"CROSSCUT" 2020 (detail) INTERACTIVE PUBLIC ART PROJECT
South 6 Ave. Bridge, Mount Vernon NY (commissioned by: MTA)
This History of Metro North in Mount Vernon is a familiar story of changing communities. The construction of the New Haven Line, better known as "the cut", divided this section of the Mount Vernon community into two parts; the Northside consisted of largely middle and upper income residents while the Southside represented a lower and working class population. The bridges that cross "The CUT" are in a way stitches that close a physical and communal wound (The CUT) created by the train tracks.
"CROSSCUT" in a way is a reflection of that encounter and exchange of ideas, the sharing between a community and their cultural values. Using the same elements that are at the location - the train tracks, metal sounds and the need to cross the bridge, my installation hopes to generate a "meeting point" between these two communities, creating a place where neighbors and friendships can be forged through familiar sounds and music while crossing the bridge.
South 6 Ave. Bridge, Mount Vernon NY (commissioned by: MTA)
This History of Metro North in Mount Vernon is a familiar story of changing communities. The construction of the New Haven Line, better known as "the cut", divided this section of the Mount Vernon community into two parts; the Northside consisted of largely middle and upper income residents while the Southside represented a lower and working class population. The bridges that cross "The CUT" are in a way stitches that close a physical and communal wound (The CUT) created by the train tracks.
"CROSSCUT" in a way is a reflection of that encounter and exchange of ideas, the sharing between a community and their cultural values. Using the same elements that are at the location - the train tracks, metal sounds and the need to cross the bridge, my installation hopes to generate a "meeting point" between these two communities, creating a place where neighbors and friendships can be forged through familiar sounds and music while crossing the bridge.
As a representation of the trajectories of people, I use train tracks to create a unique web of interconnected histories. In some of the open spaces generated between the tracks there will be installed a series of metal percussion musical instruments, representing the baggage and transculturation through the universal language of music. Each of the embedded musical elements in the fence will be playable, each surface creating its own unique sound. The interactivity of the work is with the purpose of proximity and sharing between community members that cross the bridge daily; a kind of portal in which you leave sorrows behind and open new spaces for new experiences that lay on the other side. The bridge becomes an intersection in which decisions are made, either physically or spiritually.
Coming from an island, these bridges take on a more lyrical and personal meaning for me. They are monumental feats of engineering that take us to another side or destination: to cross or not to cross. As a tribute to all those that dared to make the choice of forging ahead and blaze trails to future generations. As most of us are immigrants to this nation, we carried with us what we could; upholding and cherishing our cultural values, which transform with the passing of time and with interactions with other cultures. Music is universal, a cultural crossover shared by all. CROSSCUT hopes to create not only a visually appealing installation but an interactive one as well, creating an experience rich in transcultural wealth that defines who we are today.
Coming from an island, these bridges take on a more lyrical and personal meaning for me. They are monumental feats of engineering that take us to another side or destination: to cross or not to cross. As a tribute to all those that dared to make the choice of forging ahead and blaze trails to future generations. As most of us are immigrants to this nation, we carried with us what we could; upholding and cherishing our cultural values, which transform with the passing of time and with interactions with other cultures. Music is universal, a cultural crossover shared by all. CROSSCUT hopes to create not only a visually appealing installation but an interactive one as well, creating an experience rich in transcultural wealth that defines who we are today.