The Roof Garden Commission: Cornelia Parker

Book excerpt: The British artist Cornelia Parker is known for her large, site-specific installations. Often composed of ordinary objects, her works makes the familiar extraordinary, whimsical, and even poignant. Her new project, Transitional Object (PsychoBarn), conceived and created for The Metropolitan Museum of Art, merges two iconic examples of American architecture, the red barn and the infamous mansion on a hill from Alfred Hitchcock's masterpiece Psycho (itself inspired by the paintings of Edward Hopper). The work meditates on the tension between these iconic structures and subtly suggests how architecture generates conflicting emotional states. This beautifully illustrated book is the forth in a series that documents and contextualizes The Met's annual rooftop commissions. The introductory essay by Beatrice Galilee follows the process of crafting this work, tracing the myriad psychological associations that are embedded in architectural spaces, The interview between the artist and Sheena Wagstaff provides an insightful discussion of Parker's wide-ranging career and explores the conceptual framework that informs her remarkable commission.