Measured worked as the exhibition designer for Fashion Fictions, a survey of experimental fashion and design on display at the Vancouver Art Gallery from May to October 2023. Having previously collaborated with the Gallery to design the exhibition for Picasso: The Artist and his Muses (2016), we were delighted to have been invited back to design another critical Vancouver Art Gallery exhibition.
Idea
Measured worked closely with curator Stephanie Rebick and her team to develop a design that transforms the Gallery into immersive, imaginative spaces and celebrates the innovation and creativity on display. To achieve an experiential quality we experimented with a variety of technical fabrics that produce spatial and light effects. The selection of a translucent “sharkstooth” scrim allowed us to create a compelling environment with a mutable quality that would provide a flexible backdrop for the curator to continue to make creative decisions about the layout of the works in the show. Following the exhibition’s Responsible Visions theme and Measured’s own philosophy, the scrim can also be reused, greatly reducing waste at the end of the project.
Build
To respond to the technical aspects of mounting a show containing over a hundred sculptural works of all different shapes and sizes we developed a system of classification that assigned a module of display to each object in the show. We then populated the Gallery with these modules and worked with the curator to determine how best to arrange the works within the galleries. We then developed methods for wrapping and stretching the scrim over and around our modules to create spatial forms and light effects. When deployed throughout the gallery these forms and the effects they create were used to highlight thematic areas of the show and lead visitors to key pieces.
Experience
Measured was inspired by the exhibition’s desire to display the creative process and practice of fashion, as this aligns with our method and approach to Architecture. In addition to it’s formal and atmospheric qualities, the scrim also allowed us to dematerialized the Gallery space and expose the systems of support working behind the scenes that keep the exhibition running.
Fulfilment of this aspect of the project was realized with Emily Carr University of Art + Design’s Material Matters Lab, an active hybrid lab, workshop, and teaching space inserted within the exhibition. By enclosing the Lab with a thin layer of translucent scrim, we were able to reveal this active component of the exhibition and demonstrate how locally produced work has a strong place among the international works on display.
