The High Museum of Art in Atlanta continues its innovative multiyear initiative to animate its outdoor space with Merry Go Zoo, a new interactive installation by Spanish designer Jaime Hayon on The Woodruff Arts Center’s Carroll Slater Sifly Piazza.
Inspired to create a playful, 21st-century version of an outdoor public sculpture, Hayon designed four large-scale, vibrantly colored, kinetic structures for Merry Go Zoo.
The structures feature a round metal-and-wood base topped by an animal-shaped polyurethane sculpture. Visitors are able to interact with the structures either by spinning on the base or by rotating the sculpture. The installation transforms the piazza into a playground and summer refuge that offers a welcoming atmosphere for socializing and recreation. The installation will also become the stage for performances, art-making activities and special events co- organized with local partner institutions.
“The incredibly talented Jaime Hayon has envisioned a dynamic, engaging and joyful setting that extends the Museum’s reach outdoors and invites visitors to experience art in an interactive way,” said Sarah Schleuning, the High’s decorative arts and design curator.
“Jaime’s vision has once again re-imagined our piazza as a destination for the community to come together and take part in the artist’s creation,” said Virginia Shearer, Eleanor McDonald Storza director of education at the High. “The installation serves as a welcome mat for our family visitors and as inspiration to linger and play on the piazza.”
Concurrent with Merry Go Zoo, the High presents Technicolor, an immersive installation in the Museum’s Anne Cox Chambers Wing featuring dramatic new works by Hayon that the Museum commissioned to grow its significant 21st century design collection. This is the first solo U.S. exhibition for the artist.
Six large-scale tapestries, inspired by designs Hayon created for last summer’s Tiovivo piazza installation, hang from the ceiling. Hayon worked with the renowned Tilburg Textile Museum’s TextielLab in the Netherlands to weave the vibrant works using a mix of traditional fibers and non-traditional materials, such as rubber. Pedestals on the floor display quirky, stacked ceramics with colorful, expressive designs Hayon hand-painted with colored glazes. All of these works showcase Hayon’s new explorations in color and technique.
Merry Go Zoo will remain on view until 26 November 2017, while Technicolor closes 15 October 2017.
all images © Jonathan Hillyer