The Things We Did and Didn't Do by Joshua Moreno
In conversation with This Is Thirty, explore a site specific installation by Joshua Moreno titled The Things We Did and Didn't Do. Moreno uses materials from the MAH's archives to explore how context shapes meaning.
By placing archival objects within a gallery setting, Joshua Moreno contrasts the ways objects are experienced in display versus storage.
What appears important and singular in the gallery may exist in the archive as one item among many, raising questions about value, perception, and the systems museums use to organize knowledge
The exhibition also features wall texts generated by the artist with the assistance of artificial intelligence. Rather than providing factual labels, these texts offer speculative interpretations based on visual cues, inviting viewers to consider ideas of authorship, trust, and authority. Taking its title from the song "The Things We Did and Didn’t Do" by The Magnetic Fields, the installation reflects on memory, nostalgia, and how evolving technologies influence the ways we understand ourselves and the world around us.
Photo credit: Daris Jasper
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