Lucian Novosel hosts same-height party with custom platform footwear
Updated
Updated · CNN · May 3
Lucian Novosel hosts same-height party with custom platform footwear
2 articles · Updated · CNN · May 3
At an Oakland artist space, about 15 guests wore foam-and-3D-printed shoes, some 18 inches high, plus walking sticks to match the tallest attendee’s 6ft 5in height.
Novosel spent months gathering measurements and building the footwear as a social experiment, while guests said eye-level conversations changed confidence, movement and how they perceived social interactions.
Inspired by Hans Hemmert’s 1997 “Level” installation, the event emphasised safety with flat floors and hazard markings, and some shoes were later donated for reuse, including to a Berkeley schoolteacher.
How does our built environment reinforce social dynamics based on height?
How can art experiments reveal our unconscious biases about physical differences?
Does equalizing height truly erase social hierarchies or just create new ones?