The glass installation "Things Change" by Maria Bang Jespersen features four glass vases "'infected' with foreign materials" and in various states of calculated decay. As time passes, the vases fall apart in front of Renwick audiences, leaving glass shards on the pristine platform. This aspect of the installation verges on performance art, presenting a reinvented spectacle for each ensuing audience. The concept of "infection" as the catalyst for destruction personally landed quite ominously, as we now navigate the second full year of the coronavirus pandemic. Though created in 2015 and before our unwelcome and heightened awareness of death, this installation perhaps presciently suggests embracing a more comfortable relationship with mortality. This piece bravely suggests we welcome that "Things Change."

Throughout the Renwick, we repeatedly encountered an ethos of reinvention, with countless artists using recycled materials and many other artworks advocating for a transformation of the country's political and social conventions. "Things Change" is one of many pieces that challenges conventional standards for beauty and art, calling into question our expectations of what is considered "museum worthy." This installation instead offers a more holistic view of beauty, implying that there is something meaningful to be found in all intended and unintended imperfections, a belief that rings true to our experience of the DC Winter Seminar.

(Sophia Moustaid)