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Modern Artifacts 18: The Young Turks
Introduction by Michelle Elligott
Materials from the MoMA Archives related to the Museum's vital Junior Council
Timothy Leary: A User's Manual
Introduction by Jensen Davis
Psychedelic Prayers by the countercultural legend
Public Access 2: Half-Explored Trails
Introduction by Isaac Gewirtz
Fascinating materials from the Vladimir Nabokov archive at the NYPL
Circles of Friendship
Introduction by Elizabeth C. Denlinger
An exquisite object from the New York Public Library’s Pforzheimer Collection
Modern Artifacts 17: Modern Renaissance
Introduction by Michelle Elligott
Materials related to 1940 MoMA blockbuster
Modern Artifacts 16: The Living Garden
Introduction by Michelle Elligott
Materials from the MoMA Archives relating to its sculpture garden
Found Objects: Here I Am
From the collection of Peter Cohen
These anonymous photographs are all about me—and us.
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Modern Artifacts 15: The Healing Arts
Introduction by Michelle Elligott
Materials related to MoMA’s “Arts in Therapy” program for WW II vets
Art for Art’s Sake: Sketchbook by Otto Mühl
From the Getty Research Institute
A transgressive figure finds inspiration in a surprising source
Editor's Note
By Tod Lippy
Introducing our largest issue, devoted to personal and institutional archives
Floating Colors
Interview with Dick Sheaff
Exquisite marbled papers from the Sheaff Paper Ephemera Collection
Modern Artifacts 13: Seitz Specific
Introduction by Michelle Harvey
Re-locating the work of Claude Monet
Between the Lines
Interview with Rich Remsberg
Used coloring book pages from the collection of Rich Remsberg
81 Cassettes
Interview with Janine St. Germain
Tape recordings from the Christopher Knowles Archives
Heads and Shoulders
Introduction by Jessica Harris
Postcards from the collection of Jessica Harris
Just Vitriol
Interview with Toby Mott
Thatcher-Era ephemera from The Mott Collection
Xerox/Rock/Art
Interview with Carol McCranie and Javier Magri
Stephen Sprouse materials from the McCranie/Magri Archives
Artist's Project: Mark Dion
By Mark Dion
Curated images from the archives of the American Museum of Natural History
Artist's Project: D. James Dee
By D. James Dee
An art photographer trains his expert eye on his own oeuvre.
Artist's Project: Barbara Bloom
By Barbara Bloom
A re-presentation of the artist's 2013 Jewish Museum exhibition
Modern Artifacts 12: From Body to Object
Introduction by Michelle Elligott
Materials from MoMA related to Scott Burton's performances
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Found Object: Spliced Duck
Recovered by Rich Remsberg
Esopus regular Remsburg found this anonymous collage in a shop in Readsboro, VT, in 2004.
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Modern Artifacts 11: Creating “Spaces”
Introduction by Michelle Elligott
Material related to a groundbreaking 1969 exhibition
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Modern Artifacts 10: Rent to Own
Introduction by Michelle Elligott
Never-before-seen materials related to the Museum’s discontinued Art Lending Service
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Found Object: Optical Allusions
Recovered by Rich Remsberg
Rebus puzzles found in a bound volume of a Victorian-era children’s magazine
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Yesterday’s Mail
Mail art by Ray Johnson; interview with Robert Warner
A treasure trove of mail art sent by artist Ray Johnson to optician/artist Robert Warner
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Found Object: All Thumbs
By Scott Daniel Ellison
Anonymous photographs of people who keep raccoons as pets
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Modern Artifacts 9: One and the Same
Introduction by Michelle Elligott
Documents detailing an important opening and radio broadcast by FDR from the MoMA archives.
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Episode 124: The Makings of a Meltdown
Interview with Norman Lear by Claire Barliant
Documents relating to a seminal episode of “Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman”
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Modern Artifacts 8: The Art of Broadcasting
Introduction by Michelle Elligott
This installment of the joint series with MoMA’s archives concerns MoMA’s relationship with TV.
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In Memoriam: Extra Buttons
Introduction by Ellen Ellickson; insert created by Nadia Wagner
Librarian Marjorie G. Wynne applied her archiving talents to more than just rare books.
Modern Artifacts 6: States of Grace
Introduction by Michelle Elligott
Materials from MoMA’s archives relating to painter Grace Hartigan
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For Your Reconsideration: Jim Henson’s Youth ’68
By Jim Henson
Documents relating to a forgotten 1968 film by the Muppets creator
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Modern Artifacts 5: Early Registration
Introduction by Michelle Elligott
A selection of pages from the Museum of Modern Art’s first guest book, many reproduced here for the first time
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Modern Artifacts 4: Drawing Comparisons
Introduction by Michelle Elligott
Sketches by former MoMA director René d’Harnoncourt presented with the MoMA archives
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Found Object: Stalag Journal
Introduction by John Limon
An American P.O.W.’s diary from World War II, discovered posthumously by his son
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Modern Artifacts 3: Tentative and Confidential
Introduction by Michelle Elligott
Documentation of a secret WW2–era MoMA project, referred to by insiders as “Exhibition X”
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Found Object: Collective Struggles
Recovered by Steve Weyl
A letter discovered in 1975 in a hiding place beneath a cottage in Palo Alto, CA
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Modern Artifacts 2: “Dear Miss Miller…”
Introduction by Michelle Elligott
Correspondence between two legends: artist James Lee Byars and curator Dorothy Miller
Modern Artifacts 1
Introduction by Michelle Elligott
A selection of Alfred H. Barr, Jr.’s papers from MoMA’s archives
Tiny Book of Smokes
By David Greenberger
This trip down memory lane was guided only by cigarette burns.
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Alex Shear’s Object Lesson #5
By Alex Shear
Collector Alex Shear offers yet another object from his collection of American ephemera
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In Memoriam
By Al Sutherland; recovered by Donald Traver
A found collection of epitaphs composed by monument builder Al Sutherland
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Alex Shear’s Object Lesson #4
By Alex Shear
A facsimile of a Vietnam-era license plate (removable insert) with striking contemporary resonances
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Yours Very Truly
Recovered by Steven Heller
These letters, found at a flea market in Massachusetts, are a study in rejection and tenacity.
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Alex Shear’s Object Lesson #3
By Alex Shear
A 17" x 22" removable poster wryly commemorates the 1979 Three Mile Island nuclear accident.
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Tricks of the Trade
Recovered by Michael Rohatyn
This 1957 entertainer’s gag book was recovered from a Santa Monica yard sale.
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Alex Shear’s Object Lesson #2
By Alex Shear
An assortment of gun-shaped objects (yes, that’s a hair dryer) on a 17” x 32” poster
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Found Objects
Recovered by Johnny Brewton
Treasures from the estate sale of a San Francisco vice cop
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Alex Shear’s Object Lesson #1
By Alex Shear
A line-up of soda bottles that shamelessly echo the original 7-Up logo (removable poster)