September 2 – October 1, 1994

Opening Reception: 6 – 8:00 pm, September 2, 1994.

…includes contributions from over 100 collaborators ranging from artists and architects to fashion designers and composers. The installation is based on Denis Diderot’s L’Encyclopedie (1747 – 1765), the earliest “modern” compendium of what was considered necessary human knowledge. Original encyclopedia plates are juxtaposed with 20^th century “updates”. For example, 18^th century engravings of military drill patterns are annotated by media images of Gulf War “smart bombs”. According to Suderburg, the atmosphere created, “lies somewhere between a meticulous library exhibit of rare documents and a collection of eccentric, dusty and doomed museum inventions.” The result is a fascinating examination of how knowledge becomes constituted as power through categorization and compilation.