FLOW.15: David J. Wilson

The Project: Etherwave Architecture #1

David Wilson’s Etherwave Architecture #1 is inspired by the social, political and spatial transformation of Randall’s Island Park from “dumping ground” for institutional uses into a lush park where citizens choose to spend leisure time. The structure mimics objects and materials normally associated with urban defensive architecture, such as wrought iron spiked guards and fences, subverting their original meaning and context by directly and specifically inviting interaction. The iron and steel elements in Etherwave Architecture #1 function as an engineered Theremin, acting as antennas that control sound oscillators. The sizes and shapes of the different elements allow approach from all around so that visitor movement, exploration and interaction directly produces a range of sounds. Through active engagement with these defensive structures, Wilson hopes to bring awareness to the dilemmas surrounding public spaces, while playfully appropriating objects that make up oppressive design practices. Our choice and contingency as citizens of New York is highlighted through interaction, symbolic reference, and material transformation.

The Artist: David J. Wilson

David J. Wilson’s work investigates fragmented narratives and temporal spaces through sculpture, sound and performative objects. These elements are often combined to create site, and culturally, specific installations. Wilson’s work puts to question the contexts of meaning through the transformative qualities of materials, and reflects how these elements relate to structure through narrative, memory and our subjective contingency within a society. Most often, Wilson’s research and projects are sourced from urban places, and the materials that are considered the detritus of these locales. He studied at Hunter College (MFA, 2012).