What Do You Make of This?

What were you thinking? Who belongs here? What do you make of this?

Through exhibition design, interpretation, wayfinding, and branding systems, Kristine Matthews’ work expresses ideas in environments. This exhibition at the University of Washington’s Jacob Lawrence Gallery celebrates three threads that tie together her work: material exploration and sustainability, audience participation, and inclusive design. Each room of the gallery poses a different question for the audience to consider as they peruse projects spanning over 25 years. (The full video of our in-progress work on Seattle’s new waterfront, which is featured in the final gallery space, can be viewed here.)

To minimize the environmental impact of the exhibition while still creating spaces with impact, various structures have been re-purposed from previous projects. The Re-Made framework was originally created as a prototype for the Give Me a Sign exhibition now on view at Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian in New York. The circular “What Were You Thinking?” structure in the second gallery was originally created for our Vacant Seattle installation at the 2021 Design Festival. The sawhorse tables in the main gallery come from the materials library/workroom at Studio Matthews.

Cardboard, in various weights and colors, features throughout, allowing for easy recycling. The design, utilizing both the positive and negative of arrow and punctuation shapes, allows every scrap of the black cardboard sheets to be used.