Image

Shirley Tse

Do Cinderblocks Dream of Being Styrofoam?

Description

Maker

Shirley Tse (American, b. 1968)

Title

Do Cinderblocks Dream of Being Styrofoam?

Year

2003

Medium

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

Materials

plastic, polystyrene

Geography

Place Made: Western

Dimensions

50.8 x 104.1 x 68.6 cm (20 x 41 x 27 inches)

Credit / Object Number

Credit

Georgianna Sayles Aldrich Fund

Object Number

2008.61

Type

Exhibition History

Exhibition History

Building Blocks
Contemporay Works from the Collection
May 06, 2011 – Mar 25, 2012

Label copy

Shirley Tse works primarily with plastics and other synthetic materials. This corner sculpture is made with mass-produced Styrofoam modules that resemble cinderblocks and were designed to build inexpensive furniture (shelving and storage boxes, for example). Tse’s arrangement and carved motifs, along with the

pink pastel color, contrast with the unornamented utilitarian nature of ordinary cinderblocks. Philip K. Dick’s science-fiction novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (1968) inspired the title of the sculpture, which alludes to the impossibility of heavy cinderblocks being made from lightweight Styrofoam.

Styrofoam
Mar 14, 2008 – Jul 20, 2008

Related Publications

Related Publications

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Tombstone

Shirley Tse (American, b. 1968)
Do Cinderblocks Dream of Being Styrofoam?, 2003
Extruded polystyrene foam
50.8 x 104.1 x 68.6 cm (20 x 41 x 27 inches)
Georgianna Sayles Aldrich Fund 2008.61

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