Vija Celmins: "To Fix the Image in Memory," 1977-82

The stones that make me most acutely aware of the stoneness of stones are not stones at all. Between 1977 and 1982, Vija Celmins made bronze casts of eleven stones she collected in northern New Mexico, painstakingly painting them to resemble the originals. These made stones are presented alongside the originals. She has said that, “Part of the experience of exhibiting them together with the real stones was to create a challenge for your eyes. I wanted your eyes to open wider."

In a photo, it merely looks like a clever and skillful illusion. In person, while the replicas are startlingly accurate, it is absolutely and immediately apparent that they lack rockness. When I saw it, I surprised myself (and the museum docents) by laughing out loud with delight. It felt peculiarly heartening to be presented with evidence of the ordinary marvelousness of rocks—these things we cannot create or replicate.