This project was my senior thesis, and was researched, designed, and modeled during my final 11-week term at Drexel. I wanted to explore the intrinsic connection of the Dada art movement to World War I, taking visual cues from both events to tie the two together.

 

I chose to illustrate War-related topics with large, imposing metal panels and larger-than-life supergraphics paired with didactic panels based on World War I-era newspapers. The Dada topics have a less strict system, inspired by the movement’s focus on chance and surprise. This system includes a mix of reader rails, hanging didactic panels, and body copy printed directly onto the walls. For the wall copy, I created headers out of collaged vintage letterforms from a variety of early 20th century sources and also used collage as inspiration for the color and texture palette of the exhibit.

 

Throughout the exhibit I included a variety of interactive moments, including a sound poem that visitors would be encouraged to read aloud, magnetic walls with moveable panels that could be rearranged freely, and reproductions of Dada publications that could be paged through.