Art Direction, Curation & Graphic Design
Kirkland Gallery
Kirkland Gallery
Kirkland Gallery at Harvard University Graduate School of Design
2022.03 Air Drop
A Performance by Klelia Siska & Shant Charoian
2022.03 Precarious
by Anthony Terzino & Yiyao Tang
The medium of print is a precarious one—increasingly digitized, environmentally conscious, acutely aware of its own structural and material conditions. Readers, then, are left to decide the status not only of print, but entire states, sectors and economies in a way that is difficult to describe or represent, yet relies almost entirely on visibility and spectacle to “break the news”. Under this regime of visibility, what structures and standings can we use to affirm these material effects—its cracks, its fissures, its breaks—to better understand its intentions?
Visitors are allowed to stand on slabs and break them.
2021.11 Specter Spectra
Immersive Installation by Elif Erez, Edward Wang, Rana Irma Aksoy, Ernesto CarvajalThe installation is a ‘specter’ that draws visitors into a multisensory path hosting a spectrum of sound and light. Layered compositions of audio fragments create a syncopated rhythm, layered and moving hues of light become visual cues for various levels of listening and audiovisual perception. Pockets within the membrane create moments of pause; syncopation through modulated drops of sound and light finds its embodiment in this shell of delightful effects, inviting visitors to take a rest from everyday life, into a space of contemplation and creative energy, of specters and spectra.
Curation Team:
Shane Ah-Siong, Eva Lavranou, Anthony Terzino, Xiaji Zhou, Maggie Chen
Shane Ah-Siong, Eva Lavranou, Anthony Terzino, Xiaji Zhou, Maggie Chen
Memory as an Archive
An Memwar
Mauritius may be perceived as an idyllic place; a melting pot of cultures for such a small island, living in harmony and of course, tourist traps. A lot, however, is at stake. Mauritius has only gained independence from the British since 1968, and the island’s French colonial influences and legacies are still as prevalent to this day. As much as one wants to rid the world of racism, it is still very much present and rampant in multicultural communities. And colonialism’s impact is a lot to blame, especially in the urban and sub-urban segregation of the races. With that colonial impact, comes colonial memory - a memory that people born in the recent decades have not directly experienced.
Growing up in Mauritius, one is not taught the whole history of the colonial era, nor its multi-faceted effects on society. The descendants of indentured laborers, merchants, colonizers, and slaves are dying of age - and so are their ancestral stories. Soon, the future generations of Mauritians will grow unaware, and ignorant of the island’s history of segregation and oppression. Local history books do not say enough. Official historicities are controlled, and so is the colonial narrative.
In order to mitigate the extinction of colonial memory, “An Memwar (In Memoriam)” attempts to collect, and archive memories for future generations. The project will be collecting memories via historic telephone booth installations, retrofitted into memory booths by leaving voicemails. The voicemails will then be available to listen within a dial from the telephone booth installations, and on an online platform made available to the greater public. How “An Memwar” engages with the public in visibility is with a public partnership with an up-and-coming Mauritian artist, providing an existing platform to reach multiple demographics. The installation will physically participate with the public in distinct locations, each outlining An Memwar’s historical magnitudes.
Proposal worked with authorization of the Mauritian artist’s murals, Gael Froget.
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
Critic: Dr. Krzysztof Wodiczko
Cambridge, MA
Fall 2020
Critic: Dr. Krzysztof Wodiczko
Cambridge, MA
Fall 2020
Design by Shane Ah-Siong | Copyright 2023