Tutorial with Kyung Hwa

I had my personal tutorial with Kyung Hwa. We talked about how my project have evolved over the last few weeks and she asked a lot of questions that I have never asked myself before.

She brought up the question about how to maintain the integrity of the structure while it is installed outdoors in a public space. Homeless people might start occupy it, if that happens then other people can’t use it. People might leave it everywhere and it will be scatted around big open space. In a museum or gallery setting, the staff working in there can help you maintain it. But when it is out in the public space, it will be hard to maintain. What are you going to do about that?

To be honest, maintaining the integrity of the structure is not my primary focus. It was meant to be played with. Whatever form or shape it was left of at the end of the day is a statement by itself. However, to help keeping it together for the entire duration of the installation, I would pick the site that has some sort of commonly acknowledged physical boundary that helps to contain it within that boundary. Also, shortening the duration of the installation(like a week instead of a month) in each location can also help prevent abusive use of structure for long period of time in order to to help preserve the best condition of the structure. Switching locations after a week, keep it a nomadic installation might help preventing homeless people from inhabiting the structure and the space.

She also raised a question about when and where it will be installed and who will be using it? I need to be more specific about those because the choice of material, dimensions, colours depending on those factors. I think in the summer months of London will be great for this project when there are more sunny days. Since it will be outdoors, the material needs to be durable and weather resistant. At the moment, I want to use sturdy, scratch-resistant foam and are lightweight and easy to use. This material is used primarily to make yoga blocks. There are companies make the foam from recycled foam. I was also thinking about cork. Since they are also light weight and porous so water can evaporate from it if they get wet.

She also told me that public art is about accessibility, maybe look into which community does not have art? If you want to engage a grater audience, you should also think about who do you want to involve in this project. People who already have access to art in their community or people who does not have that? Public art should be used effectively as a great tool to rejuvenate communities. The structure itself does not energize the space, it is the social activities it activates that energize the space. Our social activities are dominated by the physical structure in the space, can we switch that role and let people construct the space and structure that serve their need for social activity in the public space?