The Sky is Falling Down

A large circular sculpture titled TIFF—the centerpiece of the exhibition—is composed of 28 Tiffany-style lamps. Tiffany lamps were first designed and produced at the end of the 19th century, and since then they have become a global design staple—nowadays simultaneously adored and ridiculed as kitsch. Often passed down through generations as a kind of relic, they are just as often discarded by younger owners who prefer to sell them to strangers online. This is where Lulu MacDonald steps in, driven by a desire to collect both the family histories and the physical vessels that store them—the lamps themselves. For more than a decade, the artist has been collecting these lamps, usually sourcing them from digital marketplaces or flea markets, drawn not only to their design but also to their cultural DNA. Installed in a room with walls covered in sky-patterned wallpaper—a photograph by Todd MacDonald—the circular sculpture, like an Ouroboros, inhabits an imaginary space outside of time, reminding us of the ever-persisting cycle of life and renewal. The Sky is Falling Down is an attempt to map how mundane objects can trigger collective memory by mirroring people's responses to them—fascination, longing, or, conversely, disgust and ridicule. Such objects quietly inhabit familiar environments, imprinting themselves in our unconscious, often without notice. By relocating these objects into the unfamiliar setting of a gallery, the artist urges us to confront our own preconceptions.