Nice Outfit was a temporary scenographic installation commissioned by the Michigan Arts League to support public performances in Detroit’s Harmonie Park. Developed in collaboration with artist Olayami Dabls—known for his urban-scale work at the Detroit African Bead Museum—the project introduced his material and symbolic language into the city’s civic core. Neither decorative nor didactic, the installation examined how architecture and art might jointly structure public activity, sustain cultural memory, and provoke exchange. Drawing on themes of the African diaspora, Nice Outfit comprised a group of nine wooden figures arranged as a welcoming ensemble. Hand-painted, layered surfaces and mirrored elements generated shifting chromatic effects, while anamorphic projections multiplied the figures within the crowd—extending the installation from object to social field.
2012
Detroit Michigan, Michigan
Client:
Carr Center
Support:
University of Michigan
Principals:
Anya Sirota, Jean Louis Farges
Collaboration:
Olayami Dable
Design Team:
Ian Donaldson, Matthew Story, Annelise Heeringa
Production Team:
Alan Lucey, Ryan Mason, Ashley Daniels, Hanna Jeffers, Martin Elliot, Eric Howard, Daniel Glick-Unterman, Andre Ali Morgan
Award:
Spirit of Detroit Award