Museum of Matches, Katonah Museum of Art Biennial 2021

My father invented a match game as a boy and played it throughout his career as a Cold War CIA operative. In an email correspondence with my father, I asked him questions about the Cold War and his match game. I recreated my father’s match game, painting match heads to simulate the pre-safety matches he had used. My father gave me his original match game stored in a 1950s Cuban cigar box. I explored other meanings of the word “match” - a symmetrical, personal or adversarial relationship. The project gave me insight into my father’s life and career. It also enabled me to understand the volatility of the Cold War and its legacy of nuclear weapons. The Museum of Matches project explores the Cold War through visual art, documents, photographs, books, memorabilia and publications.