Tomás Saraceno: Particular Matter(s)

FEB 11 – APR 17, 2022
A large-scale exhibition and sensory experience with spiderwebs, air, and the cosmic web

Tickets

Tomás Saraceno: Particular Matter(s) features an expansive gallery exhibition as well as a newly commissioned sensory experience, Free the Air: How to hear the universe in a spider/web, a 95-foot-diameter installation in The Shed’s soaring McCourt space.

There are three ways to visit Particular Matter(s):

  • Upper Level of Sensory Experience + Gallery (sold out)
  • Lower Level of Sensory Experience + Gallery (wheelchair-accessible) (sold out)
  • Gallery Exhibition Only

On Wednesdays, 2 – 3 pm, join our in-house diviner for a special Arachnomancy tarot card reading in the gallery.

Tickets can be purchased by selecting one of the options below.

Tickets for the Free the Air experience are sold out. Gallery exhibition–only tickets remain.

Please note: due to limited ticket availability, we are no longer able to process exchanges.

Info on the Upper Level of Sensory Experience + Gallery

Tickets for the Free the Air experience are sold out. Gallery exhibition–only tickets remain.

Please note: due to limited ticket availability, we are no longer able to process exchanges.

Free the Air is a large-scale sensory experience in which visitors perceive a concert of vibrations derived from the movement of particles through the air and how spiders relay information through vibratory mechanisms. On the upper level, visitors venture onto a floating web-like floor 40 feet above the ground. In Free the Air, the body becomes an ear, perceptive to the net reverberating beneath it and to the rhythms of other species.

The exhibition addresses environmental racism and justice, envisioning alternative ways of engaging with Earth’s atmosphere, and deepening an understanding of interspecies cohabitation and communication, in particular with spiders and their webs.

  • This ticket includes entry to the 40-foot-high upper level of Free the Air (the sensory experience in The McCourt) AND the gallery exhibition.
  • All tickets are timed entry. Gallery-only visitors should arrive at The Shed at your selected time slot. Free the Air visitors should arrive at The Shed 30 – 45 minutes before your time slot to visit the galleries but at least 15 minutes before your time slot to allow for check-in. Ticketholders who arrive at the entrance to Free the Air after their time slot are not guaranteed admission (no refunds for latecomers). You may visit or revisit the galleries after Free the Air. Note: those with Free the Air tickets before noon should visit the galleries afterward; those with Free the Air tickets for 5 pm or later on Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday, and at 7 pm or later on Friday and Saturday should visit the galleries beforehand.
  • All visitors must sign a safety waiver upon arrival at The Shed.
  • Visitors to Free the Air must be at least eight years old and those under 18 must be accompanied by a guardian or provide a waiver signed by a guardian.
  • Free the Air includes haze effects, low light, and eight minutes of nearly total darkness.
  • The upper and lower levels are made of stainless steel wire mesh that stretches when you move around on it.
  • To prevent loose objects from falling through the net, you must check your belongings in a secure locker before entering the experience.
  • Cell phones and cameras are NOT permitted on the upper level; they are permitted on the lower level.
  • Visitors on the upper level can be seen from below; please dress appropriately to avoid unintended exposure.
  • Wear flat-soled shoes; heels are not permitted in Free the Air.
  • 45 visitors are admitted per time slot (25 on upper level, 20 on lower level).
  • Masks are required to be worn at all times.
  • Standard tickets start at $35; tickets for visitors 8 – 18 years old start at $12; tickets for Shed members are $10.
In an architectural rendering, a large circle demarcates the space of the sensory experience. It contains two horizontal levels of netting, shown suspended across the circle, one above the other. Small images of people are sitting and reclining on the nets on both levels. On the lower level, one figure stands on a wheelchair-accessible platform.

Accessibility

Visitors in wheelchairs are encouraged to select a ticket for the lower level, which includes a platform accessed via a lift. The upper level net is accessed via eight flights of stairs.

Learn more about accessibility at The Shed.

Vaccination and masking requirements

All visitors 5 years and older must be fully vaccinated at least 14 days before the date of their visit. Acceptable proof of vaccination includes a CDC-issued vaccination card, the NYS Excelsior Pass, the Clear Health Pass, and the NYC COVID Safe App; in addition, a government-issued photo ID is required for visitors 18 years and older. Visitors must wear a properly fitting mask covering their nose and mouth at all times while in The Shed, except when dining/drinking at Cedric’s in the lobby. Please email info@theshed.org or call (646) 455-3494 if you have questions.

Info on the Lower Level of Sensory Experience + Gallery

Tickets for the Free the Air experience are sold out. Gallery exhibition–only tickets remain.

Please note: due to limited ticket availability, we are no longer able to process exchanges.

Free the Air is a large-scale sensory experience in which visitors perceive a concert of vibrations derived from the movement of particles through the air and how spiders relay information through vibratory mechanisms. On the lower level, visitors venture onto a floating web-like floor 12 feet above the ground. This level includes a wheelchair-accessible platform. In Free the Air, the body becomes an ear, perceptive to the net reverberating beneath it and to the rhythms of other species.

The exhibition addresses environmental racism and justice, envisioning alternative ways of engaging with Earth’s atmosphere, and deepening an understanding of interspecies cohabitation and communication, in particular with spiders and their webs.

  • This ticket includes entry to the 12-foot-high lower level of Free the Air (the sensory experience in The McCourt), including a wheelchair-accessible platform, AND the gallery exhibition.
  • All tickets are timed entry. Gallery-only visitors should arrive at The Shed at your selected time slot. Free the Air visitors should arrive at The Shed 30 – 45 minutes before your time slot to visit the galleries but at least 15 minutes before your time slot to allow for check-in. Ticketholders who arrive at the entrance to Free the Air after their time slot are not guaranteed admission (no refunds for latecomers). You may visit or revisit the galleries after Free the Air. Note: those with Free the Air tickets before noon should visit the galleries afterward; those with Free the Air tickets for 5 pm or later on Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday, and at 7 pm or later on Friday and Saturday should visit the galleries beforehand.
  • Free the Air runs eight minutes, but please allow approximately 30 minutes for ticket check, storing/gathering belongings, and entering/leaving the experience.
  • All visitors must sign a safety waiver upon arrival at The Shed.
  • Visitors to Free the Air must be at least eight years old and those under 18 must be accompanied by a guardian or provide a waiver signed by a guardian.
  • Free the Air includes haze effects, low light, and eight minutes of nearly total darkness.
  • The upper and lower levels are made of stainless steel wire mesh that stretches when you move around on it.
  • To prevent loose objects from falling through the net, you must check your belongings in a secure locker before entering the experience.
  • Cell phones and cameras are NOT permitted on the upper level; they are permitted on the lower level.
  • Visitors on the upper level can be seen from below; please dress appropriately to avoid unintended exposure.
  • Wear flat-soled shoes; heels are not permitted in Free the Air.
  • 45 visitors are admitted per time slot (25 on upper level, 20 on lower level).
  • Masks are required to be worn at all times.
  • Standard tickets start at $35; tickets for visitors 8 – 18 years old start at $12; tickets for Shed members are $10.
In an architectural rendering, a large circle demarcates the space of the sensory experience. It contains two horizontal levels of netting, shown suspended across the circle, one above the other. Small images of people are sitting and reclining on the nets on both levels. On the lower level, one figure stands on the wheelchair-accessible platform.

Accessibility

The lower level includes a platform accessed via a lift.

Learn more about accessibility at The Shed.

Vaccination and masking requirements

The Shed continues to require all visitors 5 years and older to be fully vaccinated against Covid-19 at least 14 days before the date of their visit. Acceptable proof of vaccination includes a CDC-issued vaccination card, the NYS Excelsior Pass, the Clear Health Pass, and the NYC COVID Safe App; in addition, a government-issued photo ID is required for visitors 18 years and older. Visitors must wear a properly fitting mask covering their nose and mouth at all times while in The Shed, except when dining/drinking at Cedric’s in the lobby. Please email info@theshed.org or call (646) 455-3494 if you have questions.

Info on the Gallery Exhibition Only

An exhibition addressing environmental racism and justice, envisioning alternative ways of engaging with Earth’s atmosphere, and deepening an understanding of interspecies cohabitation and communication, in particular with spiders and their webs.

  • This ticket only includes entry to the gallery exhibition. For a ticket that includes the exhibition AND Free the Air, sensory experience in The Shed’s McCourt, please select the tab for Free the Air’s upper or lower level.
  • All tickets are timed entry. Gallery-only visitors should arrive at The Shed at your selected time slot. Free the Air visitors should arrive at The Shed 30 – 45 minutes before your time slot to visit the galleries but at least 15 minutes before your time slot to allow for check-in. Ticketholders who arrive at the entrance to Free the Air after their time slot are not guaranteed admission (no refunds for latecomers). You may visit or revisit the galleries after Free the Air. Note: those with Free the Air tickets before noon should visit the galleries afterward; those with Free the Air tickets for 5 pm or later on Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday, and at 7 pm or later on Friday and Saturday should visit the galleries beforehand.
  • Standard tickets start at $12; tickets for visitors 18 years and under and Shed members are free.
  • The Level 2 Gallery has low light.
  • Masks are required to be worn at all times.
In a dark gallery, two people gaze at three complex spider webs, dramatically lit to heighten the mystery of their structure.
Tomás Saraceno, Webs of At-tent(s)ion, 2018 – . Installation view: ON AIR: carte blanche à Tomás Saraceno, Palais de Tokyo, Paris, October 17, 2018 – January 6, 2019. Courtesy the artist; Andersen’s, Copenhagen; Ruth Benzacar, Buenos Aires; Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York/Los Angeles; Pinksummer Contemporary Art, Genoa; Neugerriemschneider, Berlin.

Accessibility

The Shed’s galleries are wheelchair accessible. Elevators in the Lobby provide access to the Level 2 and 4 Galleries. Assistive listening is provided by the free Listen Everywhere app over The Shed’s free Wi-Fi. Download the Listen Everywhere app before you arrive.

The exhibition’s digital gallery guide, which can be accessed via your own device, includes visual descriptions of each artwork. Large-format object labels will also be available; please speak to a gallery attendant when you arrive if you would like a copy for your visit.

Learn more about accessibility at The Shed.

Vaccination and masking requirements

All visitors 5 years and older must be fully vaccinated at least 14 days before the date of their visit. Acceptable proof of vaccination includes a CDC-issued vaccination card, the NYS Excelsior Pass, the Clear Health Pass, and the NYC COVID Safe App; in addition, a government-issued photo ID is required for visitors 18 years and older. Visitors must wear a properly fitting mask covering their nose and mouth at all times while in The Shed, except when dining/drinking at Cedric’s in the lobby. Please email info@theshed.org or call (646) 455-3494 if you have questions.
Tomás Saraceno, Free the Air: How to hear the universe in a spider/web, 2022. Custom steel, wire net, wood, light, LFE, shakers, fog. Diameter: 95 feet. Artwork © Studio Tomás Saraceno. Commissioned by The Shed. Photo: Nicholas Knight. Courtesy the artist and Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York/Los Angeles; Neugerriemschneider, Berlin; Andersen’s, Copenhagen; Ruth Benzacar, Buenos Aires; and Pinksummer Contemporary Art, Genoa.
People sitting suspended on a net in a large spherical space that is illuminated by a large spherical white light above and filled with a foggy haze.
Tomás Saraceno, Free the Air: How to hear the universe in a spider/web, 2022. Custom steel, wire net, wood, light, LFE, shakers, fog. Diameter: 95 feet. Artwork © Studio Tomás Saraceno. Commissioned by The Shed. Photo: Nicholas Knight. Courtesy the artist and Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York/Los Angeles; Neugerriemschneider, Berlin; Andersen’s, Copenhagen; Ruth Benzacar, Buenos Aires; and Pinksummer Contemporary Art, Genoa.
People walking on a net suspended 40 feet in the air. They are seen from below and are spaced out across the net, within a large white spherical space.
Museo Aero Solar (detail), 2007 – . Reused plastic bags, tape, ventilator, polyester rope. Approx. 39.4 x 52.5 x 19 feet. Photo: Nicholas Knight.
Five people stand inside a cavernous ballon made of a colorful patchwork of reused plastic bags quilted together with tape
Tomás Saraceno, Webs of At-tent(s)-ion (detail), 2020. Seven spider frames, spider silk, carbon fibers, lights. Dimensions variable. Artwork © Studio Tomás Saraceno. Photo: Nicholas Knight. Courtesy the artist; spider/webs; Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York/Los Angeles; and Neugerriemschneider, Berlin.
Three complex spiderwebs are dramatically lit in cubic glass containers that resemble aquariums
Tomás Saraceno, Printed Matter(s), 2018. Series of ten photos printed with black carbon PM2.5 pollution, extracted from the air in Mumbai, on 8-gram handmade paper. Dimensions variable. Artwork © Studio Tomás Saraceno. Photo: Nicholas Knight. Courtesy the artist; Andersen’s, Copenhagen; Ruth Benzacar, Buenos Aires; Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York/Los Angeles; Pinksummer Contemporary Art, Genoa; Neugerriemschneider, Berlin.
Two people stand in a gallery to the left of a series of ten photo prints on the wall. They are printed on thin black paper and depict particle pollution blown up as if under a microscope and recall images of stars.
Tomás Saraceno, Sounding the Air, 2020. Spider silk, carbon fiber, microphone, transducer, speakers, light, computer software, video camera. Approx. 59 x 236 x 8.6 inches. Artwork © Studio Tomás Saraceno. Photo: Nicholas Knight. Courtesy the artist and Arachnophilia; Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York/ Los Angeles; Neugerriemschneider, Berlin; Andersen’s, Copenhagen; Ruth Benzacar, Buenos Aires; and Pinksummer Contemporary Art, Genoa.
Five single strands of spider silk undulate in the air as they are stretched across a dark gallery space. They are illuminated from below by eight rectangular spotlights pointing upward.
Tomás Saraceno, We Do Not All Breathe the Same Air, 2019 – 22. Black carbon, soot, PM2.5, PM10, paper. Each frame: approx. 91 x 39.5 inches; each paper strip: approx. 85.8 inches. Artwork © Studio Tomás Saraceno. Commissioned by The Shed. Photo: Nicholas Knight. Courtesy the artist; Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York/Los Angeles; and Neugerriemschneider, Berlin.
Seven large horizontal frames line three walls of a gallery space. A person sits on a bench centered in front of them and another person stands close to one frame on the left, examining its contents.
Tomás Saraceno, A Thermodynamic Imaginary, 2020. Various materials. Dimensions variable. Artwork © Studio Tomás Saraceno. Photo: Nicholas Knight. Courtesy the artist; Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York/Los Angeles; and Neugerriemschneider, Berlin.
A person walks through a shadowy gallery space, among the play of shadows and reflections cast by large spherical sculptural objects hanging in the space
Tomás Saraceno, Free the Air: How to hear the universe in a spider/web, 2022. Custom steel, wire net, wood, light, LFE, shakers, fog. Diameter: 95 feet. Artwork © Studio Tomás Saraceno. Commissioned by The Shed. Photo: Nicholas Knight. Courtesy the artist and Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York/Los Angeles; Neugerriemschneider, Berlin; Andersen’s, Copenhagen; Ruth Benzacar, Buenos Aires; and Pinksummer Contemporary Art, Genoa.

About this commission

“Saraceno’s work is playful, even childlike, yet mind-bogglingly sophisticated and political.”

—The New York Times

Through floating sculptures, interactive installations, and an artistic process that centers collaboration, often with spiders and their webs, Tomás Saraceno proposes a conversation between human and nonhuman lifeforms. These beings have been disregarded by humans in the Capitalocene, a name for the era of Earth’s existence that we’re living in, characterized by the destructive effects of capitalism on the environment. In a call for environmental justice, Saraceno also collaborates with human communities that have been impacted by these negative effects to renew relationships with Earth, the air, and the cosmos, particularly as part of his community projects, Aerocene and Arachnophilia.

Particular Matter(s), the artist’s largest exhibition in the US to date, brings this layered approach together, celebrating the complexity of our collective existence while looking for ways to live together differently. The exhibition features new and existing works in The Shed’s galleries and a newly commissioned sensory experience, Free the Air: How to hear the universe in a spider/web, a 95-foot-diameter installation in the soaring McCourt space. The exhibition will be accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue and a robust public program in partnership with the Columbia University’s Climate School.

Organized by Emma Enderby, Curator-at-Large, with Alessandra Gómez and Adeze Wilford, Assistant Curators. Exhibition management by Jesse Hamerman, Director of Exhibitions, Amanda Singer, Senior Exhibitions Producer, Chris Roberts, Exhibitions Producer, and Elizabeth Berridge, Assistant Exhibitions Producer, with support from Studio Tomás Saraceno. Exhibition design advisors: New Affiliates.

Read about works in the exhibition in the digital gallery guide

Exhibition Catalogue

Tomás Saraceno: Particular Matter(s) is accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue that includes an essay from exhibition curator Emma Enderby and a detailed section from Studio Tomás Saraceno about the newly commissioned artwork Free the Air: How to hear the universe in a spider/web. Other contributions include essays by Vinciane Despret, Alessandra Gómez, Andreas Malm, Michael Marder, Filipa Ramos, and Harriet A. Washington, as well as a photo essay by Hans Ulrich Obrist.
Buy the catalogue

Artist

Tomas holding large balloon.
Tomás Saraceno. © Studio Tomás Saraceno, 2019.
Tomás Saraceno
Tomás Saraceno
Tomás Saraceno is an Argentine-born, Berlin-based artist who has worked with local communities, scientific researchers, and institutions around the world, including the communities of Somie, Cameroon; Salinas Grandes, Argentina; Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Max Planck Institute; and Nanyang Technological University, among others. He has lectured at institutions worldwide, and directed the Institute of Architecture‐related Art (IAK) at Braunschweig University of Technology, Germany (2014 – 16); and held residencies at Centre National d’Études Spatiales (2014 – 15), MIT Center for Art, Science & Technology (2012– ) and Atelier Calder (2010), among others. He has been the subject of solo exhibitions at museums and institutions internationally, including Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2018); Museo de Arte Moderno, Buenos Aires (2017); K21 Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Ständehaus, Dusseldorf (2013); Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (2012); and Hamburger Bahnhof – Museum für Gegenwart, Berlin (2011). Tomás Saraceno has participated in numerous festivals and biennales, including the 17th Biennale Architettura (2020), the 58th Biennale di Venezia (2019), and the 53rd Biennale di Venezia (2009). For the 2020 project Fly with Aerocene Pacha, 32 world records were set with Aerocene, marking the most sustainable flight in human history. Saraceno lives and works in Berlin.

Get to know more about Tomás Saraceno

In The Works

over 2 years ago

Freeing the Air

almost 3 years ago

Finding New Modes of Sensing and Existing with Tomás Saraceno

almost 3 years ago

Who is Tomás Saraceno?
Explore the entanglements of Saraceno’s many artworks and projects

Related Programs

Fly with Aerocene Pacha Read more about “Fly with Aerocene Pacha” All details for “Fly with Aerocene Pacha”
ONLINE APR 13 – 17, 2022
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A hand emerges from shadow above a table draped in black cloth with a spread of divination cards arrayed on top
Arachnomancy Readings
On Wednesdays, 2 – 3 pm, join our in-house diviner for a special Arachnomancy tarot card reading in the gallery as you disentangle yourself from the web of illusionment and redistribute yourself among the nodes. To participate, purchase a Wednesday ticket by clicking “Get tickets” above.

Thank you to our partners

Major support for Tomás Saraceno: Particular Matter(s) is provided by

The creation of new work at The Shed is generously supported by the Lizzie and Jonathan Tisch Commissioning Fund and the Shed Commissioners.

The Shed is connected by