Watch for a scramble in September, when Cal undergraduates will line up to help scatter\u2014and then reclaim\u2014trash. As part of the ongoing retrospective at the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (BAMPFA), \u201cMaren Hassinger: Living Moving Growing,\u201d the sculptor\/performance artist\/teacher will restage one of her most famous performances, Pink Trash, for only the third time since 1982.<\/p>\n
The students will toss the litter onto UC Berkeley\u2019s Crescent Lawn, then gather it up and repaint it pink. This is a statement, said BAMPFA materials, of \u201ca powerful metaphor for humanity\u2019s obligation to care for the natural world.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pink Trash is only one example of performance art pieces that will be recreated for the exhibition. Hassinger, now 79, is widely considered one of the most influential artists of her generation. The retrospective, which opened June 6 at BAMPFA, examines 50 years of her work, including large-scale sculpture, site-specific installation, video and performance. \u201cCarefully choosing materials for their innate characteristics, Hassinger has explored the subjects of movement, family, love, nature, environment, consumerism, identity, and race,\u201d BAMPFA materials note.<\/p>\n
Another interactive opportunity will take place on the exhibition\u2019s opening day. Visitors can join Hassinger to help create pieces that will be used in a new, large-scale installation, Wrenching News. Participants will twist and knot newspapers, which will then be assembled at BAMPFA in a public workshop led by the artist. A series of workshops during the exhibition will continue to add to the piece.<\/p>\n
Senior curator Andrew Graham described the inspiration for \u201cLiving Moving Growing\u201d as \u201ckismet.\u201d When he and chief curator Margot Norton both came to BAMPFA more than three years ago, they discovered Hassinger was an artist they jointly admired. \u201cWe jumped at the chance to work on this exhibition together,\u201d he said. They visited Hassinger in New York, saw a show at her gallery there, and made the connection with her. \u201cCollaboration is the crux of how she operates,\u201d Graham noted.<\/p>\n
From the beginning, the co-curators aimed to bring together many diverse works to the exhibition. The major sculptures yes, but, said Graham, \u201csome of the lesser-known aspects of her practice.\u201d The show features, for example, archival photos of her performance art work, including previously unseen photos of the artist early in her career taken by Adam Avila, an early collaborator of Hassinger\u2019s. The black-and-white images, which will also be included in the exhibition catalog, serve as important documentation of early works by the artist that no longer exist.<\/p>\n
As the most ambitious retrospective to date of the artist\u2019s body of work, according to BAMPFA, \u201cLiving Moving Growing\u201d includes recreations of temporary installations, such as Love (Pyramid) (2008), a site-specific sculpture composed of pink plastic bags inflated by human breath and filled with love notes; Beach (1980), a floor installation of plaster and wooden dowels; and multiple sculptures that incorporate recently harvested tree branches, which the museum will realize in partnership with the University of California Botanical Garden.<\/p>\n
Hassinger, said Graham, is part of a generation of artists, but her work demonstrates what he calls a \u201cunique sensibility\u2026 committed to bringing people together.\u201d She emerged alongside a community of artists working together in the \u201970s as Studio Z, including Senga Nengudi, Ulysses Jenkins and David Hammons. In turn, Hassinger has been a direct influence on contemporary artists, such as CiCi Wu, Graham said.<\/p>\n
Graham also highlighted the importance of honoring the Earth in Hassinger\u2019s work. \u201cThe loss of nature was a defining vision of her generation,\u201d he said. \u201c[She believes] we have to take care of the Earth and of each other.\u201d<\/p>\n
Berkeley-based artist Julia Goodman will lead the monthly workshops that continue building \u201cWrenching News.\u201d This is an ideal match, by Goodman\u2019s own assessment. \u201cI have worked with repurposed materials for over 20 years,\u201d she said in a phone interview. Her An Unimaginable Unit of Time, for example, was created during the pandemic by tearing synthetic bedsheets and creating a rope. \u201cIt was my way of marking time,\u201d she said. It also provided a release from the ongoing stress of a highly uncertain time.<\/p>\n
The idea for her to lead the rest of the workshops came up in 2025, and she immediately said, \u201cYes.\u201d She has now met Hassinger and formed a connection. She will shadow Hassinger in the first workshop. At subsequent ones, which will take place on an alternate Saturday and Sunday schedule, she will welcome participants of various ages. \u201cI like intergenerational workshops,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Goodman spoke to the importance of tactile experiences in understanding much of Hassinger\u2019s work. \u201cIt\u2019s an opportunity to echo the handiwork of an artist,\u201d she said. Asked if she has a favorite Hassinger work, she cited pieces using galvanized wire rope, such as Paradise Regained, in which thick wire strands evoke reeds bending in the wind. These pieces, she said, \u201cshifted my take on the material\u2026it changes the way I feel when I cross the [Bay Area] bridges.\u201d<\/p>\n
To celebrate the exhibition, BAMPFA is publishing a fully illustrated catalog on Hassinger. It will include an introductory essay by Graham and a roundtable discussion moderated by Norton with some of\u00a0 Hassinger\u2019s collaborators, including Just Above Midtown gallery founder, filmmaker and activist Linda Goode Bryant, and artists Senga Nengudi and Ava Hassinger, Maren Hassinger\u2019s daughter. A new interview with the artist is also included, along with additional essays.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s so important to hear women artists in their lifetimes,\u201d Goodman said. Both interviewees recommended multiple visits to \u201cLiving Moving Growing\u201d during its exhibition to see how Wretched News, for example, evolves, and to re-absorb the ties between the works.<\/p>\n
\u201cHer work is so moving,\u201d Graham said. \u201cYou feel the dynamism.\u201d<\/p>\n