Bureau of Bureaucracy

Copied Kim Schmahmann, Bureau of Bureaucracy, 1993-1999, various hardwoods, veneers, marquetry, mother of pearl, gold leaf, and brass, 963624 in. (243.891.461.0 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of an anonymous donor, 2000.48A-H, © 1993, Kim S. Schmahmann

Artwork Details

Title
Bureau of Bureaucracy
Date
1993-1999
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
963624 in. (243.891.461.0 cm)
Copyright
© 1993, Kim S. Schmahmann
Credit Line
Gift of an anonymous donor
Mediums Description
various hardwoods, veneers, marquetry, mother of pearl, gold leaf, and brass
Classifications
Keywords
  • Architecture — civic
  • Allegory — civic
  • Object — written matter — book
Object Number
2000.48A-H

Artwork Description

Schmahmann’s Bureau of Bureaucracy re-interprets the sixteenth-century European “cabinet of curiosities,” used to house wondrous, exotic objects. Instead of rare stones and fossils, this cabinet holds certificates, diplomas, licenses, medical reports, and financial statements, bureaucratic documents that reflect and define our lives in contemporary society. Behind the functional exterior of this piece lies a surreal array of inverted perspectives, false drawers, and hidden compartments—the artist’s subtle commentary on the true nature of bureaucracies.

Connections: Contemporary Craft at the Renwick Gallery, 2019

Exhibitions

Media - 2016.11 - SAAM-2016.11_6 - 124929
Connections: Contemporary Craft at the Renwick Gallery
November 13, 2015March 6, 2022
Connections is the Renwick Gallery’s dynamic ongoing permanent collection presentation, featuring more than 80 objects celebrating craft as a discipline and an approach to living differently in the modern world.