Floor 6: Objects of Memory: QR Code 603
Overview
Interpretive Text
Objects
11 objects in the order you'll encounter them from this entrance. Select an object to view details.
Label Text
1996
Violins, violin bows, stones, and electric motor
The Doris and Donald Fisher Collection at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
Acquired by the Fisher family, 1997
Every few minutes a series of jarring wails is produced as automated arms move the bows of these two violins. The sculpture is related to several large-scale installations by Horn from the 1980s and 1990s featuring motorized violins or other instruments. In one permanent installation in Münster, Germany, mechanical hammers strike the walls of an abandoned tower that the Gestapo (Nazi secret police) used as a prison and execution site. Horn does not disclose where the masonry stones in this work came from, but there is the suggestion that the violins are giving voice to the traumatic memories of some site.
Visual Description
A sculptural arrangement of two full-size violins with bows and stones is laid out on a wall, the instruments set on opposing diagonals like mirrored counterparts. On the lower-left side, a warm reddish-brown violin sits tilted with its black fingerboard and scroll pointing toward the upper center; a long wooden bow crosses the instrument at a slant, held by a small silvery motorized metal attachment—like a robotic "arm"—that clips near the bridge and tailpiece area. Two chunky gray stones accompany this violin: one positioned just above the upper area to the left, and another below the lower area. On the upper-right side, a second violin lies angled in the opposite direction with its scroll pointing toward the upper left; its bow runs diagonally across the strings and continues downward toward the center of the composition. The bow here is also held by a similar silver mechanical robotic arm device, which is fixed near this violin’s bridge area as well. A single large, irregular gray stone floats close to the upper-right violin’s upper side. The robotic arms are motorized and set on a timer. When they are activated every few minutes, they move the bows across the strings, producing a dissonant acoustic sound.
Label Text
1983
Nails, steel, and wood
The Doris and Donald Fisher Collection at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
Acquired by the Fisher family, 1990
Visual Description
A large, horizontally oriented assemblage (about 5.5 ft tall by 8 ft wide and 9 in deep) combines nails, steel, and wood. A dark, charcoal-gray field made from long horizontal planks spans the full width, its surface scuffed and mottled with patches of lighter gray and black, visible seams, and occasional drips and abrasions. Across the lower third runs a deep, shelf-like ledge—also dark gray—creating a step forward in space; the ledge’s top edge supports an irregular combination of upright fragments.
Rising from this ledge is a tightly packed cluster of vertical elements: splintered boards, narrow slats, thicker planks, and thin steel strips of varying heights, many with peeling paint and rough, chipped edges. Colors alternate in a restrained palette—weathered bluish gray, muted red, tan wood, off-white, and occasional blackened or rust-stained surfaces—creating a combination of stripes and blocks. Toward the center, there are several tall gray boards flanked by a few prominent red-painted planks. Some pieces lean slightly, overlap, or are notched and broken, with jagged tops and visible nail heads holding them in place.
On the left side, a cluster of torn, raw wood pieces with exposed grain and splintered ends sits beside a narrow, bright off-white strip; adjacent gray boards show extensive flaking paint that reveals bare wood beneath. Near the center-left, a small turned white spindle-like wooden element appears among the verticals. To the right, the vertical forms become more staggered in height, with several gray-green boards and thin white sticks grouped near the far right edge. Along the ledge at the bottom right, a long brown plank lies horizontally like a baseboard or beam, its surface worn and slightly glossy.
Label Text
1978
Paint and fiber on wood
The Doris and Donald Fisher Collection at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
Acquired by the Fisher family, 1988
Visual Description
A narrow, angular panel, measuring about 7.5 feet tall by 2.5 feet wide and 4 inches deep, features a central coffin-shaped bordered by wooden framing. The outer edge forms a narrow frame in dark green-black, following the outline of the panel: narrow at the top, widening outwards diagonally, then tapering again toward the bottom. Inside this border, the main surface is heavily weathered and irregular, textured with smoky gray, charcoal, and greenish-black tones. The rough surface includes cloudy patches of paint and speckling across the surface, encased within the darker, greenish-black frame.
Label Text
1988
Nickel and bronze
The Doris and Donald Fisher Collection at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
Acquired by the Fisher family, 1992
Visual Description
A sculpture of three stacked metal spheres, with a weathered copper surface is formed by three rounded, stacked spheres, resembling a simplified snowman. The lowest sphere is the largest, above it sits a slightly smaller sphere, and the top sphere is the smallest, creating a slight tapering silhouette. Each sphere meets the next at a narrow, slightly indented seam, separating the volumes. The surface is metallic and softly reflective, with weathered surface ranging from silvery gray to smoky copper and near-black areas, showing cloudy discolorations and faint streaks. Subtle highlights catch along the right-hand curves of the spheres, while darker shadows pool on the left. The sculpture rests centered on a white rectangular plinth against a pale background.
Label Text
1978
Painted wood
Gift of the Doris and Donald Fisher Collection
Acquired by the Fisher family, 1980
Visual Description
A tall, deep wall-mounted relief (about 7 ft high, 5.3 ft wide, and projecting 1.25 ft outward) is constructed from painted wood and unified in matte black, forming a rectilinear assemblage. The overall silhouette is irregular but roughly rectangular, with stacked compartments and frame-like borders creating a patchwork of recessed bays and raised blocks. Across the surface, wooden elements—planks, trim pieces, carved moldings, turned spindle-like posts, and gridded panels—are fitted tightly together.
Near the top, horizontal boards form thick bands interrupted by rectangular openings; smaller square blocks with perforated or patterned faces sit among them. A vertical element runs down just right of center, connecting the upper and lower portions. To the right, there is a cluster of narrow, closely spaced horizontal slats, while adjacent layered pieces overlap in stepped tiers. The central lower region contains a large framed panel of varied plank textures, with subtle seams and grain visible under the black paint.
Along the left edge, there are long linear components, including a deep channel and rod-like protrusion. At the bottom, smaller boxed-in compartments contain tightly arranged miniature elements; there are short dowels, rectangular offcuts, and small mechanical-looking shapes. The monochrome black paint combines the diverse materials into a single mass, while the relief’s depth creates cast shadows that reveal the layers, joints, and voids throughout the construction.
Label Text
1969
Lead, ed. 19/60
The Doris and Donald Fisher Collection at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
Acquired by the Fisher family, 1990
Visual Description
A narrow lead panel (3.25 ft × 1.5 ft × 1.5 inches) presents a dark, matte charcoal-gray field with a single, vertical form in low relief running almost the full height. Centered slightly right of the panel’s midline, the form begins near the top with a shallow, circular, dish-like head with a raised rim, then descends as a long, thin woven form that subtly twists and kinks, its edges catching faint silvery highlights against the dark ground. Near the bottom, the shaft thickens into a clustered, mechanical-looking junction with a small perpendicular tab on the right, before ending in a rounded, bulbous shape that hangs just above the lower edge. The surface is marked by soft scuffs, horizontal rubbing, and uneven tonal patches; faint smudges and lighter abrasions appear especially toward the lower third. In the upper left corner, small incised markings include “19/60” and a looping, signature-like scribble. A thin light border frames the panel.
Label Text
1969
Lead and mirror, ed. 19/60
The Doris and Donald Fisher Collection at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
Acquired by the Fisher family, 1990
Visual Description
A rectangular lead panel, about 23 × 17 inches and 1.5 inches thick, presents a near-black, subtly brushed surface with a single, centrally placed raised shoe form. The shoe appears as a low-relief impression, oriented vertically with the opening at the top and the toe pointing downward; it is a narrow, lace-up ~~ ~~shoe with a slightly wrinkled texture. The laces are rendered in relief and tied in a small bow near the top third of the shoe, with lace holes and crossing segments visible as shallow ridges and depressions. Near the toe area sits a small circular mirror, ringed by tiny raised lettering that says "HIGH SCHOOL DAYS". The surrounding field is smooth but marked by faint scuffs, tonal streaks, and soft variations in sheen. In the upper right corner, incised markings read “19/60” beside a stylized scratched signature, with a small “’69” written beneath it. A thin light border frames the darker central plate.
Label Text
1995, cast 1996
Bronze
The Doris and Donald Fisher Collection at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
Acquired by the Fisher family, 1996
Looming menacingly at over ten feet tall yet delicately balanced on its spindly legs,_Spider_projects both strength and vulnerability. Beginning in the mid-1990s, Bourgeois created a number of bronze and steel spiders at various sizes, ranging from the intimate to the monumental. She was drawn to the creature in part because it reminded her of her mother, a master weaver who restored antique tapestries. Bourgeois regarded the female spider, like her mother, as clever, hardworking, and fiercely protective of her children. “If you bash into the web of a spider,” Bourgeois observed, “she doesn’t get mad. She weaves and repairs it.”
Visual Description
A bronze sculpture roughly 3.3 ft tall by 3.2 ft wide and 1.6 ft deep depicts a large spider with eight splayed legs radiating from a compact body. The metal has a dark, near-black patina with subtle highlights on ridges and edges, giving the surface a slightly glossy sheen in places. The spider’s legs are elongated and uneven, modeled with rough, textured contours and knobby joints; several legs taper to fine points while others end in small rounded tips or hooked curves. The body is divided into two main sections—an elongated abdomen and a smaller front segment—both with a shallow central groove and irregular surfaces that show tool marks and variations in thickness.
Label Text
1995
Steel
The Doris and Donald Fisher Collection at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
Acquired by the Fisher family, 1995
Looming menacingly at over ten feet tall yet delicately balanced on its spindly legs,_Spider_projects both strength and vulnerability. Beginning in the mid-1990s, Bourgeois created a number of bronze and steel spiders at various sizes, ranging from the intimate to the monumental. She was drawn to the creature in part because it reminded her of her mother, a master weaver who restored antique tapestries. Bourgeois regarded the female spider, like her mother, as clever, hardworking, and fiercely protective of her children. “If you bash into the web of a spider,” Bourgeois observed, “she doesn’t get mad. She weaves and repairs it.”
Visual Description
A large-scale steel sculpture measuring about 10.9 ft tall, 15.5 ft wide, and 11 ft deep depicts a spider-like creature standing on eight elongated legs. The form's legs radiate outward in a wide, arched stance. The metal surface is dark brown with a weathered, mottled patina, and the legs are constructed from irregular, jointed segments that look twisted and slightly knotted. Several legs taper into sharp, pointed tips that touch the ground, while one leg on the far right curves in a long, sweeping arc before narrowing to a fine point. Near the center, thin hooked elements hang down beneath the body. The compact torso is made of layered, ribbed plates and rounded forms, with a suggestion of a head at the top front: two small, rounded protrusions read as eyes, and the upper portion is capped by a fan-like cluster of vertical ridges.
Label Text
1949, cast 1990
Painted bronze, edition 2/6
The Doris and Donald Fisher Collection
Acquired by the Fisher family, 1997
[These] pieces were presences—missed, badly missed presences. . _. . It was a tangible way of re-creating a missed past. —_Louise Bourgeois, 1976
These pillar-like structures belong to a group of approximately eighty works that Bourgeois called Personages. She carved the life-size sculptures in wood between 1945 and 1955 and later cast them in bronze. For Bourgeois, they were abstract surrogates for the family and friends that she left behind in France after emigrating to New York. Like individuals, each of the Personages has its own unique character and qualities: _Woman with Packages,_with its hanging forms, could be referencing the burdens of motherhood, while the spear-like shape of _Persistent Antagonism_suggests violence or perhaps isolation.
Visual Description
A 5.5 ft-tall white-painted, narrow bronze sculpture rises from a square gray metal base. The form is smooth and tapers slightly, with a rounded top that contains an inset, shiny metallic oval-rectangle detail. Around the midsection, several curved, fin-like projections extend outward: two shorter white rounded protrusions angle to the left side, while a small white protrusion sits nearer the center. On the right side, a single elongated, droplet-shaped element hangs downward in glossy black, contrasting with the matte white body. The lower portion narrows into a long, straight shape that meets the base at a single point.
Label Text
1946–48, cast 1989
Painted bronze, edition 1/6
The Doris and Donald Fisher Collection
Acquired by the Fisher family, 1997
These pillar-like structures belong to a group of approximately eighty works that Bourgeois called Personages. She carved the life-size sculptures in wood between 1945 and 1955 and later cast them in bronze. For Bourgeois, they were abstract surrogates for the family and friends that she left behind in France after emigrating to New York. Like individuals, each of the Personages has its own unique character and qualities: _Woman with Packages,_with its hanging forms, could be referencing the burdens of motherhood, while the spear-like shape of _Persistent Antagonism_suggests violence or perhaps isolation.
Visual Description
A bronze sculpture about 5.5 ft tall with a narrow footprint (about 1 ft by 1 ft) rises vertically from a square plinth. The form is an elongated, tapering column in dark bronze, slightly irregular and textured, narrowing toward the bottom where it meets the base and widening subtly toward the top. Near the upper section, a tight collar-like band encircles the shaft, from which several thin, drooping elements hang downward in a small cluster, creating a spiky skirt around the stem. Above this collar sits a contrasting, pale, elongated element that is rounded at the tip and gently tapers downward. There is a two-tone contrast between the light top piece and the dark shaft.