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“Adjustable Wall Bra” (1990 – 1991), by Vito Acconci, as seen at the Barbara Gladstone Gallery in 2001.

“We did it because we wanted to enjoy our art collection in a way we hadn’t been able to…. We’ll be changing the pieces every year. We have hundreds of pieces.”

That’s Norah Stone, describing the amazing “museum-cave” she and Norman Stone just built in Napa. Among the art displayed there, in their private gallery, is “Adjustable Wall Bar” by Vito Acconci, which you see above. Carolyne Zinko asked Mr. Stone what he likes about the piece:

“The breast is a really important symbolic body part that cuts across all cultures. Being breast-fed, if it’s a happy experience, is extraordinarily serene. When you see a baby being breast-fed, that’s pure. They’re not thinking about what’s going to happen tomorrow at work, or how they’re going to pay their bills. They’re one with the breast.

“And so, with this bra, you go back and sit in the bra, and hear the heavy breathing, which is what the child would hear, its mother’s breath, and hopefully you think about those kinds of things and whatever kinds of associations they produce – the moments in your life where you had something close to that experience, or where you wonder, ‘Why didn’t I?’

“Every person would bring a different narrative. I think it’s a very powerful symbol. But it’s also a very complex, smart, beautiful object. All that interests us.”

The full article is available here.