Cornell Boxes are a tool used in almost all of my theatre design classes; we used them as an exercise in preliminary design response. Following the practice of Joseph Cornell, we created vignettes made of found and forgotten objects within a vessel to help inform our design process and let us artistically articulate our emotional response to a play we read.
The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci
Mary Zimmerman weaves excerpts from Leonardo da Vinci’s many notebooks into a tapestry of his mind, bringing us on an exploration through the human body, physics, artistic theory, and the musings of a renaissance man.
With this Cornell Box, I sought to exhibit Zimmerman’s themes of movement, the human body, and flight. I also paid homage to Leonardo’s multidisciplinary work by including a collage of an anatomical sketch of his that I copied, some mock-mechanical designs made of clothespins, and the central wind-chimes.Leonardo examines science from a spiritual perspective and emphasizes the body as the center of the spectacle. This angle juxtaposes an angel’s wing with a facsimile made from clothespins, both framing a controlled portion of the human form.Leonardo spoke often about perspective. This aperture at the top of the box provides a controlled and unique view which also reveals a hidden message underneath a glass bead.
Detroit ’67
Dominique Morisseau’s self-proclaimed love letter to her city sees siblings Chelle and Lank clash over the prospect of change, a conflict amplified by the introduction of Caroline into their lives. Set against a backdrop of Motown nostalgia, they and their friends Bunny and Sly navigate ambitious business plans, Caroline’s dangerous past, and the growing tensions that lead to the 1967 Detroit Race Riots.
I found this spinning tray set missing a lid and two of the containers it came with, which proved to be the perfect opportunity to create contained snapshots of each of the five characters in Detroit ’67. The jazz musician fabric is a through-line for all the sections, but otherwise, each is unique.Chelle is represented here by a walled-in flower. The fabric, representing her love for music, provides only one side of the container open for viewing, echoing her reluctance to open up.In Lank’s section, the Motown fabric is hidden beneath the tape, which is an allusion to the 8-track-driven future he imagines and whose exposed parts symbolizes his complex relationships. The chain links him to Caroline.Caroline’s container is different from all the others; its refractions bespeak her lack of transparency, but through them one can see the fabric for her love of Motown and the dreamcatcher for her web of danger chained to Lank.Bunny is determinedly a ray of happiness and potentially provocative fun. The bright colors of the pins emphasize this joy, surrounding her bird of a free spirit which nests in her love for music.Sly’s section has no cover; this is an open shrine to his life. The club cards represent his and Lank’s relationships as friends and business partners and the petals and the King of Hearts honor his romance with Chelle.
José Rivera blends magical realism with a literally timeless love story between everyman Anibal de la Luna and the mysteriously angelic Celestina del Sol. As they bond, it becomes clear that Celestina exists outside of time. They fall in love over the period of years contained within hours and minutes, with occasional visits from Anibal’s brother Nelson the only indication of the passage of time.
Rivera’s Latinx heritage and chatacters, paired with themes of life, death, and life after death, inspired me to evoke the imagery of a Día de los Muertos altar.
The disjointed puzzle pieces represent the fractured perception of time for both Anibal and Nelson.
The exterior puzzle pieces are right-side up, showing the difference between internal and external time.
The sugar skull is a pop of color among the more mundane curios of Anibal’s house.
Even the skull has a hidden pop of color when moved to the right lighting.
The hidden compartment of the Cornell Box holds a starscape and a broken clock, the former for Celestina’s name and the latter for her effect on time.
AIDEN GALBRAITH 