The Evolution of Category

David Byrne, artist

born 1952

The Evolution of Category, 2003

Material/technique: paper; pencil

Dimensions:
Sheet/Paper Dimensions (Height x Width): 43.18 x 35.56 cm
Mat Dimensions (Height x Width): 20 x 16 in
Sheet/Paper Dimensions (Height x Width): 17 x 14 in

Credit line: Museum purchase: Lucy Shaw Schultz Fund

Accession number: 2009.0017

Not on display

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Images

Label texts

Cryptograph: An Exhibition for Alan Turing

In the Borges story “The Analytical Language of John Wilkins” he describes a Chinese system of categorization that breaks down the world into Things The Emperor Owns and Everything Else. Claude Lévi-Strauss claimed that one of the most basic categories we humans have is “Can I eat it?” and then, “Do I like to eat it?” The way we categorize and perceive the world is sometimes based on what seem like arbitrary criteria.
For example, there could be intersecting layers of categories: brown things, brown things that are alive, brown things that will hurt me, brown things that make nice pants material. One imagines a kind of plaid semi-translucent three-dimensional Venn diagram representing these categories and their intersections. The number of categories in the world is, therefore, larger than the number of things in the world.

Exhibition Label:
"Cryptograph: An Exhibition for Alan Turing," Mar-2012, Stephen Goddard
David Byrne noted in 2005 that his wonderfully playful explorations of diagrams started "a few years ago as instructions to myself in a little notebook-'draw an evolutionary tree on pleasure,' or 'draw a Venn diagram about relationships...'" The full body of nearly 100 drawings was published as a book in 2006 under the title Arboretum. In each of these drawings, Byrne explores unanticipated connections between things and/or ideas. For the Evolution of Category the artist explains: In the Borges story “The Analytical Language of John Wilkins” he describes a Chinese system of categorization that breaks down the world into Things The Emperor Owns and Everything Else. Claude Lévi- Strauss claimed that one of the most basic categories we humans have is “Can I eat it?” and then, “Do I like to eat it?” The way we categorize and perceive the world is sometimes based on what seem like arbitrary
criteria. For example, there could be intersecting layers of categories: brown things, brown things that are alive, brown things that will hurt me, brown things that make nice pants material. One imagines a kind of plaid semitranslucent three-dimensional Venn diagram representing these categories and their intersections. The number of categories in the world is, therefore, larger than the number of things in the world.

Recent Acquisition Label:
Website, 2009, Steve Goddard
The artist explains: “In the Borges story “The Analytical Language of John Wilkins” he describes a Chinese system of categorization that breaks down the world into Things The Emperor Owns and Everything Else. Claude Lévi-Strauss claimed that one of the most basic categories we humans have is “Can I eat it?” and then, “Do I like to eat it?” The Way we categorize and perceive the world is sometimes based on what seem like arbitrary criteria.

For example, there could be intersecting layers of categories: brown things, brown things that are alive, brown things that will hurt me, brown things that make nice pants material. One imagines a kind of plaid semi-translucent three-dimensional Venn diagram representing these categories and their intersections. The number of categories in the world is, therefore, larger than the number of things in the world.”