Artist Suzanne Bocanegra's four pieces took over the public spaces of the Fabric Workshop, which inhabits a lovely old building (formerly a flag factory) in downtown Philadelphia.
Was it an extravagant free public artwork, mounted in a city park as a gift to the people? Or a very expensive billboard, a glowing arrow pointing at a big new real-estate development?
While Performa 17's haphazardness at times seemed wrongheaded—the curatorial gatekeeping was simply not strict enough—there was an argument hidden in the overabundance. The mess and the potluck…