Artist Jan Tichy has created a major exhibition titled "Darkness" at the Broad Art Museum at Michigan State University, opening January 30, 2026, and running through late July. The exhibition transforms the museum's main floor galleries by blacking out Zaha Hadid's iconic angular windows and entrances, using projections and modulated lights to simulate a 24-hour day-night cycle. Tichy, who previously worked with the museum on a Flint water crisis project in 2017, collaborated with MSU researchers—including the Department of Entomology—to create works inspired by academic studies, such as photographic prints made from insects collected on the museum grounds over a year.
This exhibition matters because it deliberately subverts the conventional museum practice of carefully lighting artworks, instead embracing darkness and shadows as central elements. By engaging with the museum's challenging architecture—Hadid's design lets in abundant natural light—Tichy demonstrates how artists can transform perceived limitations into creative opportunities. The collaboration with university researchers also highlights a growing trend of art-science partnerships, expanding the role of museums as platforms for interdisciplinary inquiry and public engagement with scientific topics like circadian rhythms and light pollution.