Serenity: Meet You Where You Are
Serenity: Meet You Where You Are is an immersive traveling exhibition proposal where visitors will leave feeling relaxed and rejuvenated. This traveling exhibition changes based on its location and aims to bring local culture and its native environment to visitors and bring awareness that we are a part of nature. There will be multiple rooms, each focusing on a different part of the environment related to nature and relaxation. Visitors will immerse further in nature and our environment through these rooms, and allowing people to see what nature has to offer can encourage people to practice more environmentally friendly behaviors and to visit nature more often.
Exhibition Design | 2022
Location
This traveling exhibition would be located close to a city to target people who work under extreme conditions or indoors. The display would be housed in a warehouse where it may be considered a revitalization project and have more control over the remodeling of the space. It would also make the presentation more accessible to people thanks to grants and the lower cost of housing the exhibition. Cities like New York have little green space, which can be an alternative for those living there. We live in a stressful world with extensive obligations, and often, having too much information within a museum can be overwhelming for some. Being in green spaces can relieve stress in minutes, and relaxation is a state of physical and mental calm. Within these rooms, visitors can experience healing from nature.
Room Overview
Visiting the exhibition, people would first enter the “information and pop-up” room to look at the cafe and food stands specific to its location.
In this room, visitors will receive a brochure of the different rooms in this exhibition and how they bring relaxation and serenity to different people. Visitors can also purchase indigenous food and drinks in this location, oils, and other properties used in this exhibition that help with relaxation to bring home.
Although visitors can choose whichever order, the first room in this exhibition is Garden and I, is filled with flowers. It mirrors a garden and the moving flowers will create an open space as they ascend to float above people, where they can walk freely. There will be a few benches where visitors can rest if they don’t want to sit on the floor. When people look at flowers, the flowers will look back, making them become one.
In the next room, Flowing Waters uses a low fog machine and projector to create the illusion that people are walking in water and relaxing water-flowing music in the background. With wheelchair accessibility in mind, there will be a path on the side that the fog machines will not affect. This room will also have a waterfall that turns on every 10 minutes to encourage visitors to spend more time there.
The Exploration room differs slightly from the previous one. It is a small maze through the forest with trees native to that area. There are benches where visitors can take a break, and next to them would be labeled introducing the native plants in the room. Morse code will also be on the labels because this exhibition is not only about seeing. Being in the presence of nature can also bring calmness and happiness to the mind. The visitors can also connect further with the plants by feeling the wall near the entrance. The exhibition does not encourage touching the plants because I want to present the importance of nurturing our environment. Because this is a traveling exhibition, this room's theme would be desert if it were in a different climate, such as Abu Dhabi or Arizona. Deserts are not generally considered the typical “nature,” but a warm environment can boost mood and positively influence a person’s well-being. I would also incorporate sound healing to promote physical and mental relaxation.
Under One Sky is a room where people will connect with people from all over the world. This room is unique because most other rooms are associated with daytime activities. People can attempt relaxation at night. The first section of the room would have stars on the ceiling where visitors can borrow a towel or chair to lie down and enjoy quiet peace. The second room would be a sunrise or sunset room showing the beautiful views of somewhere on the other side of the earth. Lastly, visitors would walk past the global room to leave this room, where they will see five more interactive changing screens of different natural places worldwide, connecting the visitor to the whole world and seeing what the world has to offer.
Birds eye view
Side view
Object List
Accessibility
Considering some may be sensitive to flowers, forests, fog, and darkness, each room would have a warning and information sign outside, informing visitors of their possible experiences upon entry. Since all the rooms are separated, there will be light-up signs inside and outside these nature rooms, and visitors can choose which they wish to visit. In the middle of these rooms is an open green space with crafts and games for visitors and a drawing wall. By making this an immersive experience, visitors can experience healing without the overwhelming aspects of museums and learn more about their local communities.
Nature is all around us, and by providing knowledge through a more immersive environment, visitors can feel more connected to exploring things they can incorporate into their daily lives.
Interactive Activities
This screen is for the touchscreen kiosks in the global sections in Under One Sky. Visitors can use this device to “travel” to different parts of the world and learn about the native features of it. Since this is a traveling exhibition, additional languages will also be available for people worldwide.
The drawing wall is located with the other arts and crafts in the center green space. It encourages visitors to express their feelings while aiding in relaxing and reducing stress. Spontaneous drawing can also help improve focus, relieving the brain from the strain of continuous concentration.