Zero Plus Zero Equals Zero/A Doughnut Plus a Doughnut Equals Two Doughnuts

Photography and Media

1974

Robert Cumming
American, 1943-2021

Status: Currently Off View
Department: Photography and Media

Artist: Robert Cumming
Title: Zero Plus Zero Equals Zero/A Doughnut Plus a Doughnut Equals Two Doughnuts
Origin: United States
Date: 1974
Medium: Gelatin silver prints (2)
Inscriptions: Inscribed recto, on mount, lower left, below left image, in graphite: "ZERO PLUS ZERO EQUALS ZERO."; inscribed and signed recto, on mount, lower right, below right image, in graphite: "A DOUGHNUT PLUS A DOUGHNUT EQUALS TWO DOUGHNUTS / Cumming 1974."; inscribed verso, on sticker affixed to mount, upper left, in black ink: "11[?]" [obscured by white linen tape]; verso, on sticker affixed to mount, upper left, in black ink: "[illegible]" [obscured by white linen tape]; stamped and inscribed verso, on mount, along left edge, sideways, in black ink and graphite: "Crescent [stamped in black ink] J27 [inscribed in graphite] 155007 [stamped in black ink]"; inscribed verso, on mount, lower left, in graphite: "75.663.a-b"; printed and inscribed verso, on sticker affixed to mount, lower right, upside-down, in green and black ink: "2311 Cotner Avenue / Telephone: 478-5038 / CART AND CRATE [printed in green ink] / CC / 75 / 314 [inscribed in black ink] / Los Angeles 90064 [printed in green ink]"
Dimensions: 19.4 × 24.6 cm (each image); 20.1 × 25.2 cm (each paper); 50.9 × 76.1 cm (mount)
Credit Line: In Chicago Portfolio Fund
Reference Number: 1983.820

San Diego, California, Museum of Contemporary Art, “Robert Cumming: Cone of Vision,” May 28–August 4, 1993; traveled to Boston, Massachusetts, Museum of Fine Arts, September 4–November 28, 1993; Houston, Texas, Contemporary Art Museum, February 25–May 15, 1994; Honolulu, Hawaii, Contemporary Art Museum, June 28–August 28, 1994.
Art Institute of Chicago, “Optical Delusions: Jokes, Puns and Sleights of Hand in Photography,” June 17–October 15, 2000. (Colin Westerbeck)
Art Institute of Chicago, “A Mind at Play,” June 14–September 7, 2008. (David Travis)

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