Liz Magic Laser was selected for the 2013 Armory Artist Commission. As it turns out, the powers-that-be may be uncomfortable with her treatment of this “honor”. However, the work of the artist within any structure is to push against the inherent constraints, isn’t it? (Perhaps this is what makes the Capitalist structure for these commodities so fascinatingly ironic?)

She treats the project in such a way that frames the whole experience of the fair as a numbers campaign,  which is at once surprisingly refreshing in it’s honesty, as well as a bit disturbing. Her “products” contain transparent information about finances, and audience – which one can not help but read in tandem with the Centennial focus of the Armory Show on “America.” The use of this data may also evoke the history of artists working outside such structures who took it upon themselves to discover and publish similar information at Frieze, or the MET.

For a preview of her centerpiece video for the Armory Show, check out Liz Magic Laser’s trailer – produced by Various Small Fries. A longer version of the documentation is on view in a small gallery space with a one way mirror, bowls of snacks, framed prints of “stock” in the Armory, and the other products designed for the event.

(The Village Voice also reported on the commission.)