Object Timeline

2000

  • We acquired this object.

  • Work on this object began.

2016

2025

  • You found it!

Sidewall, Acorn

This is a sidewall. It was designed by Francesco Simeti. It is dated 2000 and we acquired it in 2000. Its medium is digital print. It is a part of the Wallcoverings department.

Acorn’s format is based on the print room papers fashionable in England in the mid-18th century which typically contained pastoral scenes and architectural ruins. Simeti replaced the bucolic scenes with disturbing imagery found in the media. The scenes include workers in hazmat suits removing furniture from mercury-contaminated housing and Cambodian soldiers preparing to clean up a toxic waste dump. The union of the disturbing imagery with the inherent beauty and passive quality of the wallpaper creates a tension only revealed upon close inspection.

This object was donated by Francesco Simeti. It is credited Gift of Francesco Simeti.

Its dimensions are

195.6 x 78.7 cm (77 x 31 in. )

Cite this object as

Sidewall, Acorn; Designed by Francesco Simeti (Italian, b. 1968); USA; digital print; 195.6 x 78.7 cm (77 x 31 in. ); Gift of Francesco Simeti; 2000-62-1

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If you would like to cite this object in a Wikipedia article please use the following template:

<ref name=CH>{{cite web |url=https://www-4.collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/18689419/ |title=Sidewall, Acorn |author=Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum |accessdate=19 February 2025 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution}}</ref>