WEBVTT 00:00:07.811 --> 00:00:10.947 [Maya Lin: New York] 00:00:24.042 --> 00:00:28.165 [MAN] It's all about being random, so you can't create any patterns, 00:00:28.165 --> 00:00:32.427 and you always have to switch up the distance-- 00:00:32.637 --> 00:00:36.140 you make a couple closer to each other and a couple further away... 00:00:36.140 --> 00:00:37.375 [JAMES EWERT, STUDIO ASSISTANT] 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, 00:00:41.812 --> 00:00:45.348 it's usually just one pin, so it just varies in one dimension, 00:00:45.348 --> 00:00:49.218 but it can't look like there's a pattern at all. 00:00:49.987 --> 00:00:54.892 [LIN] Generally when people experience something that is, say, a thousand miles long, 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. 00:01:02.433 --> 00:01:06.626 It's really hard to understand an ocean. 00:01:06.626 --> 00:01:09.139 It's really hard to understand a river. 00:01:09.139 --> 00:01:11.709 Because, again, they tend to span borders-- 00:01:11.709 --> 00:01:15.644 they tend to span so many different zones. 00:01:16.209 --> 00:01:20.626 So it will begin to think of those as, for lack of a better word, 00:01:20.626 --> 00:01:24.487 just a very precious object... 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 00:01:31.626 --> 00:01:35.065 or something that is a singular organism. 00:01:39.503 --> 00:01:44.407 The show in New York will focus primarily in on New York. 00:01:47.677 --> 00:01:52.750 I'm trying to get to understand a place, like New York City, 00:01:52.750 --> 00:01:55.052 What's literally below our feet. 00:01:55.052 --> 00:01:57.755 What used to be there historically, topographically, 00:01:57.755 --> 00:02:01.058 as well as what's there right now. 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. 00:02:19.206 --> 00:02:24.814 And this also will be in the show as a cast recycled silver piece. 00:02:24.814 --> 00:02:27.840 And this is Manhattan. 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, 00:02:37.494 --> 00:02:40.229 west to east. 00:02:41.831 --> 00:02:45.235 I wanted to create another waterway system, 00:02:45.235 --> 00:02:51.441 so this is, sort of, literally the flood zone of Hurricane Sandy. 00:02:51.622 --> 00:02:57.514 And so we're going to turn that into a fairly large pin river. 00:02:59.149 --> 00:03:02.873 I don't know if it's important to anyone else other than me-- 00:03:02.873 --> 00:03:06.124 I'm fascinated by it. And I think throughout my work, 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. 00:03:14.764 --> 00:03:19.469 After Hurricane Sandy, we're becoming to be very aware of our water's edge, 00:03:19.469 --> 00:03:24.422 which is something Manhattan hasn't really focused on. 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-- 00:03:30.548 --> 00:03:35.253 the oyster beds were actually there to mitigate a lot of the storm surge. 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. 00:03:42.826 --> 00:03:47.465 Do we remember that this is what Manhattan used to be, 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. 00:03:56.307 --> 00:04:01.378 We don't want to break down basic ecosystem services, 00:04:01.378 --> 00:04:04.506 which are cleaning our air, cleaning our water... 00:04:04.715 --> 00:04:06.884 And it's a moral issue. 00:04:06.884 --> 00:04:11.954 One species absolutely doesn't have a right to overrun the planet. 00:04:12.290 --> 00:04:15.192 You know, I'm curious if I'm having an impact. 00:04:15.192 --> 00:04:17.623 As an artist, I don't want to be preachy. 00:04:17.623 --> 00:04:22.757 So I think the sculptures themselves, they've given facts. 00:04:22.967 --> 00:04:28.604 I'm someone who basically loves to mine the facts and stand back. 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.