"What Is Your Name?"
I collaborated with Korean artist Haksul Lee to propose a socially engaging art project "What Is Your Name?", made possible by the ArtPort residency program at the Marine Air Terminal, Laguardia Airport, organized by Queens Council on the Arts and sponsored by Port Authority of NY and NJ. The residency was interrupted due to the novel virus pandemic, however, the project will be on view at the virtual exhibition "Mother Tongue/Language" by The Immigrant Artist Biennial in October 2020.
We interviewed visitors in the airport, and various public spaces such as Queens Public Library at Flushing, to collect their names in their own language, in their own handwriting, in their own voices. Visitors freely personalized in colors and styles as they wish under one condition; the signature to represent who they are, where they are from.
The project is to create a sculpture composed of two airplane-like sculptures mirroring in blue and white facing each other as if the one is a reflection of another.
The collected written names display a variety of colors and languages and placed on both sides of the white sculpture. While it illustrates the diversity of origins of people in the city, the artists transcribe all the names into the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) and place them on the blue side with a single color. IPA is used to determine the pronunciation of any spoken language: Therefore, for anyone who studies a foreign language, IPA plays a critical role. IPA is a symbol of the universal use of language, and the only common ground of all the languages.
Along with the sculpture, the recorded names in one's own voice in one's mother language will be played from a small speaker quietly. The voices describe their various attitudes toward the action of introducing their names to strangers. Recording and talking about the names symbolically bring significant attention to the individuals that are essential elements in the society, but could otherwise have been considered unremarkable.
The sculpture is 3' in dimensions, lifted 5-7' high (adjustable) using the tension-suspension system of Kenneth Snelson; the inside and outside of sculpture will be visible. The material is paper and metal. The base is in Aluminum with the metal wire suspension.
We interviewed visitors in the airport, and various public spaces such as Queens Public Library at Flushing, to collect their names in their own language, in their own handwriting, in their own voices. Visitors freely personalized in colors and styles as they wish under one condition; the signature to represent who they are, where they are from.
The project is to create a sculpture composed of two airplane-like sculptures mirroring in blue and white facing each other as if the one is a reflection of another.
The collected written names display a variety of colors and languages and placed on both sides of the white sculpture. While it illustrates the diversity of origins of people in the city, the artists transcribe all the names into the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) and place them on the blue side with a single color. IPA is used to determine the pronunciation of any spoken language: Therefore, for anyone who studies a foreign language, IPA plays a critical role. IPA is a symbol of the universal use of language, and the only common ground of all the languages.
Along with the sculpture, the recorded names in one's own voice in one's mother language will be played from a small speaker quietly. The voices describe their various attitudes toward the action of introducing their names to strangers. Recording and talking about the names symbolically bring significant attention to the individuals that are essential elements in the society, but could otherwise have been considered unremarkable.
The sculpture is 3' in dimensions, lifted 5-7' high (adjustable) using the tension-suspension system of Kenneth Snelson; the inside and outside of sculpture will be visible. The material is paper and metal. The base is in Aluminum with the metal wire suspension.