An aspect of Weiwei’s artwork that I found to be quite fascinating was his lack of organization. Instead of having his exhibit displayed on museum walls, Weiwei’s spreading out of his artwork throughout New York City enriches the typical experience of walking through a museum, and incorporates the interactive element of searching for something within the city that we travel through every day.
The first exhibit I visited was one of Weiwei’s “Bus Shelters,” located at the intersection of Fulton and Bond Street. Upon my arrival, I noticed that several people who were clearly not waiting for the bus, looking at the unconventionally constructed bus stop and taking pictures. Though I was surprised that other people knew of this artwork, I came to the realization that the way average passers-by observed the bus shelter was, in fact, exemplary of how city-wide exhibits function. Unlike an ordinary museum, bounded by walls, the spreading out of pieces of art invites folks from all around New York City to appreciate and interpret the way art is incorporated in commonplace city structures, in this case, a bus stop.
My next arrival was Weiwei’s “Arch,” in Washington Square Park. As I walked through the cage-like structure, I noticed the sun shining directly on the artwork as if nature was somehow shining a spotlight on the arch. With some research, it was interesting to discover that the “Arch” was originally constructed to highlight what Weiwei described as an “increasing hostility towards immigrants and the rise of nationalism through the world.”
Being that I was already in Queens on Friday evening, I decided to venture out into the borough and look for one of Weiwei’s works titled “Circle Fence. The piece itself consists of a geometric structure consisting of nearly one thousand pieces of rope encompassing a metallic globe-like sculpture. Besides the immediate visual appeal of the work, I found it to be extremely symbolic, especially regarding international unity.
Since I had made my curatorial project on the topic of protecting free speech, I think a good application of this theme in a physical exhibit would be to create a very large, public message board, on which everyday people would be able to grab a paper, or plastic note and write down any thoughts they had as they saw the artwork. This artwork would involve the entire community in promoting the expression of individual thoughts, with no mechanism in place to filter out any content in a way to promote freedom of speech, and how necessary it is for there to be laws in place to protect what is possibly the most important aspect of a free and prosperous society. The piece would be located in the Times Square subway station where millions of people would see it every day, and be reminded of the identifying right of the United States.
Ronald Osherov
I really liked that you visited the circle fence. I play tennis, and I’ve seen that globe from the US Open courts a million times but I never knew anything about the sculpture until today. This just reinforced my idea that we pass by so much art work in our daily life and we don’t even take the time to find out when and why it was created.
I really liked your pictures you used for this blog and the way that you captured Weiwei’s intentions into your blog. I really like the way he uses public art to demonstrate larger concepts and ideals, and I think you did a great job of capturing that. Good job!
Ronald, I absolutely love everything you said in this post. I didn’t know that the arch in Washington Square Park was representative of hostility (wow!), but I love that you were immediately able to spot the significance of the Unisphere in Flushing Meadows Park. I’m also glad that you ventured out from Brooklyn to see the fence at the Unisphere! 🙂 I think it’s really awesome that your curatorial project was centered around the idea and expression of free speech, and your “public art project” is similar to mine in that I think it’s incredibly moving and important to see people write out their thoughts- express themselves in ways that don’t always involve heavy actions. Whereas you focused on the idea of free speech, I focused more on the idea of promoting compassion and love through speech, but I am also a big fan of the Post-It note / message board idea 🙂
-Jayne
Hey Ronald! Reading your blog, I learn that the arch at Washington Square Park (which I also visited) has a historic connection to the art installation. This information makes me understand Weiwei’s idea and concept even more! Thank you for that!