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Joseph Cornell © The Joseph and Robert Cornell Memorial Foundation / Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY |
Joseph Cornell created imaginary worlds in small boxes like this one. Each box is different, and has lots of small objects. Look carefully at this work and list as many objects as you can. Where do you think he found them?
Mr. Cornell's boxes make us think about the past because the objects look old: the goblet (glass) and the white clay pipe are broken; the paint is peeling; the newspaper is yellowed; and nails stick out in a number of places. But since he puts many of the objects behind glass, maybe Mr. Cornell is trying to keep them from falling apart any more.
There are two parts to the title. The fragment of paper once advertised the "Ostend Hotel" in London, England. What kind of picture do you get in your mind of this hotel? The other part of the title is "Soap Bubble Set." With this, Mr. Cornell refers to a time in the past known as the Victorian era (named after Queen Victoria of England, who ruled from 1837-1901). At that time people filled their houses with objects of all kinds, covering every table and wall: these objects included toys and games, one of which was the soap bubble set. What do you think Mr. Cornell's own house looked like?
This and his other boxes were created to express Mr. Cornell's feelings, thoughts, and worries about life. What kind of person do you think he was? Can you think of some words that might describe him? No one knows why Mr. Cornell combined objects in the ways that he did, and his boxes make us use our imaginations as we try to figure out the little worlds he has created. Use your imagination to make up a story about the objects in Soap Bubble Set (Ostend Hotel)!