Liza Lou: Trailer

The Brooklyn Museum’s collection grows with the acquisition of “Trailer”, Liza Lou’s monumental installation that transports the visitor into a Hollywood film noir whose pixels are glass beads that compose a sometimes sinister scenario.

On public view for the first time in a decade the work fills the interior of a 1949 Spartan Royal Mansion mobile trailer stationed in the Museum’s entry pavilion. Every element within the trailer—from the furniture and typewriter to glossy men’s magazines and bottles of whiskey—is rendered in glass beads. The work invites viewers to scrutinize its detailed craftsmanship and hidden meanings. The beads, resembling pixels, create a mesmerizing visual effect that reveals and conceals, reflecting on masculinity, despair, isolation, and obsession. “Trailer” serves as a powerful commentary on invisible labor and the broader human condition, encouraging a deeper exploration of both its intricate beauty and the unsettling narrative it presents.