concept & vision

the Whiteness Project is an interactive investigation developed by filmmaker Whitney Dow into how Americans who identify as “white” experience their ethnicity. An ongoing body of filmed interviews builds a powerful story-based record of how whiteness is lived in America. The project encourages white Americans to become fully vested participants on issues of race.

design & architecture

the STORYSCAPES' installation envelops viewers into an open, accessible yet immersive media experience. The three-sided space is defined by two large projections and by the communal seating for the audience. It engages viewers through image and sound, to stimulate questioning and to encourage direct interaction and feedback.

program & use

a black plywood triangular bleacher is the hard base to anchor the upper soft enclosure, made out of two large white canvases stretched between ceiling and seating. Two large projections, displaying the millennial interviews on one screen and general data on ‘whiteness’ as well as viewers feedback on the second screen, face the stepped communal seating. An array of overhead speakers projects sound directly onto the viewers animating the seating area with the millennial voices.

impact & significance

the installation physical space, half hard half soft, half dark half glowing, half black half white, is conceived to express, remind and incentivize questioning