UuDamThinking Rock

HOME 2005

Installed at Le Petite Versailes Garden NYC 2005

THE THINKING ROCK

PLASTER, L.E.D. SIGNS, METAL RODS

4' X 5' X 2.5'

1. Project Description

This public art project are sculptures that use L.E.D to carry text written by invited writers, for a particular location, enviroment, and object. It aims to create public dialogues: writing submissions in response to the project.

2. Detailed description of the project, including conceptual, technical and practical aspects

a. Technical and Practical:

*) Technical: These Thought Bubble sculptures will employ LEDs available on the market. They need to be reprogrammed and input with text from invited writers. In addition, I would like to be able to upload new text messages from the public on to the L.E.D.s from my studio in the future.

*) Practical: This project sprang out from my previous project, "Honey, ..." (a sound sculpture installation). In this project, viewers listens to recorded message that comes from hanging thought bubbles. This gave me the idea that why not making a sculpture that having a thought bubble on top. And instead of listening, which requires one to stay put at the sculpture's location, people can just walk by and look at the text running on the thought bubble. This will further increase the communication between the sculpture and the public.

b. Concept:

The idea is every objects has its own history. They just can't tell you because they speak a different language. And we are human are good at projecting our thought on other people or object so we don't need their story, we make up our own.
For this proposal, I chose a rock since rock are everywhere and much older than us, they probably knows much more than us. Supposedly if we can find a rock old enough in the right place, it would have seen the whole history of America. It would have breath the air when being pushed from the depth of the molten earth, cooled down and seen the first flowers, buffalos and Indian. It would have experienced the first drop of rain, the rise of the moon and the star. Burned by the sun, pissed on by coyotes and sat on by some first Western travelers. It should have witnessed all, the changing of the landscape, the first automobile, airplane, etc.
There are infinite numbers of story we can put in the thought bubble over time. I will invite other writers to submit ideas or write for the project. That way, the content of the text is updated once every 2 weeks and open to the public.