Carousel Cosmos
Chris Miller (2023)
Carousel Cosmos was a whimsical arrangement of hand carved wooden animals and fantastical creatures on the Western Promenade. Visitors could sit and play on each sculpture and dream of worlds beyond.
Artist statement
This carousel is inspired by kindness, adventure, outer space, bed-time stories, dinosaurs, and ice cream. It’s inspired by the Western Promenade’s endless views, spectacular sunsets, and contemplative atmosphere. It spins the way that the earth spins when the sun sets, in a place where trolleys used to stop, in a small picturesque city with a school community that speaks more than sixty languages. It will travel once or twice around the sun without leaving the ground, then vanish.1 In the meanwhile, it is a place for conversation, contemplation, imagination, and snacks,2 with animals that once roamed here as your guides. They’re not mythological, just misunderstood, and they invite you on a journey to greater understanding.3
- This is a year-long temporary art installation supported by TEMPOart.
- Please don’t feed the animals, they have very special diets.
- Look for clues in the star-flowers!
About the artist
Chris Miller is the founder of New Paradigm Design Workshop, a practice informed by his research, conscience, and persistent need to design and build lots of different things all at once. His work includes residences, furniture, public art and interactive exhibits, as well as technical illustration, graphics and web design for businesses that also build stuff. He holds a Master of Arts in Architecture from MIT, a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the Art Institute of Chicago and an Associate’s degree from Central Lakes Community College. He and his wife live in an old house in Maine with two kids and a dog. They grow a big garden every summer, have a lot of books and enjoy cooking for friends. They travel as much as they possibly can, though not nearly as much as they’d like…
Carousel Cosmos was made possible through the support of DrummondWoodsum, Chappell Family Foundation, Horizon Foundation, Maine Arts Commission, the Nichols Fund, and the Onion Foundation.
Keep exploring
Chris Miller: New Paradigm Design Workshop
Western Promenade
May 27, 2024
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