The Whole World Including the Poet

The Rosenbach Museum and Library, 2000/2017



In “The Whole World Including The Poet”, 2000/2017, originally a temporary installation within the permanent, reconstructed sitting room of Marianne Moore at The Rosenbach Museum and Library, I proposed a re-enactment of sorts, with a mirrored reflection of an otherwise hidden photographic image of Marianne Moore – a fleeting illusion that brought the poet and her world together once more. The installation coincided with the exhibition “Sitting Pretty: Photographs from the Marianne Moore Collection”, a selection of the myriad portraits of the poet, taken throughout her life by some of the most celebrated photographers of the 20th century, and archived in the Rosenbach Museum and Library, along with the rest of her estate. My unpublished essay on “Sitting Pretty” was publically delivered at the time of the installation and exhibition.

In 2017 “The Whole World Including the Poet” was reinstalled as a permanent installation.

Installation view, "The Whole World Including the Poet"

Detail, "The Whole World Including the Poet"