Cornelia Parker, using old fence materials to build “Transitional Object” (Psycho Barn). He transformed barn materials into an out-of-place icon, worked well. In fact, on the Metropolitan Museum rooftop, against the modern skyscrapers, it appears out-of-place by design. Interestingly, James and I, two of us, from Tulsa Oklahoma, used a similar approach one year before this piece. In our case “A Gate”, built into two steel beams at Tulsa Hardesty Art Center (AHAH), in part, to construct a biblical non-site. “The Barn”  a fake house over the rooftop; the Gate was an actual passageway over the ground. Our gate was self funded, a striking contrast to the tons of money spent on fabricating The Psycho Barn. Since the gate was not reminiscent of any famous structure and it was in an unassuming place, and ironically, even though hundreds people walk by/through the gate, using it as a photo-op, hardly anyone was aware of it’s transitional meaning. 

I have gone to the roof garden to see this installation and do like the visual sensation created by this barn object and at the same time I came to realize that what James and I did was very important: the Gate is a manifestation for mankind on the brink of all directions.

Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through.  For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.    – Matthew 7:13