Image not available

Nan Goldin

The Ballad of Sexual Dependency

1979-2004

Multimedia installation with 35mm slides and a programmed soundtrack

Not on view

In this installation, viewers are given access to the private relationships, conflicts, and environments of Goldin's social circle. A documentary snapshot of New York counterculture, the work is also an exploration of what Goldin has described as a universal "struggle between autonomy and dependency." It had its origin in slide projections in the artist's loft in New York's Lower East Side in the 1970s; by 1981 the ever–changing and ephemeral performance had matured and moved from apartments and club spaces to galleries and museums, and in 1996 it took the form of this multimedia installation. The narrative sequences of Goldin's intense, colorful photographs with musical accompaniment, influenced by film, trace a range of personal interactions and individual identities.

Gallery label from

Here Is Every. Four Decades of Contemporary Art, September 10, 2008–March 23, 2009.

Medium Multimedia installation with 35mm slides and a programmed soundtrack
Duration 43 min.
Credit Committee on Photography Fund and The Photography Council Fund
Object number 241.2004
Department Photography

Explore more

Nan Goldin

Nan Goldin

American, born 1953 21 works online

Nan Goldin’s photographs are like pages of a diary, sharing at once the intimacy of ordinary connections , the isolation of abuse , and the joyful abandon of being with friends.

Learn more →
All works by Nan Goldin →

Installation views

We have identified this work in the following photos from our exhibition history.

How we identified these works
In 2018–19, MoMA collaborated with Google Arts & Culture Lab on a project using machine learning to identify artworks in installation photos. That project has concluded, and works are now being identified by MoMA staff.

If you notice an error, please contact us at [email protected].
Licensing
To reproduce installation views, please contact Art Resource (publication in North America) or Scala Archives (publication in all other geographic locations). You will need to include the object identification number found in the caption.
Feedback
This record is a work in progress. If you have additional information or spotted an error, please send feedback to [email protected].

Licensing

Artwork or archival images

If you would like to reproduce an image of a work of art in MoMA's collection, or an image of a MoMA publication or archival material (including installation views, checklists, and press releases), please contact Art Resource (publication in North America) or Scala Archives (publication in all other geographic locations).

Audio and film clips

MoMA licenses archival audio and select out of copyright film clips from our film collection. At this time, MoMA produced video cannot be licensed by MoMA/Scala. All requests to license archival audio or out of copyright film clips should be addressed to Scala Archives at [email protected]. Motion picture film stills cannot be licensed by MoMA/Scala. For access to motion picture film stills for research purposes, please contact the Film Study Center at [email protected]. For more information about film loans and our Circulating Film and Video Library, please visit Circulating Film and Video Library.

Text from a publication or the archives

If you would like to reproduce text from a MoMA publication, please email [email protected]. If you would like to publish text from MoMA's archival materials, please fill out this permission form and send to [email protected].

Feedback

This record is a work in progress. If you have additional information or spotted an error, please fill out this feedback form.