1 00:00:07,505 --> 00:00:12,382 [MAYA LIN: DISAPPEARING BODIES OF WATER] 2 00:00:14,283 --> 00:00:16,980 I was going to become a field zoologist 3 00:00:16,980 --> 00:00:20,811 and I took a sidetrack into art and architecture. 4 00:00:25,414 --> 00:00:29,060 I was brought up in the 60s--child of the 60s-- 5 00:00:29,060 --> 00:00:34,950 so, whether I was petitioning to boycott Japan for the whaling industry, 6 00:00:34,950 --> 00:00:38,149 or petitioning to ban steel traps, 7 00:00:38,149 --> 00:00:41,077 I was out in the parking lot in Athens, Ohio, 8 00:00:41,077 --> 00:00:43,202 sort of being a bit of an activist. 9 00:00:45,536 --> 00:00:48,837 The discussion was out of how much damage 10 00:00:48,837 --> 00:00:52,198 we were doing as a species to the rest of the planet. 11 00:00:52,549 --> 00:00:55,105 It's really personal, and I love the environment. 12 00:00:55,435 --> 00:00:57,122 I love the world around us. 13 00:00:57,220 --> 00:00:58,645 "Red Sea" (2006) 14 00:01:02,907 --> 00:01:06,708 In a previous show, I had done these bodies of water-- 15 00:01:06,708 --> 00:01:09,939 like the Caspian, the Red Sea, and the Black Sea. 16 00:01:09,939 --> 00:01:14,095 So, I'm going to be cutting into stone, this time, 17 00:01:14,465 --> 00:01:17,445 these disappearing bodies of water. 18 00:01:19,915 --> 00:01:23,877 What we've got today of the Arctic Ice Shelf 19 00:01:23,877 --> 00:01:26,646 versus what it was like in 1980. 20 00:01:28,633 --> 00:01:31,540 This is Lake Chad which, again, 21 00:01:31,540 --> 00:01:34,276 all that's left of Lake Chad is this, 22 00:01:34,276 --> 00:01:37,400 and so at this point, we start with drawings, 23 00:01:37,400 --> 00:01:39,937 we end up putting it into the computer, 24 00:01:39,937 --> 00:01:42,387 and it will all be cut in stone. 25 00:01:45,600 --> 00:01:50,106 It's sort of in between mechanized and then hand worn-- 26 00:01:50,106 --> 00:01:54,032 or worn out--so it gets to be a little bit softer on the edges. 27 00:01:55,475 --> 00:01:57,170 I love the smaller-scale works because 28 00:01:57,170 --> 00:01:59,888 I can make them here with my team. 29 00:02:00,557 --> 00:02:03,602 They're both artists and architects working for me, 30 00:02:03,602 --> 00:02:06,908 but the architectural assistants, they're the only ones 31 00:02:06,908 --> 00:02:09,742 that can take this data from the map makers, 32 00:02:09,742 --> 00:02:13,859 convert it, and then send it to the printers. 33 00:02:14,789 --> 00:02:17,037 This is Nick Croft, by the way. 34 00:02:18,187 --> 00:02:21,587 Can you just walk them through some of the analysis 35 00:02:21,587 --> 00:02:23,166 and studies that have to go on? 36 00:02:23,166 --> 00:02:24,033 [Nick Croft, Studio Assistant] 37 00:02:24,033 --> 00:02:27,280 [CROFT] Well, a lot of it is finding data of geographical places 38 00:02:27,280 --> 00:02:28,618 or locations in the world. 39 00:02:28,618 --> 00:02:31,224 So, a lot of the time, we'll look to the Internet. 40 00:02:31,264 --> 00:02:34,789 We'll take it all and we'll try to make a three-dimensional surface 41 00:02:34,789 --> 00:02:36,353 in the computer program 42 00:02:36,353 --> 00:02:39,837 and then make mock ups at various scales, 43 00:02:39,837 --> 00:02:44,984 or do different studies of the terrain and its surface quality. 44 00:02:45,853 --> 00:02:49,453 [LIN] Because so much of what I do ends up being 45 00:02:49,453 --> 00:02:53,034 through the computer to analyze the data and information. 46 00:02:53,034 --> 00:02:54,898 The thing I'm always wary of is, 47 00:02:54,898 --> 00:02:57,740 "Oh, what's the difference between whether it's in an art museum 48 00:02:57,740 --> 00:03:00,373 versus a science museum?" 49 00:03:00,373 --> 00:03:02,333 And that's where it's tricky. 50 00:03:03,802 --> 00:03:06,971 It's not really a representation--it is its own thing. 51 00:03:07,496 --> 00:03:11,527 I'm as much interested in the form making that I'm doing, 52 00:03:11,527 --> 00:03:14,328 as well as getting you to think about 53 00:03:14,328 --> 00:03:17,033 what we're doing to the world around us.