Task 2 20th Century Furniture Design Design response to Maya Lin’s body of work.
Anna Keightley s3630243
Contents
Maya Lin, a quick rise to fame and a strong followup.
Maya Lin’s influences. My work inspired by Maya Lin’s body of work. Reflection Bibliography
Maya Lin, a quick rise to fame and a strong followup: Born in Athens, Ohio in 1959 to Chinese parents who were artists. Maya Lin received her Master of Architecture from Yale University in 1986. She has designed many significant works of public art, architecture, memorials in the late 20th century. In 1981, as a 21 year old architecture student at Yale, her design of a Vietnam Veterans Memorial was selected to be built in Washington, DC. Her design is two 247 ft walls of polished black granite at a 125 degree able had the names of 58 000 american dead and missing arranged chronologically according to hear of death or disappearance. It is considered a great success. Aerial view of the memorial in Washington, DC
https://michaelrobertnelson.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/picture15.png
The memorial as experienced by the viewer
http://a4arch.com/blog/mayalinandthechallengeofcreatingpublicart/
Lin wrote in ‘Boundaries’ p2:03’ ‘I like to think of my work as creating a private conversation with each person, no matter how public each work is and no matter how many people are present Civil Rights Memorial, Birmingham, AL
https://www.splcenter.org/sites/default/files/julianbondcivilrightsmemorial.jpg
1989, Lin designed the Civil Rights Memorial in montgomery, Alabama. The spectator interacts with a thin layer of water that flower over the top of it. "I think psychologically all these pieces are requesting very quietly that you really complete the piece. The piece begins as something for me, but it ends only when a visitor has interacted with it. It is not finished as a finite object; it requires an act of participation." It is important to Lin to cooperate with nature rather than try to overpower it
Maya Lin is particularly interested in social and historical issues of the 20th and 21st century. She designed the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial in Washington DC, the Civil Rights Memorial in Montgomery, Alabama and the Women's Table at Yale University. Her most recent project, the Confluence Project, aims to show the viewer a variety of perspectives, notably indigenous american perspectives, along the Columbia river in the Pacific Northwest of the USA. A fish cleaning table at Cape Disappointment state park
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/54cab2bde4b0ce45250fc414/t/54e555b6e4b00ee51f3b97ca/1424315834531/image.jpg?format=750w
Lin has shown her commitment to environmentalism in her architectural works as well as in her memorials. She updates and designs around preexisting structures showing the interaction between old and new Lin designed the Langston Hughes Library in 1999 with sustainability in mind. She uses a 1860s old barn and also a nearby pond as a natural heat exchanger. Langston Hughes Library1999
http://architectslist.com/cities/NewYork/firms/79MayaLinStudio/projects/37LangstonHughesLibrary
Maya Lin’s influences. In her presentation at the smithsonian in 2016, Maya states: ‘If we don’t see it we tend to pollute it, if we can’t have it we tend to pollute it’. Her work intends to present the viewer new ways of looking at the world surrounding them. She draws from micro and macro images of the world, sonar resonance scans, aerial and satellite mapping. Lin’s goal with the Confluence Project is to have viewers appreciate the land as it was in the past, as it is today and from differing points of view. There are 7 sites in Washington state and Oregon that take from recorded points of view of indigenous people. She achieve this in her designs by using materials sourced locally and designing to the topographical and climatological relief of the area. Key Elements of her works are the use of heavy materials, notably dark stone, large pieces of wood and water. Her pieces encourage the viewer to start a ‘dialogue between old and new’ (youtube video) and reflect and meditate on their environment.
Part of the Confluence Project
http://www.arcspace.com/features/mayalin/confluenceproject/
My work inspired by Maya Lin’s body of work: My work will reflect these elements and values in the relationship between materials sourced and location of the piece and her work’s timeless, meditative quality.
Reflection
‘If we don’t see it we tend to pollute it, if we can’t have it we tend to pollute it’ This quote from Maya Lin’s presentation at the smithsonian museum this year highlights the most compelling aspect of her work to me. The respect and understanding of the world around us. Her work stands out to me in the way that it takes the viewer very gently into the experience of reflecting on social issues and environmental issues (often intermingled). I think that the link she creates in this experience is invaluable to our society progressing and thriving together.
Bibliography Alex Ross, 2002. ‘Maya Lin’ Stanford University https://prelectur.stanford.edu/lecturers/lin/ Jay Taber, july 2010, ‘Fourth world eye, Seeing clearly’ http://cwis.org/FWE/2010/07/25/seeingclearly/ Maya Lin, may 2006, ‘Confluence Project’ http://www.arcspace.com/features/mayalin/confluenceproject/ Julianne Corbin Memory and Form: An Analysis of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial http://www.bu.edu/writingprogram/journal/pastissues/issue4/corbin/ http://www.mayalin.com/ Maya Lin: WONDER Artist Talk march 2016 Smithsonian american art museum https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyiu4x5Vpec