ABSTRACT
In previous work, Cynthia Hahn has argued for a “reliquary effect” consisting of strategies that construct a presentation of meaningful “material stuff” to audiences. In medieval reliquaries, rather than an expected iconography of the saintly, the reliquary effect makes use of materials and bodies, containment, and an alternation of secrecy and revelation, to invoke the indexical and indicative. It argues that abject material, such as ashes and bones, is more precious than jewels. The reliquary-as-art works to substantiate the relic rather than enshrining something that was already recognized as valuable. In her book, The Reliquary Effect, she discussed the work of Anselm Kiefer, Josef Beuys, and Paul Thek and their “relic-ing,” that is, the use of mundane materials in the making of what one could call objects of significance. Here, she investigates the work of other artists – José Leonilson, Dario Robleto, Bettye Saar, and Nari Ward – to explore persistent strategies of relic-ing and the focus it can bring to objects that in turn are empowered to address racism, sexism, and other violence and mysteries of the modern world.
