Ann Hamilton: myein

For the US Pavilion of the 48th Venice Biennale, the MIT List Visual Arts Center presented myein by Ann Hamilton, an artist known for her multifaceted practice highlighting somatic experience and questioning dominant forms of knowledge. Hamilton’s exhibition took the neoclassical architecture of the Pavilion as an entry point to consider America’s history and present-day practices of subjugation and injustice. Through interventions in the building—opening previously covered skylights, installing a wall of warped glass in front of the façade, and plastering the walls with a braille version of Charles Reznikoff’s poem “Testimony: The United States 1885–1915” dusted with a brilliant fuschia power—Hamilton called attention to the Pavilion’s relationship to national identity. A fully illustrated 52-page catalogue, produced by the MIT List Visual Arts Center, features acknowledgements an essay by the exhibition’s curator Katy Kline and commissioner Helaine Posner.