Hybrid Exhibition

Hybrid Exhibition: Akwasi Bediako Afrane

An exhibition featuring Akwasi Bediako Afrane's work that invites visitors to reflect on their relationship with e-waste through memory.

Tasked with designing a temporary exhibition at the Miller Institute for Contemporary Art, I created a series of interactive spaces that invite visitors to engage with forgotten electronics, reflect on their relationship with e-waste, and explore how the artist transforms discarded objects into new artifacts.

Team

Timeline

Role

Tools

Individual

4 weeks, Fall 2024

Spatial Designer

SketchUp, Illustrator, Photoshop, Procreate, Twinmotion

EXHIBITION OVERVIEW

01. Introduction Space

Visitors are introduced to the artist by interacting with a recreation of his electronic makerspace, browsing scattered notes and images that reflect his creative approach.

02. Reception Desk

Area where staff are available to provide instructions and answer questions about navigating the various spaces.

03. Memory Shelf

Discarded electronics are placed on irregular shelves with instructions and reflective questions. When someone hovers their hand over a shelf, a projection activates and reveals a memory associated with that electronic.

04. Artist's Work

Showcase of one of the artist’s installation works, Random Segments of Codes,

05. TRONS World

A full-room projection creates a cityscape of TRONS, where visitors interact with electronic components to explore how the artist repurposes these materials in his work.

06. Leave a Note

Reflect on their experience and write down piece of memory from the exhibition.

Miller ICA, CMU’s contemporary art gallery, is the site I’ll be designing for. With limited space and the artist's room-scale works, deciding what to include and how to divide the gallery space becomes especially important.

I visited the Mattress Factory to see his installation work in person and was inspired by his interest in the connection between people, technology, and the digital world.

TRONS are Afrane’s reimagined electronic components—discarded parts transformed into interactive sculptures.

IDEATION

Sketching interaction ideas to communicate a story of memory and transformation, focusing on creating smooth transitions so the interactions felt connected rather than like separate “stations.”

VISITOR FLOW

sketching layout options while considering how visitors move through the space. Many early versions had walkways that were too narrow, so I rearranged the layout to ensure at least three feet of clearance for accessibility.

SPACE BRANDING

The exhibition explores a circular theme of memory and e-waste, so I developed moodboards and a visual identity that could evoke both nostalgia and reflection. I leaned into cool tones with accents of warm colors.

PROTOTYPE & TEST

explored how the exhibition layout by modeling in SketchUp, testing interaction scale through projections, and prototyping circuits to quickly gauge feasibility of interactions.