Montmorency Falls
A Cold Whole
In an ambitious exhibition featuring two new installation-based commissions, artist Taryn Simon activates the rituals of applause and the cold water plunge, examining individuals’ campaigns for public admiration, the status of physical community spaces in the digital age, and our persistent desire for a quick fix.
You walk into a cold dark room with a window at one end that looks into a refrigerated space full of ice with a hole in the center. If you are lucky, a person will walk into the room and jump into the cold water. It is implied that you should clap as the person jumps in the water. The first time I saw someone jump into the water everyone clapped but the second time nobody did.