THE ARTS IN NEW YORK CITY Fall 2017 | Baruch College | Macaulay Honors

Ai Weiwei – Good Fences Make Good Neighbors

Originally, this exhibition was made as a response to the global migration crisis as well as the social and political impulse to divide people from one another. There were so many fascinating things about the exhibit but I think personally, the greatest one, was the idea that the entire exhibit was spread throughout the city, and not just in one room in a museum. Walking around the city trying to find them, I was mesmerized as to how engaged the artist has made its viewers by spreading the exhibit out.

The first exhibition was in Washington Square Park. This showcase was much different from the rest because it actually embodied the arch, which is a staple tourist attraction in New York City. To me, this piece works in engaging the community as it acts a sign to keep on going. Despite the difficulties at hand, you always keep going and get through that arch because there’s always something to look forward to. The opening in the arch with the outline of the people tells you to go through that opening, to never turn around and stop fighting.

The second exhibition, banner 151, was eye opening. It was a portrait of a Greek refugee and the third exhibition, banner 119, was also a Greek refugee. Even though both of these individuals had different stories, they are presented “in consisted format, emphasizing their shared humanity” as the artist wrote. No matter what past stories these individuals had, when they come to the US, they are in a way, united as one. Both banners to me have a sense of hope, that this life in America that they are living in will be better than what they used to live in. Keeping hope in mind, you should also keep in mind of the struggles that refugees face on a day to day basis and how difficult it must be for them to adapt to a new lifestyle.

If I had to create a public art project that engaged the NYC community around the theme of immigration, I would make a similar showcase. Immigration is what the foundation of New York City is based on so what better way to represent the city than stories of past migrations? Before coming to America, everyone’s individual stories and hardships differ from one another. But as they come to America, just like in those banners, people unite. People unite because they are lost in a new place and just want to quit struggling and finally live the life they all deserve. I think my form would be murals.

Murals all over the city, each mural telling a different story, of a different immigrant. I think this would be a great way to show off just how culturally diverse the city is and engage the community into realizing how important and crucial diversity is. Aside from the story of the immigrant, each mural would also have a statistic on the bottom. I think statistics when it comes to a topic like this are pretty valuable when it comes to grasping the attention of viewers. When they see numbers and statistics of different immigration situations and how much of our city is truly made up of immigrants, their interest in reading about that one immigrant they stumbled upon on the mural, will certainly be heightened. Museums are great and there are definitely exhibits I have been to that completely captivated me. The murals are kind of a way for people to not have to take the time out of their day to go to a museum and view this, but can be something that stops you for a minute, or five, on your way to get lunch or to catch the train.

This entry was posted on Sunday, November 19th, 2017 at 2:36 pm and is filed under Blog #11. You can follow any comments to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.