2018
Role:
Ideation up to display.
I was in charge of the whole process and I reported to Sacha Gerstein, McQueens Curator of Sculpture and Decorative Arts.
Matthew Thompson, technician at The Courtauld Gallery helped me building the display and aided me throughout the process.
SHINING A NEW LIGHT ON AN ART PIECE
Context:
I used some magic tricks to trick the eye and display a glass bowl as a bioluminescent jellyfish.
I explored the visual nuances of an 18th-century Venetian opalescent glass bowl as revealed under certain lighting conditions, and its analogy to bioluminescent sea creatures. The project was held at The Courtauld Gallery in London.
My aim was to showcase the piece in a way that spoke to the user, to create a deeper connection between an inanimate object and the viewer.
The project entailed choosing a piece from The Courtauld Gallery archive, delve into research to gather more information about it and design the case where it was displayed for 3 months at the Gallery. The timeframe for this project was 14 days.
The piece that I selected ▼
A VENETIAN OPALESCENT GLASS BOWL
I chose this beautiful, tiny and delicate piece—an opalescent glass bowl from the late XVII early XVIII century.
Problem
Shine a new light in an object that isn’t part of the permanent exhibition. Design a stand-alone display that doesn’t disrupt the permanent exhibition and that aligns with the Museum values & objectives.
User / Audience
35 - 70-year-olds that is reported to visit the Museum every month. 60% of them are regular visitors while 10% of them are visitors for the first time.
The rest of them are tourists from all over the world visiting the Museum during their holidays.
THE FINAL DISPLAY
Because of the translucent material, I ventured to add a reflecting surface and a pulsing light at the bottom.
Final display. The piece as a jellyfish swimming in the gallery.
THE DESIGN PROCESS
ABOUT INITIAL THOUGHTS & FINDINGS AND THE DESIGN OF THE DISPLAY
ABOUT THE LIGHTING
ABOUT THE DISPLAY’S SETUP AT THE COURTAULD GALLERY & OPENING
Installation Timelapse
For this project I relied on intense academic and scientific research. And the display was designed around the Venetian opalescent glass bowl.
For the display: MDF, black paint, black perspex and vinyl & glass.
For the light: 1 inch Round LED, Arduino board, cable coded in Python.
Read more about the project here
Watch the panel discussion McQueens Illuminating Objects Talk and Panel: When Art meets Science where I talk about this piece.