Organized by Jackie Apple, guest curator

"A majority of the works [from these alternative spaces] were process oriented and situationally specific, involving a relationship between materials, concepts, actions, and locations. They were sometimes spontaneous, improvisational, open-ended and often collaborative. The works existed within a given time and then ceased to exist. As a result much of this work was labeled 'ephemeral,' the intent being to create an experience rather than a product, and new terms were devised to describe it, such as 'installation' and 'performance.' . . . Galleries and museums could not and did not recognize and accommodate this kind of work. In response, during the period in which this exhibition deals, artists out of necessity created and took control of their own contexts."

Jacki Apple, Alternatives in Retrospect catalogue.

“Alternatives in Restrospect [was] an historical overview of the artist-generated alternative spaces that were active in New York City during the 1970’s.
These spaces—Gain Ground, Apple, 98 Greene Street, 112 Greene Street Workshop, 10 Bleeker Street, Idea Warehouse, and 3 Mercer—no longer exist. Similarly, much of the work created by the artists no longer exists. Many pieces had been primarily process oriented and situation-specific—existing only within a given time. Involving a relationship between materials, actions, and locations, the works were often spontaneous, improvisational, collaborative, and addressed issues on intent and context.

Alternatives in Retrospect will feature paintings, installation documentation and drawings, and photo-text works; sculpture, installations, and artifacts; performances and process installations; and films (on videotape)…

Alternatives in Retrospect is, in a sense, an ‘archeological’ exhibition intended to provide, along with the catalog, a clearer understanding of and perspective on the social, economic and esthetic forces that created the alternative movement and the seminal work that took place within it.”

-From The New Museum Press Release