to escape the woeful financial news that continues to emanate from our nation's capital.

Scenes from MoMAs Atrium last week. Photos: Peggy Roalf

The Swiss artist, known for her large and technically complex installations, creates a 3-wall video surround roughly 25 feet high and 250 feet across that celebrates nature and humankind's place in it. High definition projections of massive pink tulips, luscious peaches, apples, flowers, sky, clouds, and rivers cascade from bubble-shaped protrusions 25 feet above.

This Garden of Eden is populated by a nude woman who bites into overripe fruits. Her motions are echoed by a small black pig, the only other creature to be seen, apart from a few earthworms. She swims a river, then trods its banks, littered with cans and bottles. Occasionally an overlay of lightening-like fractals suggests that Paradise is vulnerable to threats by nature as well as by man. Music by Anders Guggisberg emanates from the circular seating element where visitors are invited to recline, stretch, dance, and sing along with the sounds.

In a video interivew on MoMAs facebook page, Rist talks about her impulse for creating these enormous multi-sensory environments. "The big difference between going to a museum and having the mass media come to your computer is that you have to bring your body to the museum." Sounds pretty simple, yet the anti-corporeal effect that the corporate workplace has on most people today tends to create zones of isolation. Here, everybody's welcome to collectively kick off their shoes and indulge in a little physical comfort that's more than a pleasure.

Pour Your Body Out (7354 Cubic Meters) continues at The Museum of Modern Art through February 9, 2009. Please check the website for information.