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The Backdrop of (US)American History…

This past weekend I paid the new Modern Wing at The Art Institute a visit (it’s an absolutely stunning addition). There were two instillations that I found particularly interesting, this being the first. The picture above is wallpaper, yes wallpaper. The image repeats itself throughout this huge room in the most disturbing way. In the center of the room was a wedding dress and bags of cat liter lined the edges. It was the work of Robert Gober and it is genius. Below is how he described this particular body of work:

The painful imagery depicted on the wallpaper in this 1989 installation was meant as a reminder of fact—the ugly and unforgettable reality of the United States’ history. By putting this image onto endlessly repeating wallpaper, I made an attempt to say, metaphorically, that this was not an isolated event and that in ways it has become our background.

The sculpture of the empty wedding dress is a vase waiting to be filled. It represents the supposed white purity that often triggered or justified the violence depicted on the walls. It also represents a vessel that is ready to be filled with all of the optimistic hopes and dreams of marriage. And to many Americans, Gay Americans (as estimated 10 percent of our population), it is a reminder of equality denied.

The sculptures of bags of cat litter are the link between the violent imagery and the wedding dress, the metaphorical fulcrum. Cat litter both absorbs the stench of excrement (the wallpaper) and it allows for domestic intimacy (think diapers). It is also a reminder of the sacred vows that those who wear the dress profess—to care for the body of your loved ones “in sickness and in health, till death do us part.” -Robert Gober