Archive: Arts & Entertainment

"Firing the Canon," a College of Arts and Sciences Sesquicentennial exhibit opening in November, explores how Cornell's prized collection of plaster casts was "embraced, defaced, and dethroned." Cornell used to have one of the largest collections of plaster casts in North America, attracting many tourists to Ithaca. But over time, casts fell out of favor, and the collection deteriorated.

The official opening for "Firing the Canon" will be Thursday November 6th, at 4:30 pm, and will then be open weekdays in November and December from 10 am to 4 pm or by appointment. About twenty casts from Cornell's remaining 500 or so pieces will be on display. The exhibit is housed in the Weinhold Chilled Water Plant at 101 Forest Home Drive, next to Beebe Lake.

Curators Annetta Alexandridis and Verity Platt, who are both Associate Professors in History of Art and Classics, are excited about the juxtaposition of the casts amid the aging mechanics of the Chilled Water Plant. "Both the objects and setting represent earlier stages in Cornell's history, raising important questions about the preservation and adaptation of the past in the present," says Alexandridis.

"Firing the Canon" focuses on the rejection and destruction of the casts, setting their historical treatment at Cornell in the context of broader artistic and intellectual movements. "We show the casts as damaged and vandalized with graffiti," says Platt. "This draws attention to an important – and visually arresting – moment in the life of the object, which can itself be seen as a demonstration of creativity and a source of inspiration."

The collection of 19th century casts of ancient Grecian, Roman, Egyptian and medieval pieces was compiled in the 1890s with funds from trustee Henry Sage. Originally displayed in McGraw Hall, the pieces were moved into Goldwin Smith in 1906. But by the middle of the 20th century, Alexandridis said, the casts were seen as secondhand copies of first-rate originals, and so were mostly packed away.

But now, due to weathering, loss and pollution's effects on the originals, Cornell's copies are often in better shape than the originals from which the casts were made, making them valuable once again. The ultimate goal of Alexandridis and Platt is to restore as many of the casts as possible and some examples of their efforts will be displayed in "Firing the Canon." Both graduate and undergraduate students have been helping with the restoration; the practical, public service component of Alexandridis' Greek & Roman Art & Archaeology course this semester included work on the casts for the exhibit, guided by local restorer Kasia Maroney.

"Firing the Canon" is featured on the College of Arts and Sciences' Sesquicentennial website and is sponsored by the College of Arts and Sciences and Department of Classics.

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