Fresh Air Cart
1972
Performance, cart: 175.3 x 165.1 x 85.1 cm.
Materials: steel cart with nylon canopy, two seats, oxygen tank
Wall Street, and 42nd Street and Vanderbilt Avenue, New York
In his works Matta-Clark dealt with issues of urban ecology and his Fresh Air Cart pointedly critized the unhealthy quality of our air. This antipollution performance made use of this small vehicle that he constructed. It was equipped with a tank of "pure air" that was administered through oxygen masks to passersby. Matta-Clark staged the event under the pseudonym George Smudge, publicizing him as a "para-medical philanthropist".