Sculpture

Acrylic on sculptural base made of recycled newsprint, cardboard and glass.

Acrylic on sculptural base made of recycled newsprint, cardboard and glass.

Dimensions-variable installation made of fishing wire, metallic plastic and electric fan.

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On View: Nov 20 - Dec 4 2015

First image

This image existed as a billboard that I designed to be displayed at the ArtPark on Forbes Avenue in Pittsburgh, close to my university, Carnegie Mellon. My intention in creating the sign was to speak to Carnegie Mellon’s student population, many of whom have grown up in a public or private school system that taught them the Civil Rights Movement had cured all issues pertaining to race in America. I desired for students to ruminate on the phrase “we were taught racism is over”, and realize that, though we have all been taught these issues don’t or shouldn’t exist, they do.

Second image

What happened after I put up the sign is interesting for different reasons. The sign was vandalized only two days after I put it up. The phrase changed from “we were taught racism is over” to “we were taught racism by #BLM”. #BLM references Black Lives Matter, and once the sign was changed, I believe there are two ways of reading the statement. The first is that whomever ripped off “is over” is a representative of #BLM, and their duct-tape addition was created to make the statement a lot stronger- It reads in two parts, “we were taught racism” signed “by #BLM”. I agree that, in learning that racism isn’t an issue, we were taught racism. However the second way to read the statement is that “we were taught racism by #BLM”, which blames the movement for further polarization of races. I do NOT believe the #Black Lives Matter teaches racism, and therefore I desired to revert my phrase to what it was before.

Third image

When I approached the sign to revert the phrase, I saw that someone, in my absence, restored it. They also added “# Black Lives Matter” underneath the phrase, which I believe is helpful because it demarcates the sign as an ally of the movement. In order to maintain the sign, I went over the sharpie/pen writings (some of which were racist in and of themselves) but left the spray-painted phrase which I myself did not add.

Fourth image

I held a discussion at the site of the billboard to start dialogue centered around race and social justice. The day before my discussion was held, the sign was changed again to read “we taught racism”. I believe that, by incorrectly learning through our school systems that racism is over, many students were taught racism themselves. If we are to ignore inequalities we are perpetuating them. I left the phrase up until I took the whole billboard down.

Mylar installation reflecting LED light from underneath the Pausch Bridge at Carnegie Mellon University.

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Artificial Linings is a dreamscape installation created in collaboration with Clair Chin. It was created in two iterations and incorporated sculpture as well as light projection.

Our goal for this project was to create a simultaneously natural yet artificial environment that the viewer could become completely encompassed in.

Artificial Linings is funded by the Frank-Ratchye Fund for Art @ the Frontier as a part of Carnegie Mellon University’s Studio for Creative Inquiry.

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Cloud is created as an experiment of form and light.