Visitors reinforce the exhibit’s underlying theme to “create new knowledge” by adding their personal artifacts to NYPL’s extensive collection of extraordinary items.
The exhibition layout and the art itself had a strong recurring motif—the photo frame—a ubiquitous container of personal mementos.
Five different variations of the frame combine together to create hundreds of styles, waiting to be populated with new treasures from visitors.
This dynamic visual system helps the frames be guided by people's responses to how they feel about their past (outer frame) and future (inner frame).
They also submit a write-up and title about what they treasure to serve as wall text. The visitor thus becomes an artwork immortalized in the NYPL’s collection.