Garson Yu + DJ Spooky Unveil Installation Art at Pier 57

Last week at Pier 57 in the Hudson River Park in New York City, guests gathered to take in artist Garson Yu’s T.I.N.Y and a special performance by DJ Spooky. Yu has previously made creative motion graphics design for TV shows (including The Walking Dead), video games and films (including Life of Pi, Oz the Great and Powerful, Watchmen, and 300).

Yu’s new project was conceptualized and created at The Interactive New York (T.I.N.Y), and is designed to interact with an existing shipping container installation by creating a multi-sensory experience inspired by New York City as a living organism. Shipping containers are arranged at the Pier, linked end to end length-wise in a layout similar to a subway train. Visitors enter through one end, and then pass through the containers, just like walking through the cars of a subway train. From inside the cars, they can see moving images of everyday life in New York projected onto containers along either side. The projected images show subway scenes, as well as scenes of childhood memories. There is an ambient audio track built around the rhythmic rumble of a subway train, and layered with city sounds. Walking further into the installation, visitors become participants on their way through– they are encouraged to yell and make different vocal sounds into microphones that trigger motion of the visuals. Another level of participation is found in a sound hunt, where they are prompted to search for audio “easter eggs” hidden throughout the installation. The participants will discover isolated sounds and use what they hear to craft their own unique story by piecing the sounds together. They will write down their stories to contribute to the collective memory of T.I.N.Y. participants.

Guests at the unveiling included Josemaria de Churtichaga, Michael Avedon, Andie Arthur, Lori Cheek, Michael Bilsborough, Antoine Guerrero, Daniel Stark, Natalie Trainor, Manish Vora, Ik-Joong Kang, amoung others. Yu told us; “As a student I always wanted to design children’s playgrounds, and this is an opportunity to create something almost like an interactive carnival for families and people of all ages to come play and have fun. My hope is for this to evoke the richness of a full range of memories and emotions. I’m bringing the kind of thinking behind the film projects that I work on in Hollywood, and hope to create an immersive interactive experience that affects everyone based on their personal memories. New York is an important part of my artistic life, and it is great to come back here with this show.”

The installation runs from from June 1 – 16, and is open from 9AM to 7PM at the Pier 57 Marina in New York City. Photo credit: BFA.