Photo by Gail

This Crystal Chandelier was one of three acquired by artist Danh Vo during the restoration of the former Hotel Majestic in Paris. It came from the hotel’s grand ballroom, which served as a meeting site for numerous political gatherings from World War II through the hotel’s closure in the first decade of the 2000s. For instance, on January 27, 1973, the hotel was host to the signing ceremony for the Paris Peace Accords, nine-point planned aimed at guaranteeing lasting peace in Vietnam. Each chandelier’s title notes the time and date when the artist removed it from the ballroom’s ceiling — in this case,16:32, 26.05.2009 coincides with 4:32 PM on May 26th, 2009. By divorcing the opulent chandelier from its function and historical setting, this object, designed to convey elegance and celebration, holds within it the memory of the difficult moments in global history it has witnessed.

Photographed in the Whitney Museum in NYC.