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Kim Schmahmann, Bureau of Bureaucracy, 1993-1999, various hardwoods, veneers, marquetry, mother of pearl, gold leaf, and brass, 96 x 36 x 24 in. (243.8 x 91.4 x 61.0 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of an anonymous donor, 2000.48A-H, © 1993, Kim S. Schmahmann
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Artwork Details
- Title
- Bureau of Bureaucracy
- Artist
- Date
- 1993-1999
- Location
- Not on view
- Dimensions
- 96 x 36 x 24 in. (243.8 x 91.4 x 61.0 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
- Subjects
- 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
November 13, 2015–March 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.