“Lighter, Stronger, Faster: The Herreshoff Legacy”

The fascinating confluence of artistry, mathematics and trial and error experimentation make the Herreshoff Legacy a compelling story for all visitors whether or not they have ever sailed the seas.

Lighter, Stronger, Faster: The Herreshoff Legacy celebrates the spirit of innovation, examining the impact on marine design and engineering by Nathanael Greene Herreshoff and the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company. Divided into four distinct but related themes corresponding to different aspects of boat design, technology and construction processes, the exhibition's narrative comes alive through original sketches, half hulls (newly made for the show), mechanical drawings, presentation models, and various boat hardware and machinery. It poses relationships between part and whole, engineering and sculptural form. 

Taking inspiration from boat construction, Studio Joseph’s installation includes reductive forms and graphics to create an immersive environment for inspiration and study. The use of an innovative media interface allows visitors to access an archive of materials while interacting face-to-face with numerous boat models and their technical drawings. A jagged, ¼” thick-aluminum armature with cutout windows for half hulls allows the visitor to simultaneously see boat forms with the in-scale relationship between the different types of sailing vessels.

The show's angled forms allude to the feeling of consecutive boat prows lined up in the harbor. White-washed plywood serves as the surface for displays. As if caught between the night sky and the luminescent dark sea, the fabricated structural elements supporting artifacts float between the black floor and ceiling. At the entry to the exhibition gallery, the bow of a sailing boat cruising full-speed projects onto a 25-foot-long scrim printed with a scene of the open seas, submerging even the visitor without sailing experience into the enigmatic world of engineering and discovery.