wes anderson's asteroid city exhibition opens at fondazione prada

Wes Anderson – Asteroid City: Exhibition at Fondazione Prada

Wes Anderson – Asteroid City: Exhibition lands at Fondazione Prada in Milan which features the real set designs, props, costumes, miniatures, and artworks that were used in the movie. The opening of the exhibition, which occupies Fondazione Prada’s Nord gallery in Milan from September 23rd, 2023, to January 7th, 2024, coincides with the theatrical release of the movie in Italy starting September 28th, 2023. The movie talks about a fictional American desert famous for its meteor crater and celestial observatory. It brings together young astronomers, space cadets, students, and residents from across the invented country to query and live through the disruption caused by the mysterious events.

As the eleventh feature film of Wes Anderson gets shown around the country, viewers can swing by Fondazione Prada in Milan to see, observe, and experience several of the props, costumes, and artworks that were used during filming. Wes Anderson insisted he and the crew build the city rather than use advanced technologies such as CGI. Through the exhibition at Fondazione Prada in Milan, Wes Anderson hopes to transport the viewers into his Asteroid City first-hand and encourage them to experience the process of prop and costume making and how manual craftsmanship can enliven movies.

images courtesy of Fondazione Prada, and photos by Delfino Sisto Legnani – DSL Studi (unless stated)

Renovating set props destroyed during flooding

Wes Anderson’s Asteroid City can be considered part Western with heavy influences of science fiction, drama, and comedy, packed with exploration of grief and loss. The vivid colors brought by the cinematography contrast with the exhibition’s space at Fondazione Prada in Milan as the gray cement of the venue exudes mystery and a dark atmosphere. The intentional location aims to trigger the viewers’ depth of emotions, so that they may experience some of the movie’s themes more intensely, from a fictional landscape on the big screen to a real, physical space in Milan.

When the viewers enter the exhibition, they are greeted with the signage of ‘Asteroid City,’ designed with influences of the Western era. During the filming of the movie, which was on the outskirts of Chinchón, a small center in the Community of Madrid, a flood came rushing in, destroying most of the movie sets, props, and costumes. One of the gravely affected decors was the Asteroid City sign. After the flood, the movie team rebuilt the torn-down sets, including the pristine-looking signage. The exhibition desires to show and spotlight that these objects, albeit inanimate, lived through life experiences too.

Wes Anderson’s Asteroid City exhibition features the set designs, props, and costumes that were used in the movie

Wes anderson’s exhibition show process of making asteroid city

Detailed sets and original props on display include the miniaturized model freight train that cuts through the desert, humorous pastel-colored vending machines stocked with snacks, cigarettes, beverages, and ammunition for the Asteroid City population, the telephone booth, billboards, flags, street signs, artworks, and many of the characters’ costumes, accessories, and other items like books, handwritten notebooks, and musical instruments. They are arranged together with set pieces to recreate sequences from the film, alongside the Roadrunner and the Alien puppets conceived by Andy Gent, who collaborated with Anderson for ‘Isle of Dogs’ (2018) and ‘Fantastic Mr. Fox’ (2009).

Wes Anderson – Asteroid City: Exhibition at Fondazione Prada lets in the viewers on the filmmaking process of the movie. It translates the movie’s visual language into a tangible artistic experience and peers through the director’s creative vision for his feature film. Wes Anderson wants to have every prop and costume he and the crew ever made for all of their movies transferred into the Fondazione Prada to live there indefinitely for all time, if the foundation would allow them. While the Asteroid City exhibition will only run for a limited time, the period might be enough not only to provide a home to the props and set designs the movie used but to share them with the viewers and fans who have watched the film.

Exhibition view of ‘Wes Anderson – Asteroid City: Exhibition’