Artist Statement: The piano symbolizes the aggregate of diverse individuals and communities that contribute to the vibrancy of the city. Similar to the mechanism and mathematical science of the piano, in which multiple combinations of 52 white and 36 black keys can produce harmonious and uplifting sounds, our community thrives when each building block participates with an intention to create something beautiful and impactful together. Each strip is grown out of the width of a single piano key and presents a unit of building block. Over a coat of white paint, some blocks are painted in black and others are filled in with a collage of surroundings through reflection. The mixture of filled and unfilled blocks abstractly represents harmonies produced as the result of activating multiple keys on the instrument. The abstracted pattern also recalls the facade of buildings in a neighborhood where a variety of activities occur at any given point of time. And, at a macro level, the pattern resembles the grid of the city with each block embracing its diversity and contributing to the makeup of the city.
Jieun Yang is a New York-based architect and educator. She is the principal of Habitat Workshop, an architecture and urban design practice promoting design as a framework for positive change through cross-disciplinary collaboration, research, and public engagement. Her work explores architecture, infrastructure, and everyday experience through the lens of social, economic, political, and cultural influences.
