From the Series
Abbott Miller has designed an exhibition commemorating the 175th anniversary of Green-Wood Park, known as one of the most important landscapes of the 19th century.
Green-Wood Park, situated in Brooklyn, predates both New York’s Central Park and Prospect Park, ultimately influencing the rise of public parks and green spaces in the US. On its 175th anniversary, Pentagram’s Abbott Miller celebrates the historic landmark with his A Beautiful Way to Go: New York’s Green-Wood Cemetery exhibition.
Miller’s exhibition uses historic maps of the cemetery to create a continuous environment where visitors feel almost as though they are walking through age-old experiences of the cemetery. Throughout the exhibition space, there is a dedicated pathway for visitors to encounter objects and stories of Green-Wood Cemetery’s most famous surrounding “residents”.
A series of maps are spread out on the floor, documenting the distinctive, twisting paths and roads of the park and burial sites. Miller pays tribute to the 560 000 burials situated in the cemetery by using objects related to some of the deceased. A peacock headdress for Louise Tiffany, a pencil for Eberhard Faber, a photogenic portrait of Jean-Michael Basquiat, and gold, onyx and diamond cuff links for Boss Tweed count among the objects.
A Beautiful Way to Go: New York’s Green-Wood Cemetery is on display at the Museum of the City of New York until 15 September 2013.
