MASS MoCA’s milestone 25th year has us thinking about the numbers that have swirled around the Museum since its opening in 1999: square footage, acreage, solar panels, staff members, etc. To visualize this data, we enlisted Chicago-based artist Bob Faust to create a nontraditional visualization of this data titled MASS M0CA BY THE NUMB3R5.

This project is best understood as a compilation of big statistics alongside the stories that make them breathe. MASS MoCA is hard to categorize. It’s more than a museum; it is, as Faust says, like a “best friend,” someone or someplace you know through its multitudes. The bricks, windows, events, patrons, ice cream flavors, and artists all comprise the DNA of the last 25 years and will continue to do so well into the future. These numbers are what bring us to life, make us run, jump, sing, dance, laugh, and find wonder throughout this campus.

Whether you are interested in miles of HVAC ductwork, the critters that have occupied the buildings, the number of pencils used in the Sol LeWitt wall drawings, or the number of crystals by Nick Cave, MASS M0CA BY THE NUMB3R5 allows you to see anew the art, buildings, and amazing people who have brought the dream of this place to life. However, we caution you to take these numbers with a heavy grain of salt, for it really is hard to count all the MASS precisely!

About the Artist:

Artist and designer Bob Faust crafts work that exists in the space between art and design. Faust has over 30 years of experience as the principle and creative director of Faust, a cultural branding studio. Text, patterns, and nature emerge as throughlines throughout his conceptual art practice that defies categorization and genre. In addition to his own work, Faust is also the professional and personal partner of artist Nick Cave. Together they founded the non-for-profit Facility: a multi-use creative space in Chicago that seeks to build community and change the world through art and design. Faust has been recognized nationally and internationally for his inimitable creativity through many prestigious honors including a University of Illinois, College of Fine & Applied Arts, 2022 Distinguished Legacy Award and City of Chicago, 2022 Mayor’s Medal of Honor. Exhibitions have included For And Nor But Or Yet So (Poetry Foundation), WA/ONDER (167 Green), with all, and still… (The Peninsula Chicago), Rapt on the Mile (The Magnificent Mile Association), Ways and Means (Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events and The Chicago Transit Authority), About Face: Stonewall, Revolt and New Queer Art (Wrightwood 659), Great Ideas of Humanity: Out of the Container (Chicago Design Museum), gu lty / nnocent (MASS MoCA); Unfolded: Made with Paper (Chicago Design Museum), Betweens (Riverside Arts Center), and CHGO DSGN (Chicago Cultural Center). He has also received recognition from the Chicago Tribune, Newcity, NBC 5 News, the Chicago Sun-Times, CBS Evening News, and T: The New York Times Style Magazine.