2012 Exhibition
2. StereoNegative (A Tribute to Tony Smith)
To mark the 40th anniversary of the sculpture Gracehoper by Tony Smith at the DIA, StereoNegative is both a tribute to the great sculptor and an installation project designed and produced specifically for the Dlectricity event. StereoNegative extracts the negative space of Gracehoper to create an inhabitable pavilion (at ¾ scale) on the lawn of the DIA. Made from an aluminum structure sheathed in translucent plastic, the pavilion glows from within at night. To bring the pavilion into dialogue with Gracehoper, a stereoscope is placed between the two structures. Through this viewing device, the two structures collapse with the positive meeting the negative – hence, the title of the project, StereoNegative. Geometric volumes of tetrahedrons and octahedrons derived from the original Gracehoper form are scattered throughout the lawn, inviting the public to sit, lean against, and play with these volumes. The geometric solids also underscore the integrated beauty of geometries – of form and structure – inherent in the sculpture and architecture. The ultimate aim for this project is for the public to pause, engage, and appreciate the rich and historically significant works of art available in Detroit.
To mark the 40th anniversary of the sculpture the Gracehoper by Tony Smith at the DIA, StereoNegative is a project at once a tribute to the great sculptor and an installation project designed and produced specifically for the Dlectricity event. The project extracts the negative space of the Gracehoper to create an inhabitable pavilion (at ¾ scale) on the lawn of the DIA. The pavilion structured in aluminum and sheathed in translucent plastic glows from within at night. To bring the pavilion into dialogue with the Gracehoper, a stereoscope is placed between the two structures. Through the viewing device, the two structures collapse with the positive meeting the negative – hence, the title of the project, StereoNegative. Geometric volumes of tetrahedrons and octahedrons that combine to generate the original Gracehoper are scattered throughout the lawn, inviting the public, both children and adults, to sit, lean against, and play with these volumes. The geometric solids also underscore the integrated beauty of geometries – of form and structure – inherent in the sculpture and architecture. The ultimate aim for this project is for the public to pause, engage, and appreciate the rich and historically significant works of art available in Detroit.
Artist Information
Tsz Yan Ng with Helena Kang & Justin Kollar
Tsz Yan Ng joined the A. Alfred Taubman College of Architecture + Urban Planning at the University of Michigan in 2007 as the Walter S. Sanders Fellow. Prior to coming to Michigan, she taught at both the undergraduate and graduate level at McGill University and the State University of New York at Buffalo where she was the Reyner Banham Fellow in 2001-2002. She is the principal of an independent design practice Tsz Yan Ng Architecture|Design since 2004. The studio focuses on experimental design/research for architectural commissions, competitions, and installations. Recent commission includes work for the NY fashion label Lafayette 148, for their global headquarters/manufacturing facility in Shantou, China and their retail shops in N. America and China (in collaboration with Mehrdad Hadighi). She has received awards and recognitions for her creative work in architectural competitions and installations. Recent installations and design work have been exhibited in Los Angeles, Ann Arbor, Ithaca, Montréal, Buffalo, and NYC. Her design work, research, and teaching are closely related in that they probe the questions of perception in architectural production by exposing the artifice of social, cultural, and political construction.