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# Exploring the Evolution of Diagrams at El Segundo Museum of Art
- URL: https://hyperallergic.com/exploring-the-evolution-of-diagrams-at-el-segundo-museum-of-art/
- Published: 2017-06-07T21:39:18.000Z
- Updated: 2025-11-24T16:41:07.000Z
- Description: On June 11, Matthew Ritchie, an artist in residence at the Getty Research Institute, will unveil his 27-foot-long work exploring diagrams throughout history.
- Author: Matt Stromberg
- Tags: Art, Events, #wp, #wp-post, #image-position-hidden, #Import 2025-11-24 07:23 (2016, 2017, part 2)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2017/06/matthew-ritchie-_-the-temptation-of-the-diagram_page8.jpg)

Matthew Ritchie, “The Temptation of the Diagram,” page 8 (2014) (image courtesy of El Segundo Museum of Art)

Used in numerous disciplines, from science and philosophy to sports and cooking, diagrams depict concepts, processes, and actions in visual form — pictures of ideas as opposed to pictures of things. Since being named Artist in Residence at the [Getty Research Institute](http://www.getty.edu/research/?ref=hyperallergic.com) (GRI) in 2012, Matthew Ritchie has been collaborating with the GRI on an ambitious exploration of the diagram throughout human history.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2017/06/thomas-wright_an-original-theory-or-new-hypothesis-of-the-universe.jpg)

Thomas Wright, “An original theory or new hypothesis of the universe,” Plate XVII (1750) (collection of the Getty Research Institute)

Ritchie will unveil the results of his research, a 27-foot-long work titled “The Temptation of the Diagram,” as part of the upcoming exhibition [*Noema*](http://esmoa.org/experience/noema/?ref=hyperallergic.com)*,* a term derived from a Greek word meaning“the content of a thought” or “thought-object.” The show will also feature an immersive room-sized version of the work, as well as a selection of 15 rare books lent by the GRI — including Sir Isaac Newton’s *Optics* (1704) and Marcel Duchamp’s *A l’infinitif* (1966) — that illustrate the diagram’s multifarious forms. [Opening day events](http://esmoa.org/event/noema-opening/?ref=hyperallergic.com) include a family-friendly scavenger hunt and collaborative spiral drawing, as well as remarks by David Brafman, a GRI Rare Books curator, Marcia Reed, the GRI chief curator, and Ritchie.

**When:** Opens Sunday, June 11, 10am–5pm (free admission)  
**Where:** El Segundo Museum of Art (208 Main Street, El Segundo, California)

*More info* [*here*](http://esmoa.org/event/noema-opening/?ref=hyperallergic.com)*.*