Robert Stribling on the Joy of Cardboard and Musings on Display Art

A whimsical installation took place above the front desk in the Wythe lobby for the holiday season: A toy train crafted entirely out of cardboard. The train was affixed to an original beam from Wythe's factory days that once served to transport heavy items through the doors, now windows, that face N 11th Street.

Artist Robert Stribling, a Dallas native who lives and works in New York City, is a prop fabricator, art director, set designer, and visual communicator. He has over a decade of experience creating visual narratives and transforming environments across the city. Stribling’s projects include collaborations with ABC Carpet & Home, Toast, West Elm, Tall Glass with Ice Productions, and musician Marc Rebillet.

In Stribling’s installation at Wythe, a train hung inverted from the historic beam, its cars loaded with wrapped gifts en route to their destinations. The final car positioned dramatically, spilling its cargo in a moment of suspended chaos, with floating gifts swinging in the air, cotton billowed from the train's illuminated exhaust.

The piece playfully bridged Wythe's past and present, turning an architectural relic into a stage for contemporary art, reminding us never to overlook the spaces toward which our necks may not have intuitively turned.

Q&A with the Artist:

How did you get into making art for retail spaces?

I started creating store displays in 2010 as an intern for Anthropologie. I was going to SAIC (School of the Art Institute of Chicago) for fine art and I needed to have a summer internship. Luckily for me, a good friend of mine, Matt Pecina, was working as a display coordinator for an Anthropologie in Dallas, so he suggested I apply to intern with him there. I spent that summer assisting Matt at Anthropologie making store displays. And that’s really where it all started. After I graduated, I moved back to Dallas and was hired by that same Anthropologie to be their full time display coordinator. And then when I moved to New York in 2014 looking to continue working in retail display, Matt Pecina once again played a key role because he was now a merchandiser for ABC Carpet & Home, and it was through him that I became their window designer.

What is it like creating art in transient spaces like shop windows or hotel lobbies?

There’s a lot of freedom in knowing an artwork is serving a specific purpose for a specific amount of time. I like creating display, or as I’ve heard it called “ephemeral art,” because of that freedom. I feel free to experiment with materials, scale, and ideas that wouldn’t be suitable for permanent works of art. Additionally because the displays vanish when they’re no longer needed, each new display is free from the baggage of all the work you’ve made before.

Must-see NYC window display? What stores never miss with their displays?

Well, my go to for great window displays is Hermès. I love their windows and the long history of their window display. I always find them very inspiring, and they often collaborate with artists whom I admire. For something more local, there’s a wine store in Park Slope called “Slope Cellars” that always puts up a great window. The windows are clearly a passion project of someone involved with the store, and I always love seeing them. And finally, this year specifically, there is a really wonderful Christmas display at Murray’s Cheese Shop on Bleecker, everyone should check out.

How does the environment where your work will be displayed affect the art you make?

Environment plays a huge role in the kind of displays I create. It not only determines the physical dimensions of a piece, but more importantly, it provides context for the work itself. There’s a lot to consider when designing a display for a public space, including the history of the environment, the aesthetics of the space, and the audience that’s likely to experience it. Public-facing spaces—like retail stores, hotels, or restaurants—function as a kind of ecosystem, with an interplay between the brand and its audience. The environment a brand creates is meant to attract an audience aligned with its values, and in turn, that audience helps shape the brand through their tastes and needs. My job as a display artist, when working with a brand, is to consider both their space (its history, values, and character) and their audience, and then design a display that communicates a core brand value in a clear, engaging way.

What is it like making art with the purpose of enhancing or flattering the objects around it rather than being the center focus?

It’s an interesting challenge, and the balance between whether the art or the space is the focus shifts a lot from project to project. Sometimes a window display is designed mainly to be eye-catching to passersby, in which case the emphasis is more heavily on the display itself. Other times, the product is the main focus, and you’re creating a backdrop that helps draw attention to it. Both are fun design challenges. I also have to say that I’ve been fortunate to work with wonderful partners who have beautiful aesthetics, so I’ve always felt privileged to create work in support of their vision.

How did the idea for this train installation come about?

The idea for the train came simply from noticing the industrial beam left suspended from the ceiling of the Wythe Hotel. This architectural detail is a part of the building’s history, which was wisely left in place when the hotel was designed. A train seemed like the perfect excuse to use this nice architectural detail, and since the beam was upside down, the train would have to be too!

In some of your previous work (ABC sheep, root table, the Marc Rebillet Pinata) you’ve used cardboard as a structural element, covering it up for the finished piece, what led to your decision to leave the cardboard exposed for this installation?

Cardboard is such a versatile material. It’s relatively inexpensive; it’s easy to manipulate, and it’s plentiful. Often, I do use cardboard as just the underlying support structure for some other final layer, but in this case I felt it was perfect to be the main material of the piece. I felt this for several reasons. One was that all the cardboard used in the creation of the train was provided by the Wythe Hotel, recycled from the many boxes they receive as part of their daily operations. So I felt leaving the cardboard exposed highlighted this bit of eco-friendly reuse. Secondly, I just have an intuitive feeling that cardboard, the material itself, aligns with how I hope the holiday train is perceived. By that I mean that I find cardboard to be a warm, inviting material that everyone has a relationship with. In that same way I hope the train is perceived as warm and evokes fond memories people have of trains. Also, and I think this is a common experience, as a child I always loved and had a lot of fun with any big cardboard box I got my hands on. I really think they spark the imagination. So it was only natural to build a giant toy train out of cardboard.

What do you hope people take away, even if just for a moment, when they encounter your train?

There are a lot of things I hope people take away from the train. Mostly, I hope people think it’s fun! I hope children like it. I hope it brings a little joy into people’s day and that they like looking at it. If I’m lucky, I hope it puts someone in a better mood, or gets them in the holiday spirit. I hope it reminds someone of a nice memory they have of trains, travel, or presents. Finally, what I hope most of all is that it creates good memories right now this holiday season.

Stribling's train installation will be on view in the Wythe Hotel lobby until January 2nd, 2026.