Metal Wing Myriad

by Stacy Rinella | December 13, 2024 7:47 am

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An immersive, wholly unique interactive installation, the Museum of No Spectators (MoNS), is now a permanent fixture for the next three years in Art City, a new 16.2-ha (40-acre) sculpture park nestled amid spectacular desert landscapes. Located off iconic Route 66 in Tucumcari, N. Mex., the
130 m² (1,400 sf) open-air project functions as an exhibit unto itself, created to foster the notion of participatory art.

The brainchild of artist and architect John Marx, AIA, and artist Absinthia Vermut, MoNS was founded as a pop-up museum. Originally intended to be an art installation at Burning Man in 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic forced the event’s closure that year and in 2021. As a result, the creators provided a 3D virtual experience of the project. MoNS debuted at Burning Man in 2022, followed by a subsequent iteration at the festival in 2023.

“MoNS is a place where everyone is an artist,” says Marx. “We want people to come and immerse themselves in this creative experience at Art City, to engage with the artwork, and to express themselves in unexpected and profound ways.”

Designed to house small works of art, MoNS is divided into eight themes ranging from “Abundance” to “Social Justice: Truth, Lies, and Reconciliation.” Each theme explores the manifold elements of society in the modern age.

Constructed of a steel tube framing and aluminum panels, the structure comprises two large galleries with several angled walls resembling trapezoidal metal wings on either side of a central walkway. Steel tracery components are integrated at the end of each metal wing, enabling an unobstructed perspective of the desert panorama. Further, a myriad of colored lights illuminates the structure at night, producing an ethereal effect in the surrounding landscape

Source URL: https://www.metalarchitecture.com/articles/metal-wing-myriad/

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