NYPL Art in the Windows +
Picture Collection Installation
About This Project
A site-specific work commissioned by the NYPL featuring three installations that focused on the history and social influence of the Qiana® nylon, a synthetic fabric manufactured by the chemical giant DuPont and made popular during the 1970s disco era.
The photo walls inside the NYPL’s Picture Collection featured the Inherited Patterns series, printed on Tyvek®, a recyclable DuPont™ material with many contemporary uses. The language used to market the Qiana® brand in advertisements extolled the seductive and luxurious qualities of this easy-care fabric. It’s this deceptively sweet poetry that I highlighted on the Picture Collection board in a piece titled, A Study in Gentle Persuasion: The Language of Qiana.
The Art in the Windows installation featured visual merchandising inside the ground floor vitrines at the NYPL’s Mid-Manhattan branch. The vitrines were treated as retail shop window displays in which to showcase the artist’s personal collection of vintage neckties and scarves made from the Qiana fabric along with fashion books from the library.
This NYPL installtion was on view from September 3, 2014 through February 22, 2015 at the Mid-Manhattan Library on 5th Avenue and 40th Street in New York City and included an artist dialogue hosted by curator Susan Bright.