ABSTRACT
Joseph Cornell, known best for his meticulously constructed and exotic assemblages, is regarded as one of the foremost and unique American artists of his time. Much of Cornell's spare time while at home was spent tending to Robert and listening to classical music with him. Cornell also had an affinity for the songs of Jacques Brel, which are highly nostalgic. In the psychoanalytic literature, nostalgia has been construed as "a wish to return to an idealized past," often realized in "a reunion with nature," is "associated with an inability to mourn" and can be "a strong defense against fear of death". Cornell also made short, experimental films, coincident with his fabrication of shadow boxes in 1936. The chapter demonstrates the influence of early object loss and the failure to grieve and mourn upon his art, where Cornell sought repetitively to attain mastery of these core conflicts while relying concurrently on nostalgia to minimize the significance of time and death.
