museo en caja / museum in a box
project proposal / early prototype
collaboration with Chris Cerrito
Museum in a Box is a kit with objects and materials designed to help communities in developing countries re-contextualize, seeing their space, their customs, and their identities with new value by allowing participants to setup
portable museums.
The Museum in a Box kits will contain items that community leaders in more isolated areas in developing countries can use to help that community think of larger issues of identity. Display and classification tools will be included in the kit as well as guidebooks that will include various exercises and instructions on specific projects. In addition to these guidebooks, actual tools such as boxes, jars, frames, display cases will all be provided or detailed instructions will show individuals how to make their own tools to make and document their own “sacred spaces.”
Some examples of items that may be included:
• As re-contextualizing or re-framing is one of the main themes of this project, one idea of this project is to demonstrate the suggestive power of “frames” to a community. Do-It-Yourself instructions on how to make frames are provided in the kit. People construct frames out of available materials. These empty frames, when placed throughout the town by participants, now frame what may have been once overlooked, giving something new attention and scrutiny, and hopefully, providing a new perspective to viewers.
• Templates for plant-life placards may be provided so that people can reproduce them so that these placards can be placed on or around the vegetation in their environment. People are encouraged to learn about what they have and, in the process, of cataloguing it, realize just how unique what they have in front of them is.
Seeing that finding a single space to dedicate for exhibition might be difficult, the Museum in a Box system instead suggests that communities designate an area to be a “museum space” simply by putting up banners and hanging supplies (wire, etc) on the walls of spaces that already exist, such as party halls or individuals’ homes. After the community decides on a name, they can paint their banner, fill in their signs, and put them up. Put up a space for a month or just one night, pack it up, then pass it along to the next leader to organize the next event.
Another idea is to design the kits to be easily reproducible and to include detailed instructions on their construction, so that the Museum in a Box can become a system that takes on a life of its own and the ideas contained therein are built upon as they are spread.
Museum in a Box kits will contain a “lesson plan,” similar to those designed for teachers, for a group leader to follow and to guide the community in the building of the “museum.” Many of the items included in the kit will be to aid and assist in the process of cataloging, displaying, and documenting.
Boxes, jars, frames, display cases… These will all be provided or detailed instructions will show individuals how to make their own tools to make and document their own “sacred spaces.
collaboration with Chris Cerrito
Museum in a Box is a kit with objects and materials designed to help communities in developing countries re-contextualize, seeing their space, their customs, and their identities with new value by allowing participants to setup
portable museums.
The Museum in a Box kits will contain items that community leaders in more isolated areas in developing countries can use to help that community think of larger issues of identity. Display and classification tools will be included in the kit as well as guidebooks that will include various exercises and instructions on specific projects. In addition to these guidebooks, actual tools such as boxes, jars, frames, display cases will all be provided or detailed instructions will show individuals how to make their own tools to make and document their own “sacred spaces.”
Some examples of items that may be included:
• As re-contextualizing or re-framing is one of the main themes of this project, one idea of this project is to demonstrate the suggestive power of “frames” to a community. Do-It-Yourself instructions on how to make frames are provided in the kit. People construct frames out of available materials. These empty frames, when placed throughout the town by participants, now frame what may have been once overlooked, giving something new attention and scrutiny, and hopefully, providing a new perspective to viewers.
• Templates for plant-life placards may be provided so that people can reproduce them so that these placards can be placed on or around the vegetation in their environment. People are encouraged to learn about what they have and, in the process, of cataloguing it, realize just how unique what they have in front of them is.
Seeing that finding a single space to dedicate for exhibition might be difficult, the Museum in a Box system instead suggests that communities designate an area to be a “museum space” simply by putting up banners and hanging supplies (wire, etc) on the walls of spaces that already exist, such as party halls or individuals’ homes. After the community decides on a name, they can paint their banner, fill in their signs, and put them up. Put up a space for a month or just one night, pack it up, then pass it along to the next leader to organize the next event.
Another idea is to design the kits to be easily reproducible and to include detailed instructions on their construction, so that the Museum in a Box can become a system that takes on a life of its own and the ideas contained therein are built upon as they are spread.
Museum in a Box kits will contain a “lesson plan,” similar to those designed for teachers, for a group leader to follow and to guide the community in the building of the “museum.” Many of the items included in the kit will be to aid and assist in the process of cataloging, displaying, and documenting.
Boxes, jars, frames, display cases… These will all be provided or detailed instructions will show individuals how to make their own tools to make and document their own “sacred spaces.