Artist Spends Entire Year Turning Abandoned Mansion into Immersive Installation

Rone - Empire - Street Art in Abandoned Art Deco Mansion

Australian artist Rone has taken his work to a new level with an immersive installation that brings his street art portraiture to the walls of an abandoned Art Deco mansion. Left vacant for 30 years, the sprawling Burnham Beeches mansion is the setting for Rone's ambitious project called Empire. Working for over a year, Rone and a team of interior designers, lighting specialists, and set designers helped create a multisensory experience that has breathed new life into the forgotten space.

Through twelve of the mansion's rooms, Rone's haunting portraits loom like ghosts of years past. Their eyes survey the scene, as each space is meticulously curated to create an environment that brings visitors back in time. Along with interior stylist Carly Spooner, Rone sourced over 500 antique pieces to help recreate the epic atmosphere of the mansion's past. Filling the Art Deco home with period style furniture proved to be the artist's biggest challenge, as everything had to work together in order for the mansion to look complete.

Each room is thematically linked to the seasons, from the deep burgundy walls of the dining area strewn with autumnal leaves to the pale violet walls of the bedroom that evoke a sense of springtime blossoms. To complement the visual experience, Rone brought in composer Nick Batterham, who created a soundscape based on a year's worth of recording ambient sound on the grounds of the mansion. Other flourishes include a bespoke scent design by Kat Snowden, lighting design by John McKissock, and botanical installations by Loose Leaf.

Visitors are invited to wander into the formerly decadent space and ponder what once was. The mansion, which was built in 1933 for a wealthy industrialist's family, certainly has many stories to tell. Through the detailed staging, it's impossible not to create a narrative as one walks through each room, guided under the watchful eye of Rone's female figures.

“I want people to walk in and feel like they can explore the possibilities of what might or might not have happened here,” Rone explains. “I love exploring the concept of how—and why—something so magnificent can be left to decline into ruin. Empire is about offering audiences the chance to create their own story; to temporarily transport their minds to another place, another time. It’s not often that you can be so fully immersed in another era like this. It’s almost like we’ve discovered a forgotten time capsule and cracked it open for the world to see.”

Empire is currently on view until April 22, 2019 at Burnham Beeches in Sherbrooke, Australia.

Street artist Rone spent over a year transforming an abandoned Art Deco mansion in Australia into an immersive art installation.

Rone - Empire - Street Art in Abandoned Art Deco Mansion

Painted Female Portraits by Rone

Immersive Art Installation

Painted Female Portraits by Rone

Over 500 antique furniture pieces from the 1920s and 1930s were sourced to create a cohesive ambiance.

Rone - Empire - Street Art in Abandoned Art Deco Mansion

Rone - Empire - Street Art in Abandoned Art Deco Mansion

Rone - Empire - Street Art in Abandoned Art Deco Mansion

The twelve rooms are thematically linked to the four seasons with subtle hints that mark the passage of time.

Burnham Beeches Art Deco Mansion by Rone

Burnham Beeches Art Deco Mansion by Rone

Rone - Empire - Street Art in Abandoned Art Deco Mansion

“It’s not often that you can be so fully immersed in another era like this. It’s almost like we’ve discovered a forgotten time capsule and cracked it open for the world to see.”

Burnham Beeches Art Deco Mansion by Rone

Portrait Painting by Rone

Painted Female Portraits by Rone

Rone: Website | Instagram

My Modern Met granted permission to use photos by Rone.

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Jessica Stewart

Jessica Stewart is a Contributing Writer and Digital Media Specialist for My Modern Met, as well as a curator and art historian. Since 2020, she is also one of the co-hosts of the My Modern Met Top Artist Podcast. She earned her MA in Renaissance Studies from University College London and now lives in Rome, Italy. She cultivated expertise in street art which led to the purchase of her photographic archive by the Treccani Italian Encyclopedia in 2014. When she’s not spending time with her three dogs, she also manages the studio of a successful street artist. In 2013, she authored the book 'Street Art Stories Roma' and most recently contributed to 'Crossroads: A Glimpse Into the Life of Alice Pasquini'. You can follow her adventures online at @romephotoblog.
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