Frog Display

Take a plexiglass box and stabilize it over a section of two metallic standing frames where one is arranged in a perpendicular disposition to the other. The result is a Frog Display. The Frog Display has the general look of a vertical object covering a small surface of the floor, and provides the option of displaying smaller objects or horizontally displayed texts as protected sculptures. Even if covering a sculptural element in a plexiglass box is a contradiction to its conception as a sculpture, the frog display transforms any element into a sculpture, since its own setting is proposed as sculptural. The vertical disposition stabilized by the set of metallic frames guarantee that the final result will be considered as a sculpture even if shown empty. Even if not always visible, the Frog Display promotes a privileged frontal view of the element on display, even if it’s role is meant to form a free standing element in space.

The Frog Display is introduced as a strategy concerning this change of any object into a sculpture through a concept of metamorphosis, analogous to the life-cycle of the frog. At the end of the tadpole stage, a frog undergoes metamorphosis in which its body makes a sudden transition into a mature form. This metamorphosis typically lasts only 24 hours, and is initiated by production of the hormone thyroxine. This causes different tissues to develop in different ways. The principal changes that take place include the development of the lungs and the disappearance of the gills and gill pouch, making the front legs visible. The lower jaw transforms into the big mandible of the carnivorous adult, and the long, spiral gut of the herbivorous tadpole is replaced by the typical short gut of a predator. The nervous system becomes adapted for hearing and stereoscopic vision, and for new methods of locomotion and feeding. The eyes are repositioned higher up on the head and the eyelids and associated glands are formed. The eardrum, middle ear, and inner ear are developed. The skin becomes thicker and tougher, the lateral line system is lost, and skin glands are developed. After metamorphosis, young adult frogs may disperse into terrestrial habitats or continue to live in water. Almost all frog species are carnivorous as adults, preying on invertebrates, including arthropods, worms, snails, and slugs. A few of the larger ones may eat other frogs, small mammals, and fish.

The two-dimensional elements that can fit in a frog display undergo a metamorphosis of their character into sculptures; nevertheless it is important to underline that the sculptural element in a frog display is produced by the given frame of the display and only organizes a way of approaching the honoured element. In a way, the sculptural component of the display seeks an autonomy away from the content it is meant to exhibit and from the character of the content; The frog display organizes a metamorphosis of the content to a structure of attraction and attention.