Word of the Week: Maquette

One of the hardest things for me to wrap my mind around when approaching a new exhibit is scale. I know what the new display looks like in my head – but how to translate that design into 3D often eludes me. The same challenge arose years ago when I first approached a fabricator to discuss building my traveling trunk concept. I just couldn’t get what was in my brain out of my mouth in ANY words that were comprehensible. 

My solution at the time was to mock-up, in 3D, a little foam core model. My first attempt was crude, but effective. I am no architect, but I can cut a straight line, and this was sufficient to get my point across. Since this initiation into miniature mock-ups, I have used the technique on several occasions during the exhibit design process. The first exhibit case I mocked-up was for Tubac Presidio State Historic Park. A photo of the mock-up and the finished case are below. 

This week – picture a huge light bulb over my head – I learned that this is a bona fide artist technique, and it has a name – maquette. 

Exhibit design and fabrication is incredibly unique work. It engages so many interdisciplinary skills to produce a specific product. I often say that creating history exhibitions is like writing a book, boiling it down to poetry, and then illustrating it in 3D. Add to that, the fact that your work is thrown out there for public review and scrutiny. It’s not always easy, but little hacks like creating maquette often are just the need to see that a concept is viable. 

This week – the task was to create a small changing gallery for Superstition Mountain Museum. It is an intimate space, just 9 feet deep by 6 feet wide. Faced with the challenge of scale, I started by trying to get my thoughts out in the form of a maquette. It’s crude, perhaps, but effective, and I am happy to share it with you – handwritten scribbles and all!