In the center of our Hayden gallery, Nayland Blake’s installation Ruins of a Sensibility, 1972-2002 (2002) is designed to be activated by visitors.
Comprised of Blake’s expansive collection of over three thousand LPs, a DJ setup, and the first artwork the artist ever produced (a Jackson Pollock–inspired splatter painting made in collaboration with their father when they were a child), Ruins of a Sensibility invites visitors to take on the role of DJ while becoming acquainted with Blake through the artist’s personal effects. The work is perhaps one of Blake’s most personal in that it directly references their coming of age through music.
Blake began collecting records as a teenager, developing their taste and sense of self, and forming bonds with others through the music they gravitated toward. Ruins of a Sensibility illustrates Blake’s overarching interest in identity and representation, how people tend to connect their identities to their personal belongings and interests; and how our personalities, interests, and selfhood shift as time progresses.
While our gallery doors have remained closed due to MIT’s COVID-19 protocols, we would be remiss not to share some of the music that shaped much of the work found inside No Wrong Holes: Thirty Years of Nayland Blake. On the weekend before the exhibition closes, and on occasion of Blake’s birthday, we hope you’ll join us in “spinning” a selection of tracks hand-picked by artist Nayland Blake, director Paul Ha, and our List Center installation team.
Below you’ll find Spotify playlists that resemble some of the “sets” you might have heard while visiting the galleries.
