1 00:00:07,811 --> 00:00:10,947 [Maya Lin: New York] 2 00:00:24,042 --> 00:00:28,165 [MAN] It's all about being random, so you can't create any patterns, 3 00:00:28,165 --> 00:00:32,427 and you always have to switch up the distance-- 4 00:00:32,637 --> 00:00:36,140 you make a couple closer to each other and a couple further away... 5 00:00:36,140 --> 00:00:37,375 [JAMES EWERT, STUDIO ASSISTANT] 6 00:00:37,375 --> 00:00:41,812 But for this area, where it's the end of the river and it's really thin, 7 00:00:41,812 --> 00:00:45,348 it's usually just one pin, so it just varies in one dimension, 8 00:00:45,348 --> 00:00:49,218 but it can't look like there's a pattern at all. 9 00:00:49,987 --> 00:00:54,892 [LIN] Generally when people experience something that is, say, a thousand miles long, 10 00:00:54,892 --> 00:01:02,032 though you see a map and plan, your experience of a certain waterway is what you know. 11 00:01:02,433 --> 00:01:06,626 It's really hard to understand an ocean. 12 00:01:06,626 --> 00:01:09,139 It's really hard to understand a river. 13 00:01:09,139 --> 00:01:11,709 Because, again, they tend to span borders-- 14 00:01:11,709 --> 00:01:15,644 they tend to span so many different zones. 15 00:01:16,209 --> 00:01:20,626 So it will begin to think of those as, for lack of a better word, 16 00:01:20,626 --> 00:01:24,487 just a very precious object... 17 00:01:24,487 --> 00:01:31,626 Begins to get you to think of that river system as something that is much more controlled or finite 18 00:01:31,626 --> 00:01:35,065 or something that is a singular organism. 19 00:01:39,503 --> 00:01:44,407 The show in New York will focus primarily in on New York. 20 00:01:47,677 --> 00:01:52,750 I'm trying to get to understand a place, like New York City, 21 00:01:52,750 --> 00:01:55,052 What's literally below our feet. 22 00:01:55,052 --> 00:01:57,755 What used to be there historically, topographically, 23 00:01:57,755 --> 00:02:01,058 as well as what's there right now. 24 00:02:12,207 --> 00:02:18,708 So, one of the two things that are anchoring the shows are these very large stone circles. 25 00:02:19,206 --> 00:02:24,814 And this also will be in the show as a cast recycled silver piece. 26 00:02:24,814 --> 00:02:27,840 And this is Manhattan. 27 00:02:28,051 --> 00:02:37,494 This piece is going to be a pin river of the streams that used to be traversing midtown Manhattan, 28 00:02:37,494 --> 00:02:40,229 west to east. 29 00:02:41,831 --> 00:02:45,235 I wanted to create another waterway system, 30 00:02:45,235 --> 00:02:51,441 so this is, sort of, literally the flood zone of Hurricane Sandy. 31 00:02:51,622 --> 00:02:57,514 And so we're going to turn that into a fairly large pin river. 32 00:02:59,149 --> 00:03:02,873 I don't know if it's important to anyone else other than me-- 33 00:03:02,873 --> 00:03:06,124 I'm fascinated by it. And I think throughout my work, 34 00:03:06,124 --> 00:03:13,429 I've tried to reveal aspects of the natural world that you may not be thinking about. 35 00:03:14,764 --> 00:03:19,469 After Hurricane Sandy, we're becoming to be very aware of our water's edge, 36 00:03:19,469 --> 00:03:24,422 which is something Manhattan hasn't really focused on. 37 00:03:24,457 --> 00:03:30,548 I think the discussions right now are: well, if we had not destroyed all the oyster beds-- 38 00:03:30,548 --> 00:03:35,253 the oyster beds were actually there to mitigate a lot of the storm surge. 39 00:03:35,253 --> 00:03:41,756 Or, if the salt marshes were to combat...they're there as our first line of defense. 40 00:03:42,826 --> 00:03:47,465 Do we remember that this is what Manhattan used to be, 41 00:03:47,465 --> 00:03:55,873 and if we remember it, could we restore it back to a fraction of what it's abundance used to be. 42 00:03:56,307 --> 00:04:01,378 We don't want to break down basic ecosystem services, 43 00:04:01,378 --> 00:04:04,506 which are cleaning our air, cleaning our water... 44 00:04:04,715 --> 00:04:06,884 And it's a moral issue. 45 00:04:06,884 --> 00:04:11,954 One species absolutely doesn't have a right to overrun the planet. 46 00:04:12,290 --> 00:04:15,192 You know, I'm curious if I'm having an impact. 47 00:04:15,192 --> 00:04:17,623 As an artist, I don't want to be preachy. 48 00:04:17,623 --> 00:04:22,757 So I think the sculptures themselves, they've given facts. 49 00:04:22,967 --> 00:04:28,604 I'm someone who basically loves to mine the facts and stand back. 50 00:04:33,210 --> 00:04:42,885 If we forget what used to be, then we've lost an ability toreally be sensitive to our surroundings.