the box
In my opinion Joseph Cornell’s box constructions occupy a unique place in the history of art. I believe that his work in the 1940’s and 1950’s influenced the subsequent movements of Abstract Expressionism, Pop Art, Graphic Art of the 1970’s and1980’s and up to the present day. Cornell's surreal box constructions seemed to pop out into the world fully formed, but were in fact influenced by some very old traditions. In fact the history of ‘the box’ format spans many centuries, but where did it all begin and how did Cornell adapt these traditions for his own use. Jardine (2003) from the BBC program ‘The World in a Box’ describes the earliest box format:
”Since earliest times we have collected extraordinary and exotic objects to wonder at and puzzle over. From the 16th century they were showcased in private collections called ‘Wunderkammer’. or ‘Cabinets of Wonder’. Art and artifacts, specimens and instruments were jumbled together in celebration of the known universe... ...When we talk about ‘The box’ today of course we mean television. We turn to it for entertainment, stimulation and sometimes for knowledge. Well these rather more exclusive boxes served a similar function in the 16th and 17th century europe. They would have belonged to the royalty or rich nobility. Inside was a display of fantastic treasures arranged to excite curiosity and awe. Collections were status symbols, but they were also a response to renaissance ideals, to be curious about the world and hunt out its’ secrets".
Mueller (2003) describes the continued fascination for ‘cabinet of wonders’:
"through the history of europe: A giddy craze was sweeping across Europe at the turn of the 17th century. The wealthy and the well-connected were hoarding things-strange things-into obsessive personal collections. Starfish, forked carrots, monkey teeth, alligator skins, phosphorescent minerals, Indian canoes, and unicorn tails were acquired eagerly and indiscriminately. Associations among these objects, if they were made at all, often reflected a collector’s personal vision of an underlying natural order".
Cornell was a deeply religious person and could have also been influenced by another ‘box format’ idea, that of the ‘confessional box’ originating from the 17th century. In the book ‘Vision of Spiritual Order’ Blair (1998, p.22) argues the point:
"
In Northern Europe confessional boxes were being installed in churches in the early seventeenth century, and so the confessor found himself (or herself) conversing with an unseen presence, a voice. In the same way, the psychoanalyst’s voice encourages a dialogue that is similar to the confessional in its emphasis on self-knowledge. When, in his diaries and dossiers, he addressed the unseen reader, or, in his letters, the unseen but known recipient, Cornell was using a similar technique of confessional search. When examining his writings and art works, one experiences an inescapable sense of something private being overheard, something not intended for public consumption. And yet the artists’surge towards self revelation is everywhere apparent. A relentless process of self-examination, at once confessional and secretive, underlies all Cornell’s box constructions ".
My research seems to suggest that the box format employed by Cornell was influenced by the early American folk-art tradition of the ‘Shadow box’ and the early museum cabinet called the ‘Diorama’.Jane Wodening’s children’s book ‘From the Book of legends’ (1989) explains the history of the ‘Shadow Box’:
"
In Europe, where many of the people came from, there were always many beautiful things that men had made, paintings and cathedrals and statues. When the people came to America, they missed seeing those things, particularly the women missed it. So the women, lacking the materials to make those grand things of Europe, sometimes would make boxes in which they would put dried flowers and stuffed birds, pictures, seashells, mysterious words. And they could then look into these boxes and find a happiness that people have when they see a dream fulfiled by a pair of hands. Mostly it was country women who made these boxes and they knew very little about the history of art" .
The 19th century ‘Diorama’ cabinet is said to be the precursor of the modern museum.Artfaces (2003) describes the ‘Diorama’ as:
"
A three-dimensional miniature or life-size scene in which figures, stuffed wildlife, or other objects are arranged in a naturalistic setting against a painted background".
As a young boy Cornell was an avid museum goier, so he probably saw old ‘diorama’ cabinet’s from the 19th century. I think Cornell was aware of these traditions of the ‘cabinet of wonders’, the idea of religious confessional and the more recent ‘shadow boxes’ and ‘Dioramas’. But was also heavyly influenced by more contemporary ‘box’ ideas. These influences are well documented. In his own journals Cornell writes about the inpiration of the ‘shop window display’ and the ‘sailor’s boxes’. In an article referring to Cornell’s journals of 4/1/43 we find:
"
Original inspiration for Sailor’s Boxes. Bank window 59th Street Exhibition of miscellaneous objects found in trunks of sailors (Seaman’s home?) shells, toy snake, Whales teeth, beads,(exotic) a butterfly box primitively constructed passe partout with wallpaper glass broken paper cover ". (CAWS.1991, p.99)
From the book ‘Joseph Cornell’s Theatre of the mind’ (CAWS.1991) we find the other quotes from Cornell’s journals relating to influence of ‘The Shop Window display’ and ‘The Sailor’s Box’:
"..Parisian store windows... collections of disparate objects, . . . the final distilling where the subject is almost transcended or briefly caught sight of in a window. ...Sailor’s toy? star in a box as though found under a bridge...as though made up by sailors for their loved ones...on the long voyage home as they made scrimshaws...sailor’s boxes’ ...the star near the North pole by which sailors steer...because many languages spoken by visiting sailors from all over world... flotsam & jetsam... renewing acquaintance with surroundings... now took on a completely new dimension".
Another contemporary ‘box’ idea comes from the’Penny Arcade.’ In describing these early machines Hauton (1999, p.61) states:
"
...devices that offered miniture spectacles and short narratives for their viewers. Soon these coin operated cabinets, filled with spools and gears... known as ‘Automatic Vaudeville’ or ‘Penny Dreadfulls,’ ... ranged from mini-travelogues and newsreels to erotic entertainment with titles like ‘French High Kicker’ and ‘Peeping Jimmie’ ... Entranced by his experiences of and reading about such marvels, Cornell built objects that referred to these early illusions..."
And finally, describing contemporary box ideas, the influence of Marcel Duchamp and why this is important in the story of how Cornell began to consolidate the ‘box' format. From the book Vision of Spiritual Order Blair(1998) describes Cornell’s friendship with Duchamp:
"Cornell was also influenced by Duchamp, not just formally but conceptually to. Especially important here is the portable museum Duchamp constructed, the Boite en Valise (1936-41), which he originally made in order to carry reproductions of his work across the French border during the Nazi occupation of France. It had the appearance of a salesman’s sample case, for Duchamp disguised himself as a cheese merchant for his journey. Once opened, it revealed a miniature world, with items packed, displayed and compartmentalised together. The Boite en Valise is technically immaculate, and the placing of things was fastidiously worked out. Later in the 1940’s in America, Duchamp reproduced 200 copies of his portable museum. Cornell’s interest in Duchamp’s portable museum was such that he actually worked on it with Jacqueline Monnier in order to help produce the 200 copies".
In working on Duchamp’s Boite-en-Valise I think it is possible Cornell would have been attracted to the romantic history behind the piece. Either way he went on to create his own installation Romantic Museum in 1946 and returned to the ‘museum in a box’ theme in his box constructions again and again. In his early work Cornell used many formats for his surreal images and objects, including: glass bottles and jars, round and square cardboard boxes, cut-out books, and found cabinets, before settling on the simple rectangular wooden box. The history here is not straightforward because Cornell worked on many projects in parallel over many years, but I believe that once he began to concentrate on the ‘box format’, he had a much freer and poetic approach to his work. Waldman (2000) states that:
"
During the 40’s, as Cornell’s interest in the aneccdotal and the illustrative deminished, the object or image, its texture, colour and structure, gave new meaning to his work. Nowhere is this more evident than in the Medici series, which represents Cornell’s coming of age".
I believe consolidating ‘the box’ format allowed Cornell to concentrate solely on the aesthetics of the contents. I also believe Cornell was an intuitive artist, he ‘tinkered’ with some of his boxes for many years creating layers within layers by adding or replacing objects, or trying out what he refered to as ‘new variants, or variations on a theme. In doing this I believe Cornell discovered that he needed the simple rectangular format to restrain his highly imaginative works. In the simple box construction with its many diverse objects and images, we are left with works of art that trigger multiple ideas with myriad connections.
'Pharmacy' 1943 by Joseph Cornell
'Pharmacy' 1988 by Damien Hirst.
Anonymous, probably North European: Curio Cupboard. 18th century. Cut-out painting. Opificio delle Pietre Dure, Florence.
Typical 'diorama' museum cabinet.
Taxidermist's shop 192
Penny Arcade
Boite-en-Valise (Box in a traveling case) Duchamp (1936-1941) Cardboard box with miniature replicas, photographs and colour reproductions of Duchamp’s work.
click on the links and icons to see more, or the logo above to take you to front page.