I Was a Factory: On the Materiality of Bruce Conner

This panel of conservators, curators, and scholars takes a multifaceted look at Bruce Conner’s work with a special focus on assemblage. Conner’s iconic assemblage works integrate text, found objects, and pop culture. Michelle Barger and Roger Griffith discuss the materials Conner used in his sculptural work; Anastasia Aukeman explores the assemblage practices of artists working in the late 1950s and 1960s; and Diedrich Diederichsen positions Conner’s work within the larger cultural framework of the time.

Participants

Anastasia Aukeman, scholar and author of Welcome to Painterland: Bruce Conner and the Rat Bastard Protective Association (2016)

Michelle Barger, head of conservation, SFMOMA

Diedrich Diederichsen, author, music journalist, and cultural critic

Roger Griffith, associate sculpture conservator, MoMA