No place like home

Kamien-Kazhdan, Adina (ed.)

This colorful and intriguing publication focuses on an experimental 2017 exhibition celebrating the centennial of Marcel Duchamp’s iconic Fountain, which saw objects-turned-artworks brought into a mock home within the Israel Museum. In the exhibition ‘No Place Like Home,’ various pieces of art were put on display to illustrate the creative use of domestic spaces and objects, which have increasingly emerged in modern and contemporary art practices. Altering material, scale, perspective, and employing hybridization or fragmentation, the displayed works range in composition and utilized a variety of objects from the early 20th through the early 21st century that provoked fresh responses to the displacement of familiar items and raised questions about gender roles, family, perspective, and spaces. Designed to challenge the viewer’s traditional outlook on the conventional usage of common household objects, this unusual and fascinating presentation is thought-provoking and visually appealing.
This lively, IKEA-inspired catalog presents these works together along with illuminating essays written by architect Esther Sperber, who reflects on the relationship between architecture and psychoanalysis; Cambridge art historian Alyce Mahon, who focuses on gender and domesticity; and exhibition curator Adina Kamien-Kazhdan, who explores the notions of space, displacement, and movement. An exceptional publication that is sure to captivate the attention of any reader, this outstanding volume will make the perfect addition to the personal libraries of any student, art enthusiast, or historian looking to expand their knowledge of art and its many forms!