Untitled (Pharmacy) 1943

Editor: Joseph Cornell’s "Untitled (Pharmacy)" from 1943 is a mixed-media assemblage presented in a box. It's filled with little glass bottles and intriguing found objects. It's strange but kind of calming. What symbolic language do you find most striking? Curator: Well, the repeated motif of the glass jar immediately evokes containment, doesn't it? And what is being contained? Fragmented memories, curiosities, remnants. It reminds me of reliquaries— sacred containers that once held religious artifacts. It asks if the everyday objects and ephemera are also sacred? Editor: Oh, I see. It is like preserving little moments. Why the reference to a "Pharmacy" though? Are these like ingredients? Curator: Perhaps. Think about what a pharmacy represented in 1943. Hope, healing, but also the precarity of life during wartime. The perfectly gridded structure, that boxy geometry... is it a system, a controlled laboratory, a commentary on science, or just neat organization? Editor: I never considered that. So the grid emphasizes control amidst chaos? Curator: Precisely! Consider how Surrealism uses the juxtaposition of seemingly unrelated objects. Cornell elevates these to near ritual significance. Each item whispers stories, both personal and collective. Ask yourself: what do they whisper to you? Editor: It’s like Cornell built a memory palace. Thanks for helping me unpack this. It makes me appreciate Cornell's subtle commentary and complexity! Curator: Indeed. There is such profound cultural meaning in something so personal. And that speaks to the universality of his art.