[Gesamt]kunstwerk

1. Paint Samples from conservation of Jene Highstein's Black Sphere

Amanda Trienens
21st century
Painted cement in a variety of indoor and outdoor black paint
6 samples, 9.5 cm diameter each
Gift of Christine Mehring, Joel Snyder Materials Collection, 2023.126-131
 

On March 22, 1980, a perfectly round, giant black sphere emerged on Ellis Avenue. From 1976 to 1977, sculptor Jene Highstein created five of these sculptures, one of which arrived in Hyde Park on occasion of Highstein’s exhibition with the Renaissance Society. Black Sphere was moved to its current location—outside the Gordon Center for Integrative Science on 929 E. 57th Street—in October 2022 for the exhibition Monochrome Multitudes at the Smart Museum of Art (5550 S. Greenwood Avenue).

Seen here are six test paint samples used in the conservation process of Black Sphere for its 21st century reinstallation. Even for an object as materially continuous as this one, a degree of variability still persisted regarding what material(s) would be used in its restoration and ultimately what the new reconstruction would look like. At the crux of the effort was the essence of Black Sphere, yet its actual materialization was indeterminate until its completion. Further, due to its exposure to outdoor elements, what was once Black Sphere at its 2022 inauguration perhaps is not precisely the same Black Sphere we encounter today. 

The experimental nature of these samples and their contribution to the final product calls into question the blurry line between what does become part of an artwork and what does not. Though they, and much less their material, are not necessarily a physical component of Black Sphere, they are indubitably a part of the artwork’s manufacture. 

Further reading: 

• Black Sphere, Art in Public Spaces 
• Jene Highstein: Black Sphere, Renaissance Society 
• Monochrome Multitudes Campus Map 
• Integrally Colored Cement Outdoors, Joel Snyder Materials Collection
• Indoors 1 GPC 2 Redwing Mason 10% by weight limeproof black, Joel Snyder Materials Collection 
• Beeck Outdoors, Joel Snyder Materials Collection 
• Beeck Black C-655, Joel Snyder Materials Collection 
• Benjamin Moore Moorguard Black Inside, Joel Snyder Materials Collection 
• Benjamin Moore Outdoors, Joel Snyder Materials Collection

2. Brick from Max Palevsky Residential Commons
unknown manufacturer
ca. 2001
brick
9 (length) x 19.3 (width) x 3.7 cm (depth)
Joel Snyder Materials Collection 2022.1

Max Palevsky Residential Commons, located at 1101 E. 56th Street, is nothing short of an iconic campus monolith. Its idiosyncratic design by Mexican architect Ricardo Legorreta builds on his love of simple geometric patterns and bright colors, while standing out from the university’s otherwise gothic atmosphere. In fact, Legorreta intentionally chose the brightest face brick he could find to enunciate the structure’s contemporary feel as well as ensure that the building remains bright even in gloomy Chicago weather. 

Here, a brick from the dormitory is isolated from its construction. A unit so small and so singular nevertheless is the source of a structure’s support. 

Further reading: 

• Max Palevsky Residential Commons, University of Chicago Architecture 
• Max Palevsky Residence Hall, Legorreta
• Brick from Max Palevsky Residential Commons, Joel Snyder Materials Collection 

3. Brick Fragment from the Robie House
unknown manufacturer
ca. 1910
brick
4 x 4 5/8 in
Joel Snyder Materials Collection 2022.3

What you have before you is a fragment from the first United States Registered National Historic Landmark ever designated in the city of Chicago. The Frederick C. Robie House (5757 S. Woodlawn Avenue) is an architectural marvel by the renowned Frank Lloyd Wright since its inauguration in 1910.

The structure has lived through many stages in its lifetime—from being a family residence, to serving as a dormitory for the Chicago Theological Seminary, to being at risk (twice!) of demolition only to be saved by the passion of its original visionary.

Its red Roman brick is emblematic of the natural materials used in Prairie style architecture. Even in its broken form, such a simple material bears paramount complexity. 

Further reading:

• Robie House, University of Chicago Architecture 
• About the Robie House, Scholastic
• Frederick C. Robie House, Frank Lloyd Wright Trust
• Broken Brick, Robie House, Joel Snyder Materials Collection

4. McNICHOLS® Fiberglass Grating from Jessica Stockholder: For Events
McNichols (manufacturer)
2024
Molded, Rectangular Grid, MS-R-100, Fiberglass, SGF Polyester Resin, Yellow, 1" Grid 
Height, 1" x 4" Rectangular Grid, Grit Surface, 67% Open Area
16 x 18" sample cut from 36 x 120" piece
Joel Snyder Materials Collection, 2024.9

When a curved, wooden platform spawned in Hutchinson Courtyard (1131 E. 57th Street), it inevitably drew the attention of all who encountered it. The platform was a reinstallation of a sculpture by artist and former Department of Visual Arts faculty member Jessica Stockholder, and was reinstated on campus in honor of her retirement last spring. This piece of fiberglass is derived from the 2024 on-campus installation following its deinstallation. 

It seems almost counterintuitive for an arts institution to archive a material, especially one that is massively, industrially produced such as fiberglass. But the truth is they often do, and with ample reason. Why do archives collect these things? Do they retain any residue of the original artwork’s aura? How do the different iterations of a work accumulate in its life cycle?  

See also: Stockholder Chunks (2024) by Jake Quinlan

Further reading: 

• Jessica Stockholder: For Events, Logan Center Exhibitions 
• Jessica Stockholder: For Events, Art in Public Spaces 
• McNICHOLS® Fiberglass Grating, Joel Snyder Materials Collection

5. Lufthansa Airbus A300
Thomas Bayrle
1982
color serigraph on aluminum
11.5 (height) x 16.2 (width) x 1 cm (depth)
Joel Snyder Materials Collection 2021.2

This work, rather than being a fragment, can be more so described as fragmented. Lufthansa Airbus A300 is an edition of 300 serigraphs made exclusively for the eponymous airline by artist Thomas Bayrle. Bayrle is known for his depictions of pop culture iconography via what he refers to as “superform”, or an image composed of many smaller repeated images, as we see in this rendition of a Boeing 737-800 aircraft. 

This edition is unique, however, since it was damaged during shipment and fractured into several pieces. While its chasm may disqualify it from being exhibited as a unified artwork, it cannot be denied that its breakage is now part of its patina, its history. It also inevitably affects how the object can be encountered. Now, it can solely be placed and therefore experienced flatly, rather than potentially on a wall or on a stand; it has become an exclusively horizontal object.

Further reading: 

• Lufthansa Airbus A300, Joel Snyder Materials Collection 
• Thomas Bayrle - Airbus A300, Van Ham 
• Thomas Bayrle Serigraph, Frank Landau

6."Lime Button" candies from Felix Gonzalez-Torres, "Untitled" (L.A.), 1991, installed in Cochrane-Woods Art Center, May 1–August 10, 2023
Candy, plastic wrapper
Dimensions variable
Joel Snyder Materials Collection, 2023.134.1-5

In the early 90s, artist Félix González-Torres made 20 candy works, in which an endless supply of candy is placed on the floor and replenished at random by the exhibiting institution as visitors take pieces away. In 2022, “Untitled” (L.A.) came to the Smart Museum of Art (5550 S. Greenwood Avenue) on occasion of the exhibition Monochrome Multitudes. Besides being installed in the museum gallery, candy piles were also placed in Campus North Residential Commons (5500 S. University Avenue) and the Media Arts and Design (MAAD) Center in Crerar Library (5730 S. Ellis Avenue). 

After the exhibition ended, the loan on the candy work was still valid for several more months and there was an adequate supply of leftover candy. Thus, the work was installed once more in this very building, right up the adjacent stairs along the hallway of faculty offices. 

The green candies you see today are from a reserve housed in the Joel Snyder Materials Collection at the Visual Resources Center. While no longer considered an artwork by González-Torres in their present form, they carry the potential of being incorporated into one again in the future, solely by conceptual and not physical change. The genealogy of a material—and especially one so colloquial and indefinite as Félix González Torres' candies—wields a universe of its own. 

See also: Random assortment of candies from “Untitled” (Revenge) (1991) from the Renaissance Society

Further reading: 

• Monochrome Multitudes, Smart Museum of Art 
• Monochrome Multitudes Campus Map 
• "Untitled" L.A., CWAC Exhibitions 
• “Untitled” (L.A.), Art in Public Spaces 
• Sample of Lime Button candies, Joel Snyder Materials Collection 
• “Untitled” (Portrait of Ross in L.A.), Art Institute of Chicago

7. Celebration Ghost
Pierre Huyghe
ca. 2006-2016
pumpkin seeds
13 cm x 9.2 cm; 3 gm
Joel Snyder Materials Collection, 2021.22

Certificate for Celebration Ghost, ed. NR. 62 55/100
Pierre Huyghe
Ca. 2006-2010
inkjet on paper
8.5 in x 11 in
Joel Snyder Materials Collection Object Files

Now here is a work with potential. 

Artist Pierre Huyghe often works with the natural environment in creating his works. Pumpkins have made other appearances in his œuvre, such as with the site-specific garden installation La Saison des Fêtes (2010) at the Palacio de Cristal in Madrid, Spain. 

This particular work is an edition produced for Issue No. 62 / June 2006 of the contemporary art publication TEXTE ZUR KUNST, entitled “The Means of Art History.” The package includes seeds (and detailed growth instructions) for white pumpkins that are meant to be carved with an expression that is the cross between a classic Jack-O’-Lantern and Casper the Friendly Ghost. Huyghe posits Celebration Ghost as a “conceptual piece aiming at the future engagement of its owner,” and urges those who purchase it to “carve it, celebrate and take a photo with your monster, only then will the edition be complete.”

In this case, what one receives from the artist is not the complete work, but rather the fragmented means by which the work can be realized. This is the work in its preliminary stage. With this horticultural gesture, Huyghe emphasizes the importance of a viewer in making certain pieces of art complete. 

Further reading: 

• Celebration Ghost, Joel Snyder Materials Collection 
• Celebration Ghosts, Van Ham 
• Celebration Ghosts, MutualArt 
• La Saison des Fêtes, Marion Goodman Gallery 
• Pierre Huyghe. La saison des fêtes, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía

8. Fragments of Burned Painting on Canvas
George Peter Alexander Healy
19th century
canvas
dimensions variable
Joel Snyder Materials Collection, 2022.1.1-3

In its previous life, this canvas was formerly part of a painting by American portraitist George Peter Alexander Healy, before it was unfortunately lost in a fire. It was previously denoted as A Portrait of Norman Williams, yet was reattributed as more likely to be a portrait of John Crerar. It is thought to have arrived at the University of Chicago around 40 years ago in its burnt condition, and was formerly housed in the first floor Boardroom of Crerar Library (5730 S. Ellis Avenue). It was also a part of the Smart Museum of Art Campus Collection (like two other sets of objects in this exhibition: Set of Two Molds of Destroyed Crerar Library Arch and RA.CINV.15 Concrete Traffic) before being deaccessioned. 

Despite the uncertainties in this painting’s story and its unsalvageable condition, the remaining material serves as a physical memory of the work that it once was and an object on which to contemplate its former attributes. 

See also: Set of Two Molds of Destroyed Crerar Library Arch and RA.CINV.15 Concrete Traffic (n.d.) from the Smart Museum of Art

Further reading: 

• Burned Canvas, Joel Snyder Materials Collection 
• George Peter Alexander Healey, Art Institute of Chicago 
• George Peter Alexander Healey, Illinois Historical Art Project

9. 7000 Marks Pencil
Sarah Black and Amber Ginsburg
ca. 2016
wood, graphite
dimensions variable
Joel Snyder Materials Collection 2023.5

In 2016, artist and Department of Visual Arts faculty member Amber Ginsberg along with artist Sara Black encountered and felled a mature tanoak tree infected with Sudden Oak Death in California. With it, they formed the ongoing project 7000 Marks, engaging in environmental conservation and ecopolitics. 7000 pencils were first produced and installed statically in 2017 at the project’s hub, SPACES gallery in Cleveland, Ohio. Then, they were incorporated into a series of curated events involving a wide range of individuals, from immigration activists to science fiction writers. An edition of 500 pencils (from which the exhibited one is derived) were produced and distributed. 

The project is an allusion to Joseph Beuys' work 7000 Oaks, in which 7000 oak trees each with an accompanying basal stone were planted in Kassel, Germany on occasion of the documenta 7 exhibition. Beuys' project in Germany took five years to complete and was also expanded to Chelsea, New York as part of an initiative by the Dia Art Foundation.

Black and Ginsberg’s intervention pertains to aesthetic fragments both at its input and its output. For the production of the pencils, the infected oak tree was broken down into material. The distribution of individual pencils also disperses the art gesture through various individual objects, one of which you can see here. 

Further reading: 

• 7000 Marks Pencil, Joel Snyder Materials Collection 
• 7000 Marks, SPACES 
• 7000 Marks Artist-Made Pencil, Amber Ginsburg 
• Joseph Beuys, 7000 Oaks, Dia 
• 7000 Oak Trees, Tate

10. Iron Violet, Rust Red, Brown Ochre Reclaimed Earth Colors
Gamblin, collaboration with artist John Sabraw and engineer Guy Riefler
21st century
reclaimed earth pigments extracted from Sunday Creek, Ohio
dimensions variable
Joel Snyder Materials Collection 2024.11-13

In collaboration with artist John Sabraw, engineer Guy Riefler, environmentalist Michelle Shively, and a team of students at Ohio University, Portland-based paint manufacturer produced this collection of three Reclaimed Earth Colors. In the early 90s, the paint company originally made a shade entitled Torrit Grey from recycled pigment collected by their air filtration system. Following its success, and copious amounts of research, they made three more colors from a different source: Sunday Creek in Ohio. Each pigment in all three paints is derived from waters polluted by iron release from acid mines. While these particles intoxicate the water supply, they make for bright, natural, and safe oil paints.

The idiosyncrasy of this pigment demonstrates how materials themselves are part of things before becoming a part of an artwork. The Reclaimed Earth Colors are a potential part of an artwork composed from part of a body of water—one can paint with part of nature.

Further reading: 

• Iron Violet, Joel Snyder Materials Collection
• Rust Red, Joel Snyder Materials Collection
• Brown Ochre, Joel Snyder Materials Collection 
• Gessoed wood painting panel, Joel Snyder Materials Collection 
• Reclaimed Earth Colors, Gamblin Colors

11. Set of Two Molds of Destroyed Crerar Library Arch
Unknown fabricator
n.d.
silicone
33 x 24 ¾ in and 29 ⅝ x 25 ½ in
Courtesy of the Smart Museum of Art Campus Collection

At times, as we can observe throughout this exhibition, art institutions hold on to a vast variety of non-artwork objects for a number of reasons. On rare occasions, this practice even manifests in objects with completely unknown origins. Enter the objects at hand from the Smart Museum of Art (5550 S. Greenwood Avenue) registered as Set of Two Molds of Destroyed Crerar Library Arch. These silicone molds appear to be for a commemorative plaque or other marker with the University seal and Latin mottos. They were found in the basement of the museum with no adjoining documentation. They have since been attributed to an arch that used to be outside the entrance to the John Crerar Library (5730 S. Ellis Avenue) but is no longer standing. From images of the Library’s inauguratory year, 1984, it is not clear where (if anywhere) these molds created something. 

Although these molds still exist, the original iteration of their final product is no longer accessible to us. In fact, a new iteration using them is perhaps not possible either. The medium that created it is the only information we have available of its existence—whatever it was. 

Further reading: 

• Crerar Library, UChicago Photographic Archive
• Crerar Library, Wikipedia Image
• History of the John Crerar Library, UChicago Library

12. Concrete Traffic – Related Accessory
Wolf Vostell
ca. 21st century
concrete, wood (plastic, paper, graphite)
dimensions variable
Courtesy of the Smart Museum of Art Campus Collection

In January 1970, at the direction of Fluxus artist Wolf Vostell, a 1957 Cadillac Series 62 Sedan de Ville was encased in concrete at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago. Later that year, it was donated and transported to the University of Chicago. Its current location, just some feet away from CWAC in a ground-level spot of the North Parking Garage, was the result of a major conservation effort spearheaded by Department of Art History Professor Christine Mehring starting in 2012 and reaching completion in 2016. 

Encased here are fragments from the conservation process. Portions of the original car in its state prior to conservation and tests for refurbished sections are intermingled. Especially with an art object as vast and materially complex as Concrete Traffic, the line between original and restored (old and new) becomes increasingly blurred as it endures inevitable maintenance over the course of its life span. Through ever-changing material conditions, it ebbs and flows from decay to revival. All of its stages compound and accumulate into one—one Concrete Traffic.

Further reading: 

• Concrete Traffic, Art in Public Spaces 
• Concrete Happenings, Art in Public Spaces
• Material Matters, Neubauer Collegium

13. Joan of Arc
Lade Tinubu
2024
digital, mannequin, 3D printed objects, fabric, metal wires
2 min., 24 sec.
Courtesy of the artist, music courtesy of Stephanie Maria Melzi

Artist statement: Joan of Arc descends into madness.

Clips from Lights, camera, action! 
Lade Tinubu
2024
16 mm film
1 min., 28 sec.
Courtesy of the artist

Artist statement: Me when I.

14. Radiographs of Mr. Maciunas
Maryam Shariff
2025
56 projected 35mm slides
Courtesy of the Artist

“Promote living art, anti-art, promote NON ART REALITY, to be fully grasped by all peoples, not only critics, dilettantes, and professionals.” —George Maciunas

Meditations in an Emergency II
Maryam Shariff
16 projected 35mm slides
Courtesy of the Artist

Each time my heart is broken it makes me feel more adventurous (and how the same names keep recurring on that interminable list!), but one of these days there’ll be nothing left with which to venture forth.” —Frank O’ Hara

15. Stockholder Chunks
Jake Quinlan
2024
Industrial Fiberglass Flooring, 1" Plywood, Acrylic Polyurethane Sealant
8 x 6 x 1 inches
Courtesy of the artist 

“the issue of horizons, of floors, of testing assumptions, is not just a matter of getting rid of plinths, it is dependent on democratizing the ground.” —Antony Gormley

Further reading: 

• Jessica Stockholder: For Events, Logan Center Exhibitions 
• Jessica Stockholder: For Events, Art in Public Spaces

16. Brick from Leticia Pardo, greetings from chicagoacán (canasta básica), 2024, installed at SITE Sharp Gallery
concrete cinder block
15 ½  x 4 ⅝ x 7 ½  in
Courtesy of the curator

At first glance, this object and its counterparts look like the remnants of a construction site. Yet brick, in being such a foundational material, carries potential for infinite versatility both within a complete structure and independently. 

This object originates from a recent exhibition of Chicago-based artist Leticia Pardo’s work greetings from chicagoacán (canasta básica) at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago’s student-run SITE Sharp Gallery. The installation featured a series of Mexican products purchased in American supermarkets cast to scale in concrete. The casts were placed atop cinder blocks on the gallery floor. After the exhibition closed, SITE Sharp Gallery announced a free giveaway of the cinder blocks used in Pardo’s installation, hence this particular brick’s newfound home in CWAC. 

Pardo’s work, especially through the wider series greetings from chicagoacán that this installation is a part of, reflects on the architectural, visual and aesthetic codes of the Mexican diaspora in Chicago. Her gesture evokes the sense of structure otherwise provided by a cinder block, yet directed instead towards the permeance of Mexican identity.

While the bricks from Max Palevsky and Robie House are primarily for a structural purpose, and Pardo’s accumulated blocks are more conceptual, one could argue that all three embody both functions. Without their particular masonry, Max Palevsky and Robie House would have very different aesthetic profiles. Conversely, via her usage of concrete, Pardo alludes to materials of labor and provides a unique sense of structural support—one akin to a pedestal for her sculptures. 

Further reading: 

• Storefronts from Chicagoacán, SITE Sharp Gallery 
• space as narrative, Leticia Pardo 
• SITE Galleries, Instagram

17. Assortment of candies from Félix González-Torres, “Untitled” (Revenge), 1991, installed at the Renaissance Society
candy, plastic wrapper
dimensions variable
Courtesy of the Renaissance Society

In 1991, the University of Chicago campus was host to the first major American museum presentation of Félix González-Torres’ artworks. The exhibition, entitled Traveling, was co-organized by the Renaissance Society (a.k.a the Ren, 5811 S. Ellis Avenue, Cobb Hall, 4th Floor) along with the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden and the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art. It included several sculptures by González-Torres, including the candy work “Untitled” (Revenge), from which the displayed blue candies are derived from. 

Additionally, for the Ren’s centennial exhibition—Let Us Celebrate While Youth Lingers and Ideas Flow, Archives 1915–2015—the piece was reinstalled not only in the gallery offices, but also in its previous homes, Wieboldt Hall room 205 (1050 E. 59th Street) and Goodspeed Hall room 106 (1010 East 59th Street). 

The leftover reserve of candies that once constituted this work now lives in a drawer in the Ren’s office, free for the taking for those desperate for a snack at work and willing to brave three-decade-old sweets. Perhaps their nutritional appeal has eroded, but their significance in the history of the revered institution that is the Ren has only grown over time. 

In this display case, alongside pieces that were once González-Torres’ “Untitled” (L.A.), the non-artwork state of the candy is emphasized; it is now a stored material that was previously part of a work.

See also: Sample of Lime Button candies from the CWAC 2nd floor installation of Félix González-Torres' “Untitled” (L.A.) May 1–August 10, 2023 (1991) from the Joel Snyder Materials Collection

Further reading: 

• Félix González-Torres, Traveling, Renaissance Society 
• Let Us Celebrate, Renaissance Society 
• Monochrome Multitudes, Smart Museum 
• Monochrome Multitudes Campus Map 
• "Untitled" L.A., CWAC Exhibitions 
• “Untitled” (L.A.), Art in Public Spaces 
• “Untitled” (Portrait of Ross in L.A.), Art Institute of Chicago

18. Fragment of banner from Daniel Buren, Intersecting Axes: A Work in Situ, 1983, installed at the Renaissance Society, April 10–May 4, 1983
fabric banner
dimensions variable
Courtesy of the Renaissance Society

This piece of fabric is an extract from a larger work by the artist Daniel Buren. For his 1983 site-specific installation at the Renaissance Society (a.k.a the Ren, 5811 S. Ellis Avenue, Cobb Hall, 4th Floor), Buren employed his trademark vertically striped fabric printed in white with colored bands 8.7 centimeters wide. He installed the banners in a precise manner, taking the intersecting axes of the Ren gallery into account for his configuration. The fabric, an industrially manufactured product made to order, has been stored at the Ren since the exhibition’s deinstallation. 

What makes this extract of Buren’s work all the more interesting is that it was recently repurposed by another artist at the Ren for her own exhibition. Artist Ghislaine Leung, whose work often manifests in a series of “scores” or prompts that can be realized in different ways, brought the archived Buren fabric into the gallery to satisfy the “score: an object that is no longer an artwork.” 

The fabric was a product made by its manufacturer without any artwork denotation, then installed as an artwork by Daniel Buren, then revitalized as a new artwork by Ghislaine Leung particularly because of its non-artwork status. The extract we see here thus possesses a piece of the Ren’s both spatial and exhibition history. 

Further reading: 

• Daniel Buren, Renaissance Society 
• Ghislaine Leung, Renaissance Society

19. Fragment of transparent film from Puppies Puppies, Untitled (Beginning), 2023, installed at the Renaissance Society, May 13–July 2, 2023
vinyl
dimensions variable
Courtesy of the Renaissance Society

Before “brat”, there was Puppies Puppies. The artist Jade Guanaro Kuriki-Olivo, known also by her repetitive moniker, creates critical work across a variety of mediums that engage the personal and political aspects of everyday life. Many of her works can be identified by their idiosyncratic neon green hue, such as her exhibition at the New Museum last year. 

In the spring of 2023, her works Untitled (Beginning) (2022) and Komorebi (2022) were included in an exhibition at the Renaissance Society (a.k.a the Ren, 5811 S. Ellis Avenue, Cobb Hall, 4th Floor) by Shahryar Nashat and Bruce Hainley. Untitled (Beginning) takes the form of a neon green beaded curtain and Komorebi of green strobe lighting, and both were installed in the entrance foyer of the gallery. The green film that has been installed on the light above you is from the supply used for the Ren’s installation of Komorebi. 

In the particular case of this work, this simple part of the installation—the green vinyl placed over the strobe light sources—is the crux of its characteristic aesthetic. In its original installation, the part conceded to the whole, all portions were considered to constitute one art object, but now it has been disoriented from the “complete” work.

See also: Extract of film used in installation from Shahryar Nashat and Bruce Hainley’s work (2023) at the Renaissance Society

Further reading: 

• Puppies Puppies, Renaissance Society 
• Shahryar Nashat and Bruce Hainley Post Scriptum, Renaissance Society 
• Puppies Puppies, New Museum

20. Fragment of transparent film from Shahryar Nashat and Bruce Hainley, 2023, exhibition at the Renaissance Society, May 13–July 2, 2023
vinyl
dimensions variable
Courtesy of the Renaissance Society

Unlike the green film used for Puppies Puppies’ work, this film was not an official component of the installation it pertained to. Also a part of Shahryar Nashat and Bruce Hainley’s 2023 exhibition at the Renaissance Society (a.k.a the Ren, 5811 S. Ellis Avenue, Cobb Hall, 4th Floor), it was installed on the gallery windows in one of its corners. Additionally in this corner was an artwork composed of live dancers from Chicago dance studio Fly Club continuously performing pole dance during gallery hours. 

A part of an artwork is not always necessarily a portion of its materials, medium, or other physical composition. Rather, it can be something that cohabited its space, something that contributed to its presence. While the film was not necessarily a part of the dancers’ ongoing performance, it nevertheless was a stylistic choice that contributed to the construction of the ambiance of the work, and thus of the exhibition at large. 

See also: Extract of film used in installation from Puppies Puppies’ work (2022) at the Renaissance Society

Further reading:

• Puppies Puppies, Renaissance Society  
• Shahryar Nashat and Bruce Hainley Post Scriptum, Renaissance Society 
• Fly Club

21. Wallpaper from Ebecho Muslimova, FATEBE BIG SQUEEZE AT COBB HALL, 2021, installed at the Renaissance Society, September 12–November 7, 2021
dimensions variable
Courtesy of the Renaissance Society

For the Renaissance Society (a.k.a the Ren, 5811 S. Ellis Avenue, Cobb Hall, 4th Floor) exhibition Smashing into my heart, artist Ebecho Muslimova infiltrated the fourth floor hallway of Cobb Hall with a sprawling wallpaper and floor decal featuring her quintessential, larger-than-life drawings. This edition was properly titled FATEBE BIG SQUEEZE AT COBB HALL (2021). Although when the show came down, the wallpaper went down with it, the Ren’s team left little Easter egg remnants of the decal in the hallway—if you look hard enough. They also have a remaining, unused portion of the wallpaper left in the gallery office, from which this display originates. 

Installed as a chasm from its original, the placement of this wallpaper alludes to something missing from its aesthetic. Moreover, as this portion was perhaps never a part of the original, complete display of the wallpaper, can it even be considered a part of the artwork? Especially when something such as wallpaper is bounded by the space it occupies, it leads one to wonder, what encompasses the part and what constitutes the whole?

Further reading: 

• Smashing into my heart, Renaissance Society 
• desire-in-uneasiness, Renaissance Society

22. Unused material for potential artwork from Ghislaine Leung, Holdings, 2024, installed at the Renaissance Society
dresses
dimensions variable 
Courtesy of the Renaissance Society 

Sometimes, parts of an artwork are things that never became an actual artwork. This is the case with these objects from artist Ghislaine Leung, who had an exhibition in early 2024 at the Renaissance Society (a.k.a the Ren, 5811 S. Ellis Avenue, Cobb Hall, 4th Floor). Leung’s practice widely involves what she refers to as “scores”, which function as sort of prompts that guide what objects are transformed into her artworks. For instance, five out of eight total works in the exhibition were guided by “Score: An object that is no longer an artwork.” When deciding what objects would satisfy her self-given instructional prompts, Leung considered a wide variety of objects, including these dresses. Now living in the storage of the Ren, these dresses occupy the particular area of almost, but not quite an artwork.

The chair that hosts these dresses is a fragment of an artwork in its own right, too. As a satellite installation to For Events by Jessica Stockholder (April 1 – May 5, 2024), a video work by Alex Da Corte entitled A Love Letter was installed on the second floor monitor of CWAC from April 1 to May 10, 2024. Three red foldable chairs were installed as seating. One is repurposed here. 

See also: “Scarf” by Neïl Beloufa (2021) from the Renaissance Society, McNICHOLS® Fiberglass Grating from Jessica Stockholder: For Events from the Joel Snyder Materials Collection, and Clips from Lights, camera, action! & Joan of Arc by Lade Tinubu

Further reading: 

• Ghislaine Leung, Renaissance Society
• Alex Da Corte: A Love Letter, CWAC Exh 
• Jessica Stockholder: For Events, Logan Center Exhibitions 
• Jessica Stockholder: For Events, Art in Public Spaces

23. “Scarf”
Neïl Beloufa
2016–2021
steel, resin, pigment
dimensions variable
Courtesy of the Renaissance Society

It’s interesting to think about what could have been. 

This object is connected to the sink also installed in the lounge. It originates from Neïl Beloufa’s sculpture Untitled (2016–2021), which was installed as part of the 2021 group exhibition Smashing into my heart at the Renaissance Society (a.k.a the Ren, 5811 S. Ellis Avenue, Cobb Hall, 4th Floor). However, more akin to Ghislaine Leung’s dresses, it was never part of the final installed artwork. It was an extra component rendered by Beloufa during the creation of Untitled, named colloquially as a “scarf” regarding its vaguely similar construction, and nearly made it into the exhibition. Although the artist ultimately omitted it from the final artwork, it has since hung on a wall of the Ren’s offices and occupies the rare state of almost an artwork.

See also: Sink from original installation by Neïl Beloufa (2016–2021) at the Renaissance Society, and Unused artwork by Ghislaine Leung (2024) from the Renaissance Society

Further reading: 

• Smashing into my heart, Renaissance Society 
• desire-in-uneasiness, Renaissance Society 
• Neïl Beloufa at François Ghebaly, Art Viewer

24. Cup used in performance of The Internet, 2015, by Mårten Spångberg 
2018
paper cup, rubber
3 ½ in diameter, 5 ½ in height
Courtesy of the Renaissance Society

Every year, revered south side contemporary art museum the Renaissance Society (a.k.a the Ren, 5811 S. Ellis Avenue, Cobb Hall, 4th Floor) organizes a massive fundraiser. In 2018, they shifted gears from their usual art auction to what is now the current tradition: an eventful gala conjured up by an artist or group of artists. This first iteration of the event, adequately titled “Wildcard”, featured several interventions by a variety of creatives, including a performance of a work entitled The Internet (2015) by Swedish choreographer, dancer, and artist Mårten Spångberg. The work involves a wide expanse of choreographed movements, spatial arrangements, and sculptural elements, including cups like the one you see here. 

Since the event, this residue of the performance has inhabited the Ren’s office space—on a shelf right next to the kitchen, in fact. Here, it finds a similar environment, likewise in an attempt to memorialize an ephemeral moment from “Wildcard”. 

Further reading: 

• The RenBen Plays a Wildcard, Classic Chicago Magazine 
• Mårten Spångberg: THE INTERNET, Index Foundation

25. Sink from Neïl Beloufa, Untitled, 2016–2021, installed at the Renaissance Society, September 12–November 7, 2021
steel, resin, pigment
54 ½  x 24 in
Courtesy of the Renaissance Society

Artist Neïl Beloufa’s sculpture Untitled (2016–2021) was a part of the 2021 group exhibition Smashing into my heart at the Renaissance Society (a.k.a the Ren, 5811 S. Ellis Avenue). The work was essentially a steel construction of a kitchen—complete with flowers on the windowsills—adorned with several resin embellishments. In prior installations, such as the artist’s 2016 exhibition at François Ghebaly gallery, the steel structure served as a skeleton to wield monitors playing his video works, rather than a standalone sculpture. In its presentation at the Ren, Untitled was adapted from its original presence to be an independent object. 

The “sink” you see is a remnant of the original, complete steel structure and is stored at the Ren post-installation. In its sequential iterations, Beloufa’s Untitled has become a part of a part. Overall, given its outline of a familiar kitchen asset, it’s as if it were a part of our conception of the home as well. 

See also: “Scarf” (2016–2021) by Neïl Beloufa from the Renaissance Society, and Wallpaper used in hallway installation (2021) from original installation by Ebecho Muslimova at the Renaissance Society

Further reading: 

• Smashing into my heart, Renaissance Society 
• desire-in-uneasiness, Renaissance Society 
• Neïl Beloufa at François Ghebaly, Art Viewer

26. Bench from by Devin T. Mays, Intermissions, 2024, performance at the Renaissance Society, April 20–21, 2024
Fabricated by Pierre Sondeijker
Plywood
93 ½  x 24 in
Courtesy of the Renaissance Society

Every University of Chicago building has its characteristic furniture. On the fourth floor of Cobb Hall, where the Renaissance Society is located (a.k.a the Ren, 5811 S. Ellis Avenue), several long wooden benches serve as seating in the hallway. Often, the Ren will use these benches for seating in the gallery—for talks, performances, or even exhibitions themselves. Particularly in the case of artist Devin T. Mays’ two-day performance last year, more of these benches were fabricated by the Ren’s Exhibitions Manager Pierre Sondeijker to increase seating all throughout the gallery space. The duplicates are distinguishable by the distinct light beige shade of the plywood in contrast with the darker wood of the originals. Following Mays’ performance, these benches were returned to their long-term location in the hallway, including this duplicate.

Furniture in an exhibition space, as unaffiliated with the artwork as it may seem, nevertheless plays a part at least in the experience of the work. This particular seating carries many other experiential qualities to it. Most of the time, it functions as seating for students, faculty, and other UChicago affiliates as they navigate the fourth floor of Cobb during class time. Other times, as aforementioned, the Ren uses it for visitors to its programming. At times, it can even serve as a bridge between the contemporary exhibitions at the Ren and its academic home at UChicago, whether that be through seated students noticing the peculiar non-classroom at the end of the hall or Ren visitors marveling at the scholastic feel of a museum’s location. Whether inside or outside of the gallery, benches like this one become tied to the art they support the viewing of. 

Further reading: 

• Intermission, Devin T. Mays, Renaissance Society

27. Exhibition Poster
Anna Gray & Ryan Wilson Paulsen
2013
Print, Offset edition from the 18x24 series
18 x 24 in
Courtesy of the Renaissance Society

A longstanding practice of the Renaissance Society (a.k.a the Ren, 5811 S. Ellis Avenue, Cobb Hall, 4th Floor) is to produce a poster for each exhibition it hosts. However, for the 2014 group show Teen Paranormal Romance, artists Anna Gray & Ryan Wilson Paulsen chose to harness the traditional Ren poster as their medium. The poster functioned and was printed just as a typical Ren poster would be: it was not installed anywhere in the gallery, but rather mass-produced and distributed. (Note: While a Ren exhibition is open, its corresponding poster is typically offered to museumgoers free of charge. Archival posters from prior shows are available for purchase at the museum and via its online store).

What distinguished this particular poster from its categorical counterparts was its inclusion in the checklist of works in the exhibition and consequential designation as an artwork—one of indefinite editions. By its own nature, this work is factioned, meant to exist in identical parts, poster by poster. 

Further reading: 

• Teen Paranormal Romance, Renaissance Society 
• Teen Paranormal Romance: Works In Exhibition, Renaissance Society 
• Teen Paranormal Romance, Poster, Renaissance Society 
• Renaissance Society Store