In a way, his works are like a butterfly collection - a vain attempt to capture fleeting, elusive life and beauty, by meticulous means.

September 13, 2002 9:43 AM

In a way, his works are like a butterfly collection - a vain attempt to capture fleeting, elusive life and beauty, by meticulous means. Joseph Cornell (1903-72), one of many misunderstood and underrepresented american artists IMO. A few of his boxes on WebMuseum.
posted by poopy (11 comments total)

Cornell boxes are truly wonderful. I see echos of his work in Dave McKean and Nick Bantock. There are a few of his works on display at the Art Institute of Chicago for those of you here in the Midwest.
posted by aladfar at 9:47 AM on September 13, 2002

I love his works - first saw them in Chicago at the Institute & now I look for more in any museums I visit. To me, they are evocative of the cabinets of curiosity tradition. Here are a few more examples of Cornell's work along with a brief biog.
posted by madamjujujive at 10:11 AM on September 13, 2002

the chicago art institute's collection is the largest body of his work...about twenty pieces, all with their original gadgets (lights, whatnot) restored to original condition. some lovely biographical notes as well. one major point missing from the linked article above is that almost all of his works were made as personal gifts for friends.
posted by patricking at 11:11 AM on September 13, 2002

Beautiful stuff, thanks.
posted by gottabefunky at 11:13 AM on September 13, 2002

reminds me of the virek collection in count zero :)

...Marly was lost in the box, in its evocation of impossible distances, of loss and yearning. It was somber, gentle, and somehow childlike. It contained seven objects.

The slender fluted bone, surely formed for flight, surely from the wing of some large bird. Three archaic circuit boards, faced with mazes of gold A smooth white sphere of baked clay. An age-blackened fragment of lace. A finger-length segment of what she assumed was bone from a human wrist, grayish white, inset smoothly with the silicon shaft of a small instrument that must once have ridden flush with the surface of the skin but the thing's face was seared and blackened.

The box was a universe, a poem, frozen on the boundaries of human experience.

3D collage!
posted by kliuless at 11:22 AM on September 13, 2002

one major point missing from the linked article above is that almost all of his works were made as personal gifts for friends.

Yeah, I agree. However, the article seems to focus more on his work rather than his life. For a great glimpse into the man and his motivations, read Utopia Parkway: The Life and Work of Joseph Cornell (link is only excerpt from chp 1).

I love his works - first saw them in Chicago at the Institute & now I look for more in any museums I visit.

I first became fascinated by his work in books. Then, in Richmond,VA I saw some examples at the local museum and Yes! I was dumbfounded; The intimacy and delicacy he poured into them was astounding, mesmerizing.
posted by poopy at 11:25 AM on September 13, 2002

One of the worst pieces at this year's Whitney Biennial summarized a seance among a few young artists as they attempted to contact the ghost of Joseph Cornell. It was just a report, about an event that had already taken place. I'm not sure qhat it critiqued/deconstructed/brought into question, but that seemed to be the single criterion for getting into the show, so it must have done something.
posted by risenc at 11:40 AM on September 13, 2002

Thank you! I have been in love with the work of Cornell for several years and everytime I'm in Chicago I kidnap new people to take them to see the Art Insitute's wonderful collection of his work.

The curated commentary at the Art Insitute (from my perspective, anyway) seems a bit dismissive of Cornell. The folks who donated the Cornell collection were personal friends of the artist and donated a bunch of money on the condition that the Cornell display be established--thus I detect a certain coldness to the curator's installation.

For me the *best* part of the exhibit is seeing some boxes "in the round" as opposed to mounted on the wall. On a couple you can see typewritten instructions prepared by Cornell indicating how components of the boxes were to be displayed "in case of derangement." Instructions indicating, for example, that a small piece of coral in one of the Soap Bubble Sets is to be delicately positioned in a sherry glass. Beautiful, provocative, moving work.
posted by donovan at 12:02 PM on September 13, 2002

Nice link... I'm reading a book about Cornell right now, loaned to me from donovan, above. Many of these boxes seem like archaic whoop-de-doo flash web sites to me. Love to imagine where the links might go in Cornell site...
posted by rhruska at 12:27 PM on September 13, 2002

It is pleasing to the eye.
posted by stbalbach at 3:07 PM on September 13, 2002

I quickly took a copy of the Joseph Cornell Reader by Dore Ashton home from work after seeing a few of his pieces at a museum and being sad there weren't more. Dore Ashton was a close friend and had access to his early work with dance magazines. Odd man, but wonderful work.
posted by rodz at 6:39 PM on September 13, 2002