Exhibition catalogue published at the conclusion of show held at Santa Monica Museum (SMMOA), January 26 - April 12, 2008. Foreword by Elsa Longhauser, essay by Miwon Kwon, "Support and Decoration: Michael Asher''s Critique of the Architecture of Display," and extensive installation photography by Grant Mudford. "From January 26 to April 12, Santa Monica Museum of Art presented Michael Asher, a monumental installation which was a conceptual history of SMMoA''s exhibitions from 1998 to the present. For the installation, Asher reconstructed all the temporary walls—44 exhibitions'' worth—built during that time period. The exhibition''s labyrinth of metal and wooden studs, which conform to the original wall constructions, revealed how the non-collecting Museum—a kunsthalle—reinvents itself with each new exhibition. SMMoA has no permanent collection. Its institutional history can therefore only be understood by looking through documents and catalogs. Asher''s installation translates the historical infrastructure and museological process into visual form, highlighting what would otherwise remain seamlessly hidden. The skeletal frameworks illuminate what art historian Miwon Kwon describes as ''the temporariness of the architecture of temporary exhibitions.'' With this work at SMMoA, Asher continued his artistic practice of institutional critique—uncovering the ways in which museums and galleries display and interpret art. Visitors were able to view the installation from the front of the main gallery, as well as through a special entrance at the back of the Museum. Project Room 2 serveds as a documentation room, containing floor plans for 44 exhibitions, including the position of every wall and its exhibition provenance. In addition, a tear-away pair of hand outs at the back of SMMoA allowed visitors to review all exhibition floor plans while traversing the installation." -- from Museum''s press release.