Tickets

Collection 1980s–Present

203

Random-Access Memory

Jun 2, 2023–May 22, 2024

MoMA

Isa Genzken. Parallelograms (Parallelogramme). 1975. Gouache and pencil on 112 sheets of paper, sheet (each): 11 11/16 × 8 1/4" (29.7 × 21 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Committee on Drawings Funds and The Modern Women’s Fund. ©️ 2024 Isa Genzken
  • MoMA, Floor 2, 203

Anxiety and optimism defined much of the 1980s. The last decade of the Cold War witnessed advances in computing and digital technologies that were rapidly reshaping the world. In West Germany, where reconstruction projects transformed terrain razed during World War II, artists explored stark postwar cityscapes and embraced the radical possibilities afforded by new technologies.

Named after the microchip found in every computer (Random-Access Memory, or RAM), this gallery includes works and objects that point to the military origins of forward-looking digital computing while underscoring its connection to the legacy and trauma of World War II.

Organized by Paulina Pobocha, Curator, Department of Painting and Sculpture, with Gee Wesley, Curatorial Assistant, Department of Media and Performance.

15 works online

Artists

Installation images

How we identified these works

In 2018–19, MoMA collaborated with Google Arts & Culture Lab on a project using machine learning to identify artworks in installation photos. That project has concluded, and works are now being identified by MoMA staff.

If you notice an error, please contact us at [email protected].

Licensing

If you would like to reproduce an image of a work of art in MoMA’s collection, or an image of a MoMA publication or archival material (including installation views, checklists, and press releases), please contact Art Resource (publication in North America) or Scala Archives (publication in all other geographic locations).

MoMA licenses archival audio and select out of copyright film clips from our film collection. At this time, MoMA produced video cannot be licensed by MoMA/Scala. All requests to license archival audio or out of copyright film clips should be addressed to Scala Archives at [email protected]. Motion picture film stills cannot be licensed by MoMA/Scala. For access to motion picture film stills for research purposes, please contact the Film Study Center at [email protected]. For more information about film loans and our Circulating Film and Video Library, please visit https://www.moma.org/research/circulating-film.

If you would like to reproduce text from a MoMA publication, please email [email protected]. If you would like to publish text from MoMA’s archival materials, please fill out this permission form and send to [email protected].

Feedback

This record is a work in progress. If you have additional information or spotted an error, please send feedback to [email protected].