Allan McCollum. The World: A Moment in Time

With ›The World: A Moment in Time‹ (2024), Allan McCollum revisits his sweeping, poignant installation ›Each and Every One of You‹ (2004) – marking the occasion of the work’s 20th anniversary. The new work takes a more expansive view, adapting to shifts in the geo-political landscape and societal discourses of the two decades since its initial conception.

Like its predecessor, ›The World: A Moment in Time comprises‹ 1200 framed digital prints, each containing a different given name. It departs from the first iteration, however, in two significant ways. For the original work, McCollum drew on data from the U.S. Census Bureau, compiling names commonly used in the country at the time and breaking them up according to the 600 most popular female names and the 600 most popular male names. In contrast, the new work is a collection of the most common names worldwide and forgoes distinctions based on gender – resultantly absent of binary classifications or any other breakdown into discrete categories. Within this constellation, the prominent occurrence of names, for example, of Chinese, Hispanic, Indian, or Muslim origin, also visualizes current demographic statistics. In updating the work in this way, McCollum reflects on its place in an increasingly global society, while considering topics of inclusivity within the contemporary art context in which it is situated – and beyond.