Recap: March Salon on Public Art w/ Xiao Xiao, Gershon Dublon & Kawandeep Virdee
March’s EMW Drink Salon looked at the theme of public art mediated by technology. With FOGO being the new FOMO (arguably and possibly not at all), the emphasis of people engaging IRL together had a particular significance. As the line between the real and virtual blurs together in our everyday life, public art has the unique ability to locate people together in space to share a collective experience.
To explore this further, makers and thinkers of public art Xiao Xiao, Gershon Dublon, and Kawandeep Virdee graced the EMW Bookstore stage to look specifically at how public art can be used to raise awareness on the effects of urbanization, expand and reshape our sensory experiences, and cultivate collective joy. ICYMI, here’s a recap of the three presentations:
“囧 (J I O N G)” with Xiao Xiao
囧 was originally an archaic character that means "patterned window" or "brightness," but is now used in contemporary Chinese internet as an emoticon to express a range of emotions such as exasperation, embarrassment, and awkwardness. Xiao embedded the 囧 in the design of a traditional patterned window (a visual pun) and took it with her around Beijing for a week in 2013. By creating a physical object from the 囧 emoticon, she was able to bring an artifact created in the virtual world to the public realm.
Xiao described how 囧 became symbolic of the feelings evoked by the rampant economic growth starting in the late 90s and the subsequent growing pains. Xiao framed 囧 as a way to deal with the disorientation and the disconnect from seeing a city change so quickly in front of your own very eyes.
Xiao also expanded on the theme and its interactivity by creating 囧 stickers made in the tradition of cut-paper decorations (窗花) and putting them up in the city. Passersby were able to interact with the 囧 by filling in speech bubbles to connect with the larger underlying meaning of 囧 in public.
“Being There: Matter is Movement” with Gershon Dublon
Gershon used the human sensory homunculus as a starting point through which we explored how we can shape our perceptions with technology as a mediator. Drawing on physicist Richard Feynman’s enthralling explanation of atoms jiggling as they transfer heat and energy, Gershon demonstrated for us how matter is movement, and how this principle has informed his approach to public art.
His project examples included ListenTree, a public art installation where trees were technologically enhanced. When passersby hugged and pressed their ears against the trees, they could hear and feel stories and songs transmitted through bone conduction. Gershon also presented a technological enhancement to create a responsive environment in the woods. This enhancement allows one to amplify sounds in nature, bringing forth sounds that are occurring near and far, above water and underwater so that one can manipulate the capacity to experience the world around us. Through it all, we’re all just jiggling atoms interacting with each other and our surroundings.
“Growing Public Space with Interactive Art” with Kawandeep Virdee
To round out our evening, Kawandeep described his many large-scale interactive installations, which are designed with the primary motive to bring people together in a joyful way. Whether allowing people to paint colorful pixels on a shared projector screen, or allowing them to project their faces onto a building sized mask, his work allows people to bring together their different narratives by creating spaces that are playful and welcoming. The night ended with Kawan leading a discussion on how to transform 200,000 square feet of open public space in Boston’s City Hall Plaza into one that brings the community together. More information about the City Hall Plaza public art initiative can be found here.
— post by Drink Salon co-directors Theresa Kim and Stine An
Shout outs to our Drink Salon staff and community volunteers for the evening—thank you:
<3: You!
Noms and beverages: Ellie Tiglao, David Zhou & Julianne Papetsas
Door: Amanda Zhang, Rob Foley & Ludjy Derisier
Tunes: Keizo Amakawa
MC: Theresa Kim
Event Planning: Stine An, Theresa Kim & Ellie Tiglao
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And our featured drink:
Rainbow Russian: a coconut milk-based white russian with an array of DIY colorful simple syrups and toppings
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