\u27Picture This:\u27 Barbara Kruger\u27s \u27Imperfect Utopia\u27

California contemporary artist Barbara Kruger created the colossal, three-dimensional work Picture This as part of the winning outdoor park design Imperfect Utopia (1986-1997) held by the North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh. Situated in the landscape outside the museum’s original building designed by Edward Durell Stone, 80-foot-tall letters inscribe Kruger’s phrase Picture This. The letters are embedded with quotations, historical markers, cultural figures, as well as elements pertaining to North Carolina’s history and environment. This thesis proposes that Picture This functions as Kruger’s conceptual critique of museums; more specifically, it critiques their traditional utopian goals and simulacral stature. This thesis will demonstrate that Kruger’s phrase Picture This functions as a dialogue with the museum and the state. By drawing parallels between Kruger’s work and French philosopher Jean Baudrillard’s theory of simulation, this study will elucidate alternative readings of Picture This as well as foreground its impact on Kruger’s oeuvre