Optical Delusions and Small Realities

It's a small world. Two worlds were balanced in the design of this exhibit: that of the artist's maquette and the framed presentation of a final artwork based on that constructed miniature world. Maquettes were installed on trestle pedestals to evoke the artist studio. The final artworks were displayed on gallery panels with an artificial "shadow', painted on the gallery walls and floors, linking the maquette and the artwork facilitating a dreamlike connection between the constructed "reality" of the maquette and the "real" artwork. The MAD Museum of Architecture & Design's 'Otherworldly: Optical Delusions and Small Realities' illuminates the phenomenal renaissance of interest among artists worldwide in constructing small-scale hand built depictions of artificial environments and alternative realities, either as sculpture or as subjects for photography and video. The miniature worlds of the 38 contemporary artists featured in Otherworldly transport the viewer into fantastical lands, surreal spaces, and secret environments, challenging our sense of what is real and what is fabricated. Otherworldly features artists who are reviving and expanding the diorama as a medium for contemporary art through site-specific installation, video, and photography. Fifteen of the featured photographers will reveal both their hand-built dioramas and resulting photographic images—displayed separately throughout the galleries.

Location

Columbus Cir, New York NY

Project Team

Adam Rolston, Drew Stuart, Gabriel Benroth, Hilary R Kroll, and Michael Nartey

Services

Exhibition Design

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