Orbits of Known and Unknown Objects: SFAI Histories / MATRIX 277 is an exhibition in the form of a website for the Berkeley Art Museum. In honor of the San Francisco Art Institute’s 150th Anniversary, we worked with SFAI librarians and archivists Jeff Gunderson, Becky Alexander, and Nina Zurier, along with curator Apsara DiQuinzio to celebrate the school through a series of objects that speak to the history, community and creative output of this remarkable institution.

 

The equally storied MATRIX program has run continuously at Berkeley Art Museum since 1978, showing artists such Eva Hesse, Jean-Michel Basquiat and Louise Borgeois in sequentially-titled exhibitions. But for 277 we could not exhibit in the museum due to the COVID pandemic, so the exhibition was moved online. While there was a loss of materiality in this format, there were also distinct gains in terms of accessibility, distribution and longevity. The site can be visited at matrix277.org