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Springboard was responsible for the overall exhibition design of Fierce Friends, which was jointly organized by the Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, and the Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam. Occupying four of the Heinz Galleries in the museum, this large, multidisciplinary show examines the relationship between man and animals with displays of over 400 objects, including paintings, drawings, skeletons, and video. Springboard assisted in selection of artifacts and objects for inclusion in the exhibition as well as their arrangement.

Critic Steven Litt, Cleveland Plain Dealer writes: “This superb exhibition explores the man-beast connection….Happily, the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh has dispensed with routine in a captivating new exhibition…If other museums had the nerve, they’d be smart to emulate the Carnegie’s excellent experiment.”

The primary component of the design is a series of constructed “windows” that display artifacts, frame views, and organize each of the galleries; these windows enhance the metaphorical analogies discussed as a means of understanding the man/animal relationships presented in the artworks. Visitors experience the windows as devices with which to connect, to separate, and ultimately reconstruct as the relationships entwine and evolve.

Fierce Friends was a part of Pittsburgh Roars! a yearlong celebration of arts, events and attractions in the Greater Pittsburgh area.

Photography by Alexander Denmarsh.