For a new exhibition for the marvellous West Friesmuseum in the city of Hoorn we had the challenge of working in a beautiful period room from the middle of the 18th century. When working in a rich historic space it is necessary to take account of more layers of aesthetics, climate, lighting, material and condition than you would with an exhibition in a standard museum space. To this end a good model really helps place objects and rigging and get a general sense of space.
The Aldermans’ Chambers of the old provincial council in Hoorn, a once powerful merchant city, is a pristine example of Dutch Louis XVI interior architecture, and it was a great pleasure to work in. The exhibition there is actually a ‘son-et-lumiere’ show which the museum has put in the Statenlogement (Apartments of the States General) as a substitute for the museum itself while their main buildings are completely refurbished from head to toe. For this spectacle I also created a large expressionistic model in paraffin and tar, which you can see in a separate post. This exhibit opens June 1, 2023.
