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Life on a string. 35 centuries of the class bead.

Home architecturepublic space >>cultural & educationLife on a string. 35 centuries of the class bead.

Life on a string. 35 centuries of the class bead.

Jun 19, 2013 | cultural & education, events, people, producer |
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The Corning Museum of Glass selected Harry Allen Design to create their 2013 feature exhibition Life on a String: 35 Centuries of the Glass Bead. Working closely with the curatorial staff, Harry and his team crafted an entertaining and educational show. The radial layout responds to the round room of the Gunnar Birkerts designed Museum building. The objects on display are housed in tall, fully saturated cases, designed to highlight the colorful beads, accommodate the wide variety of materials on display, and bring the objects on display up to eye level.

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Harry enlisted longtime collaborator Stefan Hengst to develop a graphic identity for the show. The emphasis was on the beads themselves, which provide great visual interest. Beads form the logo and are applied as patterns on the wall. The most striking innovation in the graphic treatment is the complete digital nature of the application. Stefan started a wallpaper company last year and most of the graphics in the show, from the entry logo to the object description, are applied seamlessly as wallpaper.

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To engage the viewer, the designers developed three interactive areas in the exhibition. The Timeline, which places important beads in historical context, is cross referenced to a map on the opposite wall by a web of strings that crisscross overhead; beads are thus placed in a historical context as well. A small round theater at the heart of the exhibit features a video as well as a display of bead making tools. The “Wearing Beads” gallery combines images of beads being worn in various cultures with images of beaded garments mounted on mirrors. Viewing themselves in the mirrors visitors can imagine themselves in beaded flapper dress and Samburu necklaces.

exhibition dates | 18 may 2013 > 5 january 2014
[ harry allen design ] [ corning museum of glass ] | One Museum Way – Corning, NY | 800.732.6845

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Phil Patton

about Phil Patton

Phil Patton is a contributing editor at Departures and Esquire magazines, a contributing writer at Wired and an automotive design writer for The New York Times. He was a regular contributor to The New York Times House and Home section and, in 1998, originated the “Public Eye” column. He has written many books including: Made in USA: The Secret History of the Things That Made America (Grove-Weidenfeld, 1992), which was named a New York Times notable book of the year; Bug: The Strange Mutations of the World's Most Famous Automobile (Simon & Schuster, 2002); Michael Graves Designs: The Art of the Everyday Object (Melcher, 2004); and Dreamland: Travels Inside the Secret World of Roswell and Area 51 (Villard, 1998). He has also written for Art in America, ARTnews, Connoisseur, Geo, Harper’s Bazaar, Men’s Journal, The New Republic, New York Magazine, The New York Times Book Review, Rolling Stone, Smithsonian, Travel + Leisure, Traveler, The Village Voice and Vogue. Patton was Editorial Consultant on the Guggenheim Museum’s “Motorcycle” show in 1998 and Consulting Curator for the “Different Roads” exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in 1999. In 2000 he was consultant and contributor for “On the Job: Design and the American Office” at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C.

view all entries by Phil Patton.

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