The New Review is a biweekly series where writer Kayley Cassidy will examine an art installation or exhibition close to The New School campus. This week, she reflected on spring break while contrasting the lines between procrastination and rest with the twisted sea creatures of “WHAT IF THEY BARK?” by Cosima von Bonin.
Welcome back! For the New School students who stayed in Manhattan over the break, I hope you got out and spent some time enjoying the lovely weather. It is undeniable that New Yorkers are at their peak when given a patch of grass and a day with temperatures in the high fifties to low sixties. If you want to simulate still being on break, enjoying the sun and procrastinating on assignments, take a ten-minute stroll from the Eugene Lang building to the High Line.
On impeccable weather days in New York City, anything and everything that is the essence of iconic can be spotted along the elevated walkway that was once an abandoned freight rail. Charming green spaces, reclining benches to tan, stunning views of the city landscape, and food vendors will have you yearning for a lazy day spent outside with a bite to eat.
School becomes an afterthought as you walk towards the 17th Street entrance of the High Line. As you reach the heart of 10th Avenue Square, feel the wind from the Hudson. Take in the distant sounds of water clashing, the whipping of wind, and the honking of car horns. They fuse into one giant symphony, dunking the viewer below the surface.
Immersed in the water is where you can spot them. The salty crew behind the chaotic symphony oddly mimics the scene from “The Little Mermaid,” urging the viewer to forget the resumed semester, just as Sebastian urges Ariel, “The human world, it’s a mess / Life under the sea / Is better than anything they got up there coming.” Straight from the city waters for your entertainment is German artist Cosima von Bonin’s pessimistic sea creature band, “WHAT IF THEY BARK?”
Take a seat at the wooden benches positioned in front of the glass wall, where onlookers can watch cars pass by below. The salty crew stands tall above the metal railing, where five fish wear colorful ribbons and checkered flannel cloths wrapped around their lower halves. Four of the fish hold guitars, and the fifth has a surfboard. Next to the fish “hanging ten” is a shark coming out of a wooden bucket with a checkered missile between its sharp, pointy teeth.
“WHAT IF THEY BARK?” was brought to the High Line in September 2023 and will be on view until August of this year. Von Bonin is a contemporary artist who challenges what should be taken seriously in the art world. Her work is nostalgic, reminding viewers of their childhood through paintings of “Looney Tunes” characters, large pastel-colored stuffed animals, paintings and sculptures of Disney characters such as Bambi, rainbow-coded axes, and more.
But her typical works that appear innocent are contrasted with harsh materials. Von Bonin presents stuffed animals surrounded by handcuffs, Daffy Duck painted in a series of claustrophobic situations, and lobster claws reaching out of a crocheted cement mixer.
Cute but deadly, these whimsical ideas become entrapped by the complexities of growing up.
The comical fish band continues the tradition of having fun-loving things combined with off-putting details by having the shark holding a missile in its teeth. The positioning of the band facing the viewer is described in the High Line’s statement to be “assembled like a military …” Von Bonin’s work shows that while art can be aesthetic to look at, it holds the power to enact conversation. Her work draws upon uncomfortable situations contrasted with comfortable characters, and while viewers may or may not relate to it, it opens discourse on the loss of childhood innocence.
To see a missile is disturbing. The title “WHAT IF THEY BARK?” implies that everything about the scene is unnatural. The position of the fish doing unordinary things contrasted with the dark humor of the shark biting the weapon speaks volumes.
The silence and mysticism are loud — the figures are barking.
Examine the positioning of the fish and lone shark. Observe their outfits and expressions. Think about why four fish have guitars and one doesn’t. No one has the exact answer or meaning of this work; art is what you make of it. Are the creatures as humorous as written in the High Line’s artists’ commission? Or do they hint at something deeper and more meaningful?
In the context in which they are placed, most people strolling along the High Line may think of them as silly little figures that are only worthy of drawing attention for Instagram photos. But in a city that never stops moving, the creatures that perform for our entertainment can translate the feeling of trying to live a life of happiness when there’s so much chaos and confusion in the world. Like many of Von Bonin’s works, there is an undertone of cynicism.
Among the crowds of New Yorkers and tourists crowding along the High Line to experience a nice day outside, join them and take a break from class. But don’t let them persuade you to stay for too long. Continue to bop your head as the fish perform, but don’t ignore the notifications from Canvas that light up your phone screen.
If you need a more stoic reminder not to give up on your assignments completely, imagine the shark creeping its way out of the wooden barrel, watching you tread water from a distance. Although spring break gives us the time to relax, when it is time to return to class, we must find ways to motivate ourselves. It is all too overwhelming knowing there is work awaiting your return, especially midterms and finals. But summer will be around the corner sooner than you think.
While it may feel like we cannot stop, there is nothing wrong with a break, even though the one allotted by the academic calendar has ended. When a long day of classes seems like too much, take a walk in between classes to the High Line and enjoy what it has to offer. Indulge in the band’s presence and realize that life doesn’t have to be serious all the time. Use the quick rest to get clear on your highest priorities that will have you feeling confident in tackling the rest of the semester.
Go for a walk, look at the art along the High Line, and embrace the rest of the semester with open arms. We wish we could play forever on spring break but have to face the complexities of being college students. Let off some steam before you head back to class to finish the semester — bark if you have to.