About the Design

Michael Hill: "Today, a dinosaur is seen as an animal, or, more appropriately, a historical 'object' frozen in time made viewable through vehicles such as museums and books. It has become a precious artifact that is housed with the likes of other objects, such as an ancient piece of jewelry or a statue that has been uncovered throughout the centuries. With the help of science and archaeology, we are able to gaze upon these sublime creatures reincarnated through fragments that have been carefully reconstructed to the point that we forget that the dinosaur is an animal.

"If it were possible to erase the sixty-five million year timeline, a question arises of how we, as humans, would view dinosaurs as 'animal' and not dinosaurs as 'artifacts'. This idea has created numerous thoughts and suppositions that have influenced my thinking on this piece. Notions of science, medicine, and commercialism were all contributing factors to the design without being representational. I am a tremendous advocate for exploring the blur between art, architecture, and reality and I aimed to maintain the uncertainty in my approach.

"Although it may appear very chaotic, the construction is rather simple. The segmented dinosaur is surrounded by a rigid steel frame. This frame allows for multiple steel cables to pass through the air and suspend the dinosaur fragments in space. The inner shell and the outer shell are painted differently. These colors remain simple so as not to interfere with the integrity of the piece."