by Leah Choo
From the 2nd of December 2018 to the 7th of April 2019, the National Gallery of Victoria held an exhibition that featured the works of renowned Dutch artist M. C. Esher in collaboration with acclaimed design studio nendo [1]. Titled Between Two Worlds, the exhibition featured an expansive collection of Escher’s work made over the course of his career and were presented within multiple exhibition spaces designed by nendo.
The works of Escher were divided into 6 different themes, with nendo designing a space for each theme. Drawing on Escher’s fascination with space, geometry and optical illusions, nendo created each exhibition space as a response to the artist’s work and ideas. The simplified form of a house – the exhibition’s signature motif – is a recurring theme throughout the exhibition. Varying forms and interpretations of the house motif can be seen in the design of each different space, resulting in a playful and immersive experience in which viewers can interact with their environments while also exploring Escher’s artistic vision. By turning the artist’s two-dimensional work into an intriguing three-dimensional space, viewers were drawn into the fantastic imagination of Escher and were able to experience his art in a more physical way.
In one space, titled ‘House in Perspective’ (Figure 1), black metal rods were installed within an all-white gallery to present Escher’s works exploring extreme perspectives and optical illusions [2]. The rods enabled the works to be displayed in a new spatial arrangement and were arranged in a rhombus-shaped layout around a centrally placed mirror structure. At first glance, the metal rods appear to be placed in a clutter, but the shape of a house is revealed – as seen in Figure 2 – as the viewer walks around the gallery and views them from different perspectives.
In another, Escher’s lifelong research into the ‘regular division of the plane’ were presented in a split-level, 60-metre-long and 6-metre-high gallery that provided two different viewing experiences. The upper floor acted as a display space for Escher’s works and a viewing gallery that overlooked a house installation that occupied the lower floor. ‘Transforming House’ (Figure 3) appeared as a three-dimensional tessellation in which a row of four black houses gradually become a row of five white houses at the back of the room [3]. Viewers were encouraged to walk around and explore the space, discovering more of Escher’s works as they immerse themselves in the installation.
Looking at the exhibition from a design perspective, Between Two Worlds can be considered as ‘good design’ – in fulfilling its function of transcending the traditional gallery viewing experience, and also in its modernist aesthetics. When looking at it from a broader, sociological perspective, however, the notions of luxury and ‘good taste’ came to mind. Unlike the other exhibitions held at the National Gallery of Victoria, which are free for the public, the Escher x nendo exhibition seemed quite exclusive. From the $30 entrance fee to the compulsory booking of viewing timeslots, the ‘experience’ was only available to those with the economic means to enjoy it.
According to the reading A Conscious Luxury Experience in the Transformation Economy, the writer states that “with the democratization of traditional luxury value, high cultural capital and status is expressed through subtle behaviors and products that might not be necessarily expensive but signal social class and informed knowledge.” [4] Although the reading was referring to the practice of yoga as a luxury experience, the same ideas can be applied on this exhibition. During my visit to the exhibition, I couldn’t help but notice the few viewers who seemed to only care about getting their pictures taken with the installations, which got me thinking about how people consume luxury in order to appear to have ‘good taste’. As Pierre Bourdieu stated in his 1984 book Distinctions, museums are a place for the elite to flaunt their ‘cultural capital’ and ‘good taste’ [5].
References
[1] “Escher x Nendo | Between Two Worlds, National Gallery of Victoria (NGV), accessed April 12, 2019, https://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/exhibition/escher-x-nendo-between-two-worlds/
[2] Ibid.
[3] Ibid.
[4] Mora, Juliana L., The Yoga Industry: A Conscious Luxury Experience in the Transformation Economy, 2018, 13
[5] Bourdieu, Pierre, Nice, Richard, ed, Distinction : A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste. (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1984)
Design Practices 
Even though I had visited the National Gallery of Victoria recently for a different exhibition, I had not come across the ‘Between Two Worlds’ exhibition. However, your post helps readers who have not seen the exhibition to feel like they have. Talking about the different themes within the exhibition, and the explanations of the artist’s work and ideas, allowed someone like me who had not seen the display to have a grasp on what all the installations were about. The images used, especially the ones that show the different perspectives, also helped me to understand what it would have felt like to walk through and immerse myself into the exhibition.
Your ability to view the exhibition from a design perspective is also a crucial addition to your post, as it allows us to understand how the exhibition can be interpreted by different people. When talking about how good taste and luxury from Bourdieu’s ‘Distinction : A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste’ related to the exhibition, it was really good that you touched on the price of the entrance fee, as well as the fact that people were taking photos in front of the installations, because this is something not many people would notice or think about when walking around an exhibition like this.
Overall, all your points are well presented, and they make me regret not seeing the ‘Between Two Worlds’ exhibition while it was on.
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