Bedspread or Harvard Graduate Center 1949

Editor: This is Anni Albers' "Bedspread or Harvard Graduate Center," a textile work, its date unknown. It features a grid pattern. The evenness is striking, almost machine-made. What can you tell me about it? Curator: Albers's textile work challenges the hierarchy of art, elevating craft. She brings the supposed objectivity of the Bauhaus—geometric regularity and emphasis on functionality—into a domestic object. Do you see the implications of that choice? Editor: So, its political, in a way? Revaluing traditionally 'feminine' arts? Curator: Precisely. Albers interrogates the cultural biases embedded within art institutions themselves. Her work asks us to reconsider what we deem worthy of display and study. Editor: I hadn't considered the institutional critique. It’s more radical than I initially thought. Curator: Absolutely. By placing craft within the museum, Albers challenges the very definition of art. I've certainly learned something new today.