Graphite on paper, 2018. 14 by 11 inches.
From 2007 to 2018, Esopus partnered with the Museum of Modern Art Archives to present “Modern Artifacts,” a series—and eventually a book—that reproduced treasures from the collection, curated by MoMA’s Chief of Archives, Library, and Research Collections, Michelle Elligott. For Esopus 18 (Spring 2012), Michelle suggested doing an installment on MoMA’s groundbreaking 1969 exhibition Spaces, which was one of the first major shows to cover installation art. As a part of the editorial process of every issue, I would visit the archives to peruse and often photograph specific materials Michelle had collected. Here, Michelle (left finger) and I (right finger) hold open a photo binder to a spread showing a work by Robert Morris. A similar spread appeared in the issue (with fingers removed, courtesy of Photoshop).