Bluffs
Bluffs
Artist
Tara Donovan
(born 1969)
Date2006
MediumButtons and glue
Dimensions48 x 25 x 27 in. (121.9 x 63.5 x 68.6 cm)
ClassificationsSculpture
Credit LineCrystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas, 2012.498
Accession number
2012.498
On View
Not on viewLabel TextBluffs demonstrates Tara Donovan’s method of accumulating small objects such as paper plates, toothpicks, pencils, or foam cups into large-scale organic sculptures. In Bluffs, Donovan transforms thousands of common, mass-produced shirt buttons into a luminescent sculpture. The teetering stacks of buttons trigger multiple associations with natural forms—mountain peaks, coral reefs, crystals, or cave stalagmites. With her meticulous artwork, Donovan both evokes wonder and invites viewers to take a closer look at everyday materials.
