The MoMA Wall
Elizabeth Diller
American, born Poland 1954
Ricardo Scofidio
American, 1935–2025
Diller + Scofidio
est. 1981
2003
This two-minute color video shows a mechanized drill mounted on a metal rig systematically boring a column of holes into the museum's white wall, turning a quiet surface into a deliberate, visible action by the artist.
What hits you first is the clinical choreography—the yellow drill and aluminum apparatus puncturing the pristine white plane in precise rhythm, casting long shadows while the steady, repetitive sound transforms the wall into a staged performance.
By operating directly on the museum wall, Diller collapses art and architecture into a single act, demystifying the institution’s surfaces and calling attention to construction, labor, and the performative possibilities of design.
Medium
Video (color, sound)
Dimensions
Duration: 2 min., 45 sec.
Classification
Department
Credit
Gift of the architects
Accession
1773.2008
Palette
Exhibitions
