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Today, I was thinking...(#2)
Today, I was thinking...(#2)
Today, I was thinking...(#2)

Today, I was thinking...(#2)

Artist (American, Tuskegee-Navajo, born 1954)
Date2010 (printed 2013)
Mediumpigment print on poly-satin fabric with metal weight
DimensionsImage: 41 1/8 x 56 9/16 in. (104.5 x 143.7 cm)
Support: 48 x 60 1/4 in. (121.9 x 153 cm)
ClassificationsPhotograph
Credit LineMuseum purchase with funds from the New Mexico Council on Photography, 2014
Object number2014.3.2
DescriptionA herd of buffalo grazing in middle ground, with mountains, sky, and phases of the moon above, grasses and text below.
Text Entries
Using a photograph of buffalo from 1880 as her starting point, the artist uses this iconic creature to explore the history of the American Great Plains and the decimation of its animal, and human, populations by settler populations moving westward at the end of the nineteenth century. Tsinhnahjinnie bathes the grazing herd in the purple light of day’s end, perhaps an indication of the sun setting on their species. The moon unfolds in eight phases above their heads, suspending them in a dream-like place where their presence can never be erased.

This piece belongs to a group of four images, all with the title “Today, I was thinking…” (followed by numeral sign and number), all variations on an 1880 photograph by Laton Alton Huffman. The original photograph by Huffman, “Buffalo Grazing the Big Open,” is a hand-colored platinum print in the collection of the Great Plains Art Museum (0081.1981) at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln, Nebraska. Tsinhnahjinnie was invited there as an artist in residence and created the series “Double Vision” using photographic works from the archive. This particular grouping uses the iconic western image of the buffalo grazing on the plains as a point of departure for addressing issues of colonialism and consumerism. This image shows eight phases of the moon in the sky above the buffalo, to signify their perseverance, always present on the landscape whether seen or unseen.

 

The photograph is printed on poly-satin fabric with a sleeve at the top to accommodate a hanging rod (not provided). There is a metal weight sewn in at the bottom of the banner to maintain its shape when installed.  According to the artist, it is washable and the image is durable. Piece can be stored rolled.
An iron rod was sewn into the bottom of the piece to serve as a weight for when the object is on display. During conservation of the piece, Angela Duckwall, Senior Textile Conservator felt that removing the rod during storage would prevent additional creasing and wrinkling of the material. Angela removed the iron rod at the time of conservation and returned it to the museum when the artwork was returned. Due to the highly corrosive nature of iron it was decided by the Collections staff to use stainless steel in place of the iron when the piece is on display. The iron rod was kept because it is original to the piece and is now stored in the Temporary Holding Room with other object accessories.
On View
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