Upside Down, Arctic Realities. At The Menil Collection.

"From our point of view, the Arctic has no favorable qualities, unless its severity be counted as such." In the exhibit brochure, this is how Edmund Carpenter introduces the Arctic. Severity as a quality? What a great concept for an exhibit design strategy.

Upside Down uses severity in ways that transport a visitor to the barren arctic, where, as Carpenter puts it "there is no line dividing earth from sky." Visitors must wear little white booties over their shoes to preserve the virginal snowy floors (painted white). The spiraling acrylic casework floats along the horizon line. Glowing ice caves exalt worship masks. Inuit tales and sounds of the arctic hang in the air like snow flakes.

Read art daily's review of "Upside Down" here.

Curated by Edmund Carpenter, assisted by Sean Mooney. Art Direction by Douglas Wheeler. Sound design by Phillippe Le Goff