Get Rid Of Old Junk At MoMA's Meta-Monumental Garage Sale

by Georgia Bobley · May 23, 2012

    If you haven't started your spring cleaning yet, we've found the incentive you need to finally get started. Earlier this month, Brooklyn-based artist Martha Rosler began collecting a variety of junk from generous New Yorkers, and in November, she'll turn the assortment of goods into an exhibition at MoMA's Donald B. and Catherine Marron Atrium.

    [Garage Sale, London, 2005, photo via]

    This isn't the first time Rosler has turned junk into art-- in 1973 she created Monumental Garage Sale in the student gallery at the University of California, San Diego. This time around, the exhibition will be done on a larger and wider scale, and she will turn the Marron Atrium "into a space for the exchange of goods, narratives, and ideas," according to the official website. One of the most unique aspects of the exhibition will be the fact that visitors will be able to purchase many of the donated items.

    If you want to be part of the action, Rosler is still seeking donations, including:

    "...your good stuff and your junk. Strange items. Good art and bad art. Clothing, jewelry, records, plastic fruit, containers, and costumes. Literature high, low, and in-between. Propaganda, posters, and obsolete science textbooks. Bring jewelry and glossy magazines, sports equipment and appliances."

    You can drop goods off at MoMA PS1 in Long Island City on June 3rd from 1-4pm, or at MoMA, 54th Street entrance, on June 2nd from 1-4pm.

    Since 1973, the garage sale has been held in cities across the world including Dublin (2004); London (2005); Rotterdam (2000); Vienna (1999); and Berlin (2008). This will be the exhibition's first time in New York.

    Click HERE for more info on MoMA's Meta-Monumental Garage Sale, and check out a Q&A with Rosler HERE!

    [Monumental Garage Sale, San Diego, 1973, photo via]