batwin + robin, the multimedia storytelling firm, worked with the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C on its new permanent exhibition, Art & Ideals: President John F. Kennedy, which opened during the Center’s 50th anniversary season. The exhibition tells the story of Kennedy’s presidency through the lens of the arts and examines how the Kennedy Center continues this legacy.
batwin + robin collaborated with the Kennedy Center, architecture firm KieranTimberlake, and exhibit designer Pentagram, as well as ISG Productions, exhibition narrative, and The GreenEyl, interactive media designer. The batwin + robin team worked on the media concepting, design, production, and installation of nine smaller-scale digital linear media pieces as well as dozens of large-scale immersive pieces, which are displayed on a 300-foot-long wrap-around LED Frieze.
The firm’s goal was to immerse visitors in a carefully-choreographed story through the use of striking digital experiences. It also worked to ensure there was an overall sense of cohesion with the exhibition’s narrative, themes, and mediums.
Embracing JFK’s dedication to the arts
During Kennedy’s political career, he championed the arts and pushed for the development of a National Cultural Center, later named the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in his honour. Now, to highlight his role in the institution’s creation and its identity, the Kennedy Center tells his story through Art & Ideals: President John F. Kennedy.
The multimedia and interactive experiences serve the narrative of the exhibition while embracing the digital as an art form in its own right. Linear media pieces in either of the foyers act as both introductions and closing pieces, depending on which side you enter through, focusing on key moments in Kennedy’s career, his legacy, and the Kennedy Center’s continuation of his vision
Megan Gargagliano, principal and creative director at batwin + robin productions notes that the “exhibition embraces JFK’s dedication to the arts and celebrates this creative ethos through its physical design, storytelling narrative, and abundant use of multimedia.”
A cohesive multimedia experience
The exhibition space is divided into four chapters: Art & Social Change, Art & Democracy, Art & The White House, and Art & Culture, each of which includes physical exhibit panels with text, photography, artwork, and artefacts. They are displayed alongside batwin + robin’s supporting linear media pieces, creating a unique canvas for the historical material.
As guests explore the Art & Culture section, for example, three vertically-stacked monitors display a piece entitled “Media Pioneer,” bringing together archival imagery and footage to showcase JFK’s role as the nation’s first television president.
The exhibition’s storytelling is reinforced by the LED Frieze, which displays imagery and text from the exhibition that is directly related to each of these exhibit panels below.
Kennedy’s own art form, speeches, are also highlighted through notable JFK quotes and “takeover” moments displayed on the Frieze. During a “takeover,” the lights dim, drawing visitors’ focus upward where they can see, for instance, snippets of Kennedy’s speech on the space race. Supporting images, such as those of the moon’s surface, NASA blueprints, and a massive rocket that fills the Frieze on either of the long walls, appear around him while he speaks. The atrium space is returned to its regular exhibition mode after a “takeover” is complete.
This emphasis on Kennedy’s voice and spirit in the multimedia experiences supports the exhibition’s overall goal of memorializing Kennedy and his appreciation of the arts as a fundamental, essential component of the human experience.
Earlier this year, batwin + robin also worked on the media concept and design, production, and installation of four large-scale immersive experiences at the new First Americans Museum (FAM) in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
Images © Alan Karchmer / OTTO
