Ai Weiwei, an immigrant and creator of the “good fences make good neighbors”, symbolizes through her public display of art a passionate response to the global migration crisis and a reflection on the profound social and political impulse to divide people from each other. She portrayed these art forms through structures, bus shelters, ad platforms, light posts scattered between throughout NYC. I am going to share three different kinds of installations that I visited. The three I visited were: 7th Street Fence (structure), Good Neighbors 49 (ad platform) and Banner 200(lamppost).
Structures: 7th Street Fence
This picture, of the 7th Street Fence structure, works to engage the Lower East Side with a constant reminder of the city being built by immigrants. Since the 19th century, sequential waves of immigrants have settled on the Lower East Side including my grandparents. This installment also shows awareness and sympathy for refugees all over the world. Fences symbolize the tension between protection and seclusion. Fences are meant to separate a whole into two groups. This is a very contemporary issue. For example, Trump wants to build a wall, a fence, to keep out illegal immigrants. The fence on the Lower East Side reminds its residence that we are a city among and built by immigrants.
Ad Platform: Good Neighbors 49
In this ad platform labeled Good Neighbors 49, the Ai Wewei has chosen areas in the city that are usually reserved for advertising on bus shelters and NYC kiosks. In this picture, Ai Weswei displays the new photographic series Good Neighbors, taken during his visits to refugee camps and national borders, where fences are used to divide people and define them as different (seen in the 7th Street Fence). This picture was taken at the Makeshift Camp in Idomeni, Greece. This striking picture of a tent among mud are intended to call our attention to the issue and humanity of the millions of displaced people across the globe.
Lampposts: Banner 200
As seen in this picture of lamppost “Banner 200”, Ai Weiwei’s New York City exhibition uses existing elements of urban structures as platforms for public art such as lampposts. Displayed on the lamppost are banners of 200 portraits of immigrants and refugees. These double ended banners play are corresponding to the often-ambiguous status of refugees and migrants. The series encompasses many groups of people from various periods and places. The banners portray people from varied backgrounds, however each is presented in the format I believe intentionally to emphasize the immigrants and refugees shared humanities. This specific banner, depicts a refugee from the Dadaab Camp, in Kenya, the world’s largest refugee camp. Ai’s extensive research and visits to refugee camps and national borders around the world have yielded an enormous amount of persuasive documentation. Ai’s remarkable research and awareness of these issues of refugee camps and national borders deserves a noble peace prize in my eyes.
If I were to create a public art project that would engage the citizens of New York City I would focus the project around the theme of New York City transportation. I would have interactive installations of New York City bikes, buses, subways, yellow cabs etc. spread citywide. By having these installations, it will raise awareness of how we have changed from a rural place to urban society. The goal is to make people stop and acknowledge and appreciate the incredibly diverse modes of transportation throughout New York City. I would have a statue with a short history description of each vehicle placed next to a waiting areas. For example, I would place a bus statue with a short history description near many bus stops, a subway statue with a short history description near many subways stops and a bike statue with a short history description near many subways stops etc. This theme will engage New York City residence and tourist to seek the most efficient modes of transportation and to seek ambitions and innovations. Situated on many lampposts will be the faces of Larl Benz (invented the car), Pierre Lallement (invented the bicycle), Alfred Ely Beach (invented NYC Subway), Blaise Pascal (invented the bus), John Steven (invented the ferry). These innovative role models will be paired with inspirational quotes such as: “It’s not about ideas. It’s about making ideas happen.”, “Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower”, “One way to keep momentum going is to have constantly greater goals” etc. These inspiration quotes on innovation will seek to continue to make New York City a better and more efficient city. Lastly, I would collect traffic lights that correspond to each mode of transportation and put them all together to create one huge installation. On each traffic light will be the color green with a description under the installation saying, “New York City it’s your time to go”.
Andrew Langer
Your creative story was so real at the same time. Using the cities utilities as an outlet for a citywide project is a genius. You chose interesting pieces which encompassed both the immigration idea as well as everyday life. I really enjoyed it and hope you might be able to pursue this creativity some day.
Andrew,
You chose really cool works by Weiwei. I loved your descriptions about each of them. My favorite has to be the ladder. I love how it’s a reminder that the country is built off of immigrants, which is a beautiful message when dealing with today’s immigration policy problems. I also think your public art is an amazing concept, it will remind New Yorkers what’s in front of them because in urban areas are so fast-paced, they tend to forget. Overall, amazing blog!