George Spencer, Seducing the Babysitter, Tuesday, April 1, 2003, 11-12 am

Inscriptions

Signed, in graphite, lower right: TV03039, 6/10, 1/21/2005 Matthew Pillsbury [name underlined]; inscribed, in graphite, lower left: George Spencer, Seducing the Babysitter, Tuesday April 1st 2003, 11-12am

Label

In Matthew Pillsbury’s photograph, the use of long-exposure techniques causes the man to fade into the background while the TV screen becomes a glowing portal, drawing attention away from the physical space around him. The TV seems to offer an alluring escape, a pull that dominates his attention and isolates him from the world outside. This visual approach reflects theorist Guy Debord’s critique of television, where the medium serves as a spectacle that isolates viewers, drawing them deeper into its grasp. The title, which includes the name of the television program, Seducing the Babysitter, reflects this dynamic, suggesting an almost intimate relationship with the screen—a pull that distracts and dominates, blurring the lines between reality and the mediated world. The composition of the photograph is divided by a pole, with the TV on the right and the man, George Spencer, on the left, emphasizing their separation. The windows—three on the left and two on the right—further divide the space, creating a boundary between the private, contained world inside and the open, visible world outside. Despite the wide-openness of the windows, the man is entirely absorbed in his interaction with the TV.

From the 2025 exhibition A Space for Dialogue 127, Separation Perfected, curated by Dominic Folkes ’25, Mellon Special Project Intern

Course History

SART 29, Photography I, Virginia Beahan, Spring 2012

SART 65, Architecture I, Karol Kawiaka, Spring 2012

SART 65, Architecture I, Karol Kawiaka, Spring 2013

SART 29, Photography I, Virginia Beahan, Summer 2013

SART 65, Architecture I, Karol Kawiaka, Winter 2014

HUM 1, Dialogues with the Classics, Paul Carranza, Caroline Dever, Andrea Tarnowski, Timothy Pulju, Fall 2015

Exhibition History

A Space for Dialogue 127, Separation Perfected, Dominic Folkes ’25, Mellon Special Project Intern, Alvin P. Gutman Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, November 8, 2025 - January 4, 2026

A Space for Dialogue 72, Escaping the Moment, Seeing Time in Photography, Chanon (Kenji) Praepipatmongkol, Class of 2013, Mellon Special Project Curatorial Intern, Main Lobby, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, August 18-September 23, 2012.

Celebrating Twenty Years: Gifts in Honor of the Hood Museum of Art, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, June 11-December 12, 2005.

Publication History

Katherine W. Hart et al., Celebrating Twenty Years: Gifts in Honor of the Hood Museum of Art, Hanover, New Hampshire: Trustees of Dartmouth College, 2005, pp. 104, ill. p. 105, cat. no. 45.

Brian P. Kennedy and Emily Shubert Burke, Modern and Contemporary Art at Dartmouth: Highlights from the Hood Museum of Art, Hanover: Trustees of Dartmouth College, 2009, p.209, no.273.

Chanon (Kenji) Praepipatmongkol, A Space for Dialogue 72, Escaping the Moment, Seeing Time In Photography, Hanover, New Hampshire: Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, 2012, ill. p. 1.

Provenance

Bonni Benrubi Gallery, Inc., New York, New York; sold to Maggie Hunt, Jackson, Wyoming, December 16, 2004; given to present collection, 2005.

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