Art Test: Flash Card Doodles

Robert Smithson “Spiral Jetty” (1970)

Back in graduate school I had to take a contemporary art history course: I was terrified because of my horrible memory, not to mention poor study habits: to this end I would sketch out each individual work on an index cards. There was just barely enough viual information drawn to trigger a connection with the details listed on the back of each card, which I'd flip through several times day, for weeks in advance of an exam. It worked - bagged an "A" - and consequently I now have a residual repository of images buried in the mulch-pile of memory. These are just a fraction of the 6-inch high stack of cards ...collect all thousand! ...more after the jump...

Clockwise from upper left: Cindy Sherman “Untitled Film Stills” (1979), Eric Fischl “Sleepwalker” (1979), Hanson “Worker With Pipes” (1977), Andrea “Classical Allusion” (1987), Longo “Men In The Cities III” (1979), Koons “Michael Jackson & Bubbles” (1988).

Clockwise from upper left: Hesse “Untitled” (1970), Salle “His Brain” (1984), Halley “Yellow & Black Cells with Conduit” (1985), Taylor “What is the Proper Way to Display a US Flag?” (1989), Graves “Cantilever” (1983), Serra “One Ton Prop” (1969).

Clockwise from upper left: Close “Frank” (1969), Abekanowicz “Abakan” (1970), Christo “Running Fence” (1976), Holt “Sun Tunnels” (1976), Estes “Storefront” (1971), Flack “Chanel” (1974).

Clockwise from upper left: Paik “TV Buddha” (1976), Maplethorpe “The Perfect Moment X” (1977), Graves “Portland Public Svc. Building” (1980-82), Michals “Things Are Queer” (1973), Serrano “Pisschrist” (1987), Viola “The Sleep of Reason” (1988).