The Balloon Museum is set to return to New York this summer with an immersive inflatable installation by Marina Abramović. Opening in July at the Tin Building, the exhibition expands the museum’s international inflatable-art program.
For its new permanent outpost, the museum dedicated to inflatable art has commissioned the acclaimed performance artist for a large-scale new work. Titled Snowy/Windy/Spring On The Planet Z, the installation is being presented as a fantastical botanical garden that lives up to its whimsical name. Abramović, who had been expected at a press preview, was unable to attend because of a cold, but she sent a detailed one-page statement about the project and its origins.
In that statement, she said she had “always been fascinated by invisible forces” and wanted to build a place where “wind, snow, and light” could become tangible. She described the piece as an extraterrestrial meadow filled with balloon-like forms that drift through the space and react to air currents, creating the feeling that visitors are moving through a living environment.
The exhibition will open in July at the Tin Building in Lower Manhattan, near South Street Seaport, marking the latest step in the Balloon Museum’s global expansion. The museum has previously mounted large-scale inflatable-art exhibitions in cities around the world, combining immersive spectacle with installations by contemporary artists.
Abramović’s participation adds an unexpected layer of prestige to the project. Known for her endurance-based performances and conceptual work, she is among the most recognizable figures in contemporary art, and her involvement highlights the museum’s goal of presenting inflatable art as something more than entertainment. The New York venue is expected to include a variety of environments and interactive elements, with Snowy/Windy/Spring On The Planet Z as its centerpiece.
