Category Archives: Ephemera Kabinett

The Ephemera Kabinett holds unclassifiable cultural detritus including: unpublished manuscripts, souvenirs from cultural sites and events, research notes from forgotten bodies of knowledge, and a number of the Institute’s smaller collections, cataloged under such topics as Dust; the Creaturely; Any Space Whatever; and What Photography Wants. Housed in an old sheet music cabinet, the contents of the Kabinett are constantly being moved from drawer to drawer based on current ICI interests and a shuffling process that occurs after each new addition. Our definition of ephemera is located somewhere between the more obscure term ephemeris, that denotes a record or daily journal, and Bucky Fuller’s concept of ephemeralization, whereby the rate of obsolescence of any object is directly related to the speed by which the parts of that item can be recycled into new machines or contrivances. In this way the Ephemera Kabinett is not just a record of the past but a toolbox for a future rushing to meet us. You can see more items in our Ephemera Kabinett on our pinterest page.