The Ballad of Sexual Dependency

The Ballad of Sexual Dependency by Nan Goldin, an essayistic slideshow of nearly 700 photos taken by Nan Goldin throughout the 1970s and 80s was recently taken down from exhibition at MoMA. In a scramble to see this piece before being taken down, I rushed the day before its end to wait in line and to see what my reaction would be. I had seen a small segment merely two days before, and found myself moved by the work in a way that I couldn't explain, and I needed to see more. So, on the 15th of April, i went to MoMA, wormed my way into the room where it was being shown to a packed and rapt audience, and sat through the entirety of the piece twice. And afterwards, I found myself so moved by the piece, so in need to preserve my connection to the work, that I immediately went to the bookstore on the premises and bought the photo book collection of roughly 250 of the photos from the work. To hold on to the memory of the work, and the powerful effect it had on me. I ended up crying three times that day, twice during the show itself and once hours later at the memory of the piece. I haven't been moved by art so strongly in some time, and that I was able to see this just days before it would be taken down, and unknown years before I would ever be able to see this work again, fills me with an energy and hope. To see it in its original 35mm slide format only enhanced the experience

Raananah Sarid-Segal