Image: alejandro t. acierto, closed concept, 2026. Photo: James Farley
The Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art (SMoCA) in Arizona is presenting 'Model Home', an installation-based exhibition by alejandro t. acierto, which opened on 26 September 2026 and remains on view until 7 February 2027. Organised by the museum, the show is curated by Julie Ganas, SMoCA's curator of engagement and digital initiatives, and Oliver Sayers, SMoCA coordinator.
The exhibition looks at how the desert landscape around Phoenix has changed as development and population have grown across the metropolitan area. acierto's interdisciplinary practice is framed by the museum as an expanded documentary project, combining video, sound, photography, surface scans and found objects, and here architectural elements serve as the structure through which the material is displayed.
At the centre of the project is the effect of new settlements, urban expansion and climate change on the land and on the non-human species that live on it. The work also questions how value is assigned to land that is seen as empty or unoccupied. Anticipating shifts that will inevitably alter the balance between people and other forms of life, the exhibition poses a single question: who gets to keep a home in the desert?
