Small Space, Big Impact: Recent Work for The Understory Festival

The two organizations with whom we designed comprehensive experiences were Baylor University's Institute for Global Human Flourishing and Fuller Theological Seminary's Center for Peacebuilding and Conflict Transformation.

Both came to us with plenty of material, built over years of storytelling and research. Their body of work could easily fill a book, a film, or a semester.

Instead, we had roughly ninety square feet to work with.

One instinct in a small space is to try to cram in more—more video, more panels, more text. Instead, we counseled our partners to do less, and do it better.

Baylor's Institute for Global Human Flourishing wanted to feature the Soundings Project, a seven-year partnership with twelve congregations across Texas that explores themes of Christian friendship and shared vocation.

Instead of summarizing academic research and analysis, we identified a fundamental question related to the purpose of the project: What would happen if the church was as concerned with human flourishing as salvation?

Faced with this single question, attendees were invited to sit, reflect, and write an anonymous response, dropping it into a clear box on their way out.

We didn't try to answer the question for them. We tried to make sure they left the room still thinking about it.

With their nook, Fuller's Center for Peacebuilding and Conflict Transformation wanted to highlight its work on justice and advocacy.

Those are big topics, and we knew that visitors to the installation would be overwhelmed by a full week of conversation and debate. So instead of adding more content to digest, we created space to reflect.

We installed three mirrored panels, each stamped with a single word: injustice, mercy, and justice. The panels then asked where one had last witnessed injustice, where they'd received mercy, or how they imagined justice.

As they entered, attendees saw themselves literally reflected inside each word, and saw the words reflected within each other—highlighting the inherent complexity of true justice.

Instead of telling people what justice should look like, our approach made them consider their real experiences.

For our own installation, we developed a quiet, contemplative space built on 15+ years of storytelling with BitterSweet Monthly.

On a large screen, in front of a comfortable bench, we presented a loop of portraiture curated from our archive. Headphones played ambient music to keep participants grounded and focused.

As visitors sat, they were invited to consider and meditate on the faces of fellow individuals—with no context other than knowledge of their shared humanity.