Machine in a Void: the First World War & the Dawn of the Machine Age. The seductions and alienating characteristics of our own electronic age are not unlike those perceived during the “Machine Age” of nearly a century ago. Several years in the making, the Spencer-organized Machine in a Void will present more than 100 images of World War I, “the war to end all wars,” from the Museum’s permanent collection, supplemented by several key loans. By invoking the perspective of European artists active at the time, the exhibition will bring attention to the substantial role of the graphic arts during WWI (1914–1918) and track several innovative artistic ideas that emerged in response to the mechanization of war. In addition, the exhibition will link postwar graphics that depict an age dominated by machines to our current fascination with post-apocalyptic art, literature, and film.
