Stop, Drop, + Pose: Clay in Motion

Stop, Drop, + Pose: Clay in Motion traces the evolution of clay as a time-based medium, from one of the earliest efforts in The Sculptor's Nightmare (1908) to early television and experimental theater, to contemporary artists pushing the material into new territories of video, performance, and moving image. From silent films to contemporary digital and sculptural practice, the thirteen works gathered here span vastly different intentions: comedy, children's television, avant-garde experimentation, documented performances, and short-form internet art. While early animation popularized clay's elasticity, today's artists investigate its fragility, resistance, and intimacy. This exhibition reveals clay as a medium that records touch, humor, and vulnerability, and demonstrates unexpected motion. While early animation popularized clay's elasticity, today's artists investigate its fragility, resistance, and intimacy. On view will be short films and excerpts created by Wallace McCutcheon, Walter R. Booth and F. Percy Smith, Joseph Sunn, Barnaby Barford, Allison Schulnik, Man Yau, Megumi Naitoh, and others. Stop, Drop ,+ Pose: Clay in Motion will be on view in the Igal & Diane Silber Vault Gallery at AMOCA from June 13–December 20, 2026.