While walking through Washington Square Park, I absorbed the beautiful atmosphere of the park. It is a sort of escape from the concrete jungle that is New York City. Unusually however, in the middle of the park stood this steel arch that people were surrounding. As I ventured towards the arch, I looked up as I usually do in New York City and noticed that the arch in fact was reflective. I think that this reflectiveness really spoke to the community of New York. Staring into the mirror, you say yourself as well as all of the other diverse faces that make up the city that we love.
I play tennis at the USTA every week and therefore have the pleasure of seeing the Unisphere in Flushing Meadows Corona Park very often. I was very excited to see find out the there was a piece of Ai Wei Wei’s work on display here. This display spoke global unity in such a strong way. It surrounds the globe that sits in the middle the park which is very symbolic. Queens is a very diverse area I think that this symbol of immigration was very important to the area.
Banner #80 in Brooklyn: Ai WeiWei uses the city’s many lampposts to showcase the lives of refugees and immigrants. Each picture is of a refugee or immigrant that has their own story to tell. This banner showcased a portrait of Christian Yezidi from a refugee camp in Iraq. I think that the way that Wei Wei gives us a different perspective of seeing people by using the banners allows us to look deeper into their lives. This man looks like he’s smiling slightly, showing that despite everything that he might be struggling with in life, he still has hope or something that makes him happy and I think that that is a lovely message to portray in this art.
If I had to create my own public art display to engage the New York City community, I would create a large metal statue in the shape of the state of New York that spins. The statue would be covered in pictures of New York City that are related to all of the different boroughs and counties. The theme for my curatorial assignment was the different identities of New York. By visually showing all of the different parts of New York geographically, I think it would give a great representation of how diverse New York is. People might see different parts of New York that they may not have even known existed. This display would certainly engage the community in discussion because a little piece of every New Yorker would be represented on the statue. Even if someone lives in Manhattan, they might be originally from Upstate New York and they could feel a sense of nostalgia by seeing their hometown area represented. I feel that people would be interested in hearing stories from all of the different areas as well which I hope people would share as they observed the piece of art.
This piece of public art would be placed on the West Side of Central Park across the street from the Museum Mile. I feel that this would be a perfect place for a statue holding the message of diversity. People visit museums and the museum mile in order to learn about history and how the world has changed in so many different ways. In our society today, diversity is very important. So, I feel that having a public display of diversity in New York is a perfect addition to all of the art that is shown on the museum mile and that the display would fit right in.
You diversified WEIWEI’s pieces to an extent where each one has a sole purpose. One is for immigration. The arch for me was for reflection and gateway to hope. The tennis net shows your connection the art. Everyone has different outlooks on art because of the atmosphere and environment they are in and you encompassed that message really well.
As someone who also chose the Arch and Corona Park as my focus for this blog, I was a big fan of your analysis and personal take on the locations. It definitely helped to strengthen your case as to the purpose behind the public art in the open. I also thought your idea for your own art project was genius and very creative. I could see that gaining a lot of visitors and tourists if it actually existed. Overall, great blog post!
I really enjoyed reading about your reflection on Weiwei’s pieces, especially about the one at the Unisphere. Putting art as a visual representation of diversity, which was allowed by immigration, to reflect the importance of immigration and acceptance is very powerful. I liked how those ideas carried over to your consideration of an art piece to reflect the different identities of New York in celebration of those factors. Great work!