Art Inside Out | Liza Lou and Conservators Discuss “Trailer”

Created by Liza Lou, “Trailer” (1998-2000) is a 35-foot-long immersive sculpture within a 1949 Spartan Royal Mansion trailer, which is now on view in our lobby.

Take a look inside and you’ll see that the colors are intentionally limited to replicate the allure and intensity of Hollywood film noir. Everything is rendered in glass beads, from the furniture, typewriter, and glossy men’s magazines to the guitar, guns, and shots of whiskey.

“Inside everything are these billions of cells—everything around us is bristling. How do we give a visual experience of that?” Lou wonders. “Beads are a way to really see. I’ve always felt that there’s something about applying—with careful attention—this material. It’s a way of seeing more than you’re seeing.”