75 Reasons to Live: Whitney Chadwick on Ed Ruscha’s Every Building on the Sunset Strip

Art historian Whitney Chadwick talks about Ed Ruscha's book Every Building on the Sunset Strip (1966). She recalls how, during her student years at the San Francisco Art Institute, the book's “bland banality“ and affectless style led her to question her assumptions about art.Remember the end of Manhattan, when Woody Allen asks himself what makes life worth living? In January 2010, during SFMOMA's three-day 75th anniversary celebration, 75 people from the Bay Area creative community gave extremely short talks — 7.5 minutes or less! — on a single collection work of their choosing. Someone called it “manic splendor“ — and it was. You can view all of the talks on The Anniversary Show exhibition page. Or look for them here, on Open Space.