This is a time-lapse sequence of the installation of two hanging pieces by E.V. Day on temporary loan to the Meadows School of Arts at Southern Methodist Univeristy in Dallas, Texas. The two pieces are the "Merry Widow" and "Hats" from the "Divas Ascending" series of 2009. E.V. Day's series, Divas Ascending, is comprised of fourteen suspended sculptures made from costumes belonging to the New York City Opera archives, a collection comprised of wardrobes from prominent international opera houses. Two of the fourteen sculptures are featured here being installed: Merry Widow and Hats. The Merry Widow costume -- which originates from the New York City Opera -- is hung upside down in Day's sculpture, revealing a petticoat lined with gold lamé, and seems to function as a goblet or reservoir for the character's large fortune around which the story revolves. Merry Widow, an operetta by the Austro-Hungarian composer Franz Lehár (1870-1948), first premiered on December 30, 1905 at the Theater an der Wein in Vienna. The story centers around Hanna Glawari, a wealthy widow in the town of Pontevedro, who is pursued by an array of suitors attracted by her fortune. Hanna is reintroduced to Danilo, with whom she was in love prior to her marriage. Although still in love with each other, Danilo refuses to involve himself with Hanna due to her money, and Hanna vows not to marry Danilo until he professes his love for her. Their seemingly hopeless conundrum is eventually resolved thanks to Hanna's witty maneuvering, and she wins back the heart and trust of her former beau. In Hats, a selection of fanciful millinery from several performances produced at various opera houses is clustered into a dynamic column of opulence. Included here are velour dreadlocks that dangle from Turandot's conical caps; Romanesque helmets crafted from gilded leather, rope and feathers; bejeweled turbans from Casanova; and golden veils from The Magic Flute. All suggest the exotic landscapes -- fictitious and real -- of these operas. The Divas Ascending series was originally commissioned in 2009-2010 for the Lincoln Center in New York, and was first exhibited in the Promenade of the David H. Koch Theater in Lincoln Center for the 2010 season of the New York City Opera. Since then, various works from the series have been displayed throughout the country. Currently, Cinderella and Mimi are on display at the Rosewood Crescent Hotel through April 15, 2011; Carmen is installed at the Meadows Museum, SMU. E.V. Day received her MFA in sculpture from Yale in 1995. Bombshell, the first sculpture in her Exploding Couture series from 1999, was included in the 2000 Biennial of the Whitney Museum of American Art, and is now in the museum's permanent collection. Day has had numerous solo exhibitions, including the 2001 installation, G-Force, at the Whitney Museum at Altria and a ten-year survey exhibition in 2004 at the Lever House. Day's work is in the collections of The Museum of Modern Art, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Brooklyn Museum, the National Museum of Women in the Arts, the New Museum of Contemporary Art, the New York Public Library, and numerous private collections.