Archaeology of Constructed Ruins

This installation includes wooden forms and paper objects with tromp l’oeil images of green stones on their surfaces, a wry critique of Rao’s undergraduate education in a sculpture department that was restrictive and traditional. Over the course of its exhibition at the iconic institution the Kitchen in New York, Rao changed, replaced, and moved objects to create new arrangements, challenging conventional practices of display.

This work was included in the exhibition Before curated by Niels van Tomme at the Kitchen in 2014.

In this image you see a mise en abyme of a table on a table: a miniature one legged dining table is placed on the table the objects are placed on. Food, plates, bowls, coasters, cocktail making tools and techniques, and methods of alcohol production are central to Rao’s work.