When lighting designer Nic Phillips heard that a standard vinyl sign would line the windows of the Audrey Jones Beck Building for the Museum of Fine Arts Houston (MFAH) exhibit Red Hot-Asian Art Today, he immediately thought of Element Labs' Versa®Tile as a compelling alternative.
"One of my objectives was to introduce the MFAH to the beauty of this technology as art," says Phillips. "This is more than just a sign or just a display; that's why it had to be VersaTile. Its pixels are abstract and stunning, and color rendition is unmatched."
Phillips, who describes VersaTile as "simply the most beautiful product on the market," filled the windows with a three by ten meter wall of Versa Tile. Messages inspired by the exhibit like, "red hot," scroll across the wall as museumgoers admire the collection of contemporary Asian art which spills into public spaces around the museum's Beck Building.
The exhibit, which runs through October 21, 2007, offers Texas its first survey of the major currents coming out of the new art centers in Japan, China, South Korea, and Vietnam, as well as responses from the United States and Europe.
Phillips says that the major challenge with this project was time. The exhibit itself was conceived and designed much faster than is typical, so the VersaTile installation needed to keep up with the quick pace. From Phillips' initial call to Element Labs, it took only a few days to have the installation up and running for the opening night press event.
"I'm thrilled Element Labs made this happen," says Phillips. "The reaction has been nothing short of extraordinary. And what I'm finding is that Element Labs is not merely a manufacturer but a partner in my projects. They have the right people, they get it, they get me, and they get what I'm trying to do."