BETWEEN FENCES: EXHIBITION FOR NATIONAL BUILDING MUSEUM
To emphasize the title and the main premise of the exhibition, we proposed to install the show entirely on fences. We believed that in the context of museum galleries, conventional fencing would look strange enough to re-awaken visitors’ perception and aesthetic appreciation. Specifically, transparent layers of chain-link walls worked perfectly for display, circulation, and enclosure. Historical fences and artifacts mounted on the background of chain-link offered visual collages, along with interesting curatorial comparisons.
The exhibition started with a white picket fence, a traditional symbol of American home and neighborhood. In the final section, the visitors encountered a giant 14-foot high picket fence, a humorous, yet slightly ominous interpretation of the United States border. “This exhibition is both amusing and bemusing; visitors are unlikely ever to look at fences the same way again”, commented The Washington Post.
