dioramart installation
Commissioned by the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, we designed and built a temporary diorama activation installation.
The DioramART event was part of the DMNS Night at the Museum programming for Denver Arts Week , 2019. Along with four other artist collectives, we (a team I rallied from my MFA colleagues) transformed wildlife diorama halls into multi-sensory experiences that were designed to integrate the arts with nature and science, and to entertain museum guests of all ages while activating and elevating the specimens and locales in the museum’s world-renowned dioramas.
a frosty wonderland…
Our site-specific installation lived in the North American Wildlife Hall and incorporated gray wolves, muskox, mountain goats, and caribou dioramas.
Inspired by the beautifully detailed and hand-rendered frosty landscape backgrounds, we crafted glowing papier-mâché sculptures to mimic icy bergs and snowy peaks. The sculptures were placed throughout the space to extend the landscapes from the dioramas into the halls placing the museum guests in the environment, as this is our ecosystem in Colorado.
… to trashy reality
As museum guests progressed through the hall, the iceberg sculptures began to shrink in size and incorporate more trash until the bergs were completely made up of discarded materials and found objects that glowed from unnatural black-lights and electronic wires.
Although pretty to look at, the sculptures represent what is happening on our planet with climate change.
The commentary also looks at our consumption and how quickly one-time-use plastics and packaging can literally pile up.
the event
- An Artist Open Call was announced on the DMNS website looking for Colorado-based artists.
- After selection, we were assigned a wildlife diorama hall, and worked independently over the course of one month to design and create our activation.
- The Museum provided a budget of $750 for our work.
- Over 6,000 people of all ages and backgrounds visited the museum during the event and were intentionally invited to visit the wildlife halls.
- Activations were installed and removed on the event day.
creative process
After our creative intent was chosen and our wildlife hall was assigned, the team came together and we talked about inspirations and stories.
We created moodboards, space plans, and assembled a formal proposal for the Museum to review. Upon approval with minor changes, we got to work sourcing materials and building.
Parameters included: limited electrical outlets, unable to hang anything from the ceilings, no permanent or damaging materials on walls/floors, and a quick sprint timeline.
Project team members: Erin Carlson, Adrianna Hipple, Jack McCahan, Camila Montoya, Lyndie Raymond, and Veronica Rodriguez.