The photo closet holds photographic documents relating to the activities of the Institute of Cultura Inquiry.
We began to create projects to bring focus to the AIDS pandemic over 20 years ago. Born out of feelings of loss and rage, these projects challenged us to abandon our long held beliefs about art. Rejecting notions of artist personality and artwork as commodity, … Continue readingICI Technic: The Gift
Discovery is the cornerstone of all we do here at the ICI but is especially important to our processes of visual research. Almost all our projects have emerged from a small disruption or an accumulation of slips – in vision, in speech, in word, thought, … Continue readingICI Technic: Discovery
In a memorial service for one of our founding associates, cigars, food, money, and a healthy shot of whiskey were used to conjure up Papa Legba, the spirit guardian of the Crossroads. Incantation derives from Middle English, from the Anglo-French enchanter, reminding us that the casting of spells … Continue readingICI Technic: Incantation
As visual thinkers, we often resort to the impromptu diagram to help bring us through a conceptual morass. Through the years, we have taken this conceit one step further in our belief that our nascent theories and philosophies should lend themselves to a visual form. … Continue readingICI Technic: Diagramming
TITLE: Photo of the ‘dirt hole’ at the Sanctuary in Chimayo, New Mexico (c. 1994). DESCRIPTION: Photo of ‘dirt hole’ inside the sanctuary. Since the 1900s, the dirt has been linked to numerous miraculous cures. Over 1/4 of a million people make the pilgrimage to this … Continue readingEarth Cabinet: Chimayo dirt
ACCESSION #: ICI-22214-d TITLE: “What Remains” DESCRIPTION: Aerial view of Köln, Germany c. 1945. This northern German city endured over 1,000 bombings during World War II. Remarkably, the medieval cathedral at the center of the city withstood this bombardment. Its haunting presence inverts the usual concept … Continue readingEPHEMERA KABINETT: 1945 photograph of Köln after WWII allied bombing
TITLE: “Dreaming” DESCRIPTION: An iconic image from Axel Forrester’s archive that has figured prominently in ICI mythology. Donor: Lise Patt ICI LOCATION: Photo Cabinet ICI HISTORY: Laboratory Blog: HOLES (revisited) rhizome (12/2012)
Title: “Sebald’s Holes” Description: Photo field document from an ICI Interpretive Field project – Searching for Sebald. Many photos were taken on that trip, some of which seem to come from deep memories that had yet to form in consciousness. Only when the group returned … Continue readingEPHEMERA KABINETT: Sebald’s Grave Holes
Title: Memorial to Nazi Book Burning in Berlin Description: The memorial was created by Micha Ullman to commemorate the Nazi-initiated book-burning event on May 10, 1933. The memorial is simple, a glass covered hole in the middle of a large plaza reveals four white, empty … Continue readingEPHEMERA KABINETT: Book Burning Memorial in Berlin
Title: The Gates of Hell in Turkmenistan” Description: A hole in the earth that has burned continuously since 1971. In that year a group of geologists accidentally tapped into a deposit of natural gas. A hole quickly developed as the methane gas escaped from the … Continue readingEPHEMERA KABINETT: Gates of Hell