Wood and Plexiglass structure

Rubber rug, photograph of curtains, cement seat

Scope

Steel stairs on casters

This piece was made specifically for the Kresge Art Museum in East Lansing, Michigan for the Michigan Biennial Exhibition. The large “vitrine” is big enough to enclose and isolate the viewer, who is then free to privately view artwork in the museum through a telescope. As the museum goer stands in the structure, they are both the viewer and the viewed. The previous viewing apparatus, built at the Mattress Factory in Pittsburgh, allowed the viewer to see inside the gallery without actually entering the space. This meant that residents in the community who might feel uncomfortable in an art space had the freedom to participate without actually having to enter the space. The structure of this piece protects in a similar way by creating a homelike atmosphere with rug, seat and curtains that could seem more comforting than the harsh lights and open spaces of the museum, despite the harsher materials those objects are made from (rubber, cement, plastic film.