Object & Thing’s latest exhibition takes over LongHouse in East Hampton

The travelling exhibition platform Object & Thing, which has become known for popping up at storied, yet slightly obscure, design locations around the East Coast, has opened its current iteration at LongHouse, the East Hampton home and sculpture garden of acclaimed textile designer John Lenor Larsen. 

Object & thing takes over LongHouse, East Hampton

Taking place within the summer living room, gallery and guest level of the residence, ‘A Summer Arrangement: Object & Thing at LongHouse’ (until 3 September 2023) has been co-curated by the platform’s founder Abby Bangser and LongHouse’s curator-at-large Glenn Adamson. It also features an installation design by Colin King, who shares Larsen’s approach to finding art in objects of all forms – an ethos expressed throughout the exhibition. 

In fact, Larsen built LongHouse as a case study for a creative approach to life, believing that works of art displayed in a living space would be more relevant than in a museum or through media. Inspired by the 7th-century Shinto shrine at Ise, Japan,  Larsen worked with architect Charles Forberg on the design of the house, which was completed in 1992. 

A voracious collector, he surrounded himself with objects from around the world and arranged them with simple, local things – a bowl of fruit on a Wharton Esherick table, a collection of shells and seeds in an African basket – with collections and arrangements filling the house. Following his passing in 2020, Larsen left LongHouse as a gift to future visitors, inviting organic change and artistic collaboration, and as a sanctuary. 

‘A Summer Arrangement’ takes inspiration from Larsen's non-hierarchical approach to objects and brings together contemporary works of art and design, including site-specific commissions. All of the works are created from materials that Larsen made and collected, such as ceramic, fibre, glass, metal and wood. In addition to works by textile artist Megumi Shauna Arai, sculptures by Wyatt Kahn and Alma Allen, and ceramics by Frances Palmer, Larsen’s own collection of Wharton Esherick furniture, including a dining table that was displayed at the 1939 World’s Fair, adds a captivating dimension to experiencing the already evocative setting.

Adamson, LongHouse curator-at-large and an advisor to Object & Thing, says, ‘Larsen was a master of the subtle art of arrangement. The objects in his collection were in perpetual motion, constantly finding new adjacencies. In a sense, this project simply continues that practice, while also giving an impression of what Larsen might be looking at and collecting if he were still with us today.’

‘A Summer Arrangement: Object & Thing at LongHouse’  is on view until 3 September 2023

Longhouse.org; object-thing.com 

There is a $20 admission fee that benefits LongHouse and is charged upon entry, or by advance reservation on the website. Discounted admission is available for seniors and guests with disabilities. Complimentary admission is offered for children, high school and college students, or veterans and active personnel.