Houston Southeast Division Police Station / 2008

Brief Concept    

1. Community involvement (Part I. cast bronze relief & part III. framed documentation)
2. Light and connection (Part II. inside second floor)

Three parts of proposed artwork:

Proposed the artworks will be mainly two sites, plus documentation of the process of making the artwork will be placed on wall throughout the facility:

1. Part I. Inside second floor: designing concept— Light and connection
2. Part II. Outside of building: designing concept— community
3. Part III. Other wall space inside of building: designing concept— documentation of relief project.

   

   Part I. Glass sculpture

   Artwork: diachronic lighting sculpture / Location: from second floor down

   Content and idea

   My impression of that space needs color, light, and connection between the first and second floor. Having a repeated triangle inside of a triangle is a quite challenge architecturally. The reception area almost has a feeling of self-containment from the above floor; two floors are very much separated. My design in this area mainly focuses on light and color. By using diachronic glass with light it will create color, movement and connection from the top area of the first floor to the second floor ceiling.

   Dimension and placement:

   The diachronic lighting sculpture will be about 15 feet scale. The glass will be held by custom-made stainless fixture.

    

Part II. Relief project

Artwork: cast bronze reliefs  / Location: outside of facade of the building

Content and idea

As the service for the community, Southeast Division Police Station works very close the people in the neighborhood. This is my main inspiration of the proposal. For the part I. of the proposal, I will invite interested local resident and police officers (if possible, inmates as well) to participate and create a group of relief projects for the facade of the station. These reliefs will be cast into bronze that insure their durability. By working together artistically, the process of the project will bring diverse groups of people from different social status together on the same table. Through the process of creation, it will break and transform our social boundary. I also see both police officers and people in the neighborhood share the use of Southeast Division Police Station facility. To create a group of artworks that blend different people and ideas within one coherence fit perfectly for the actually function of the building.

Demission and placement

The reason I choose to place reliefs on the buildings façade is because of the unique architectural design of the building—the random rectangular pattern designs enhances the strong presence of visual impact of the building. The relief will be about 50 pieces and each relief will be the same demission as the brick size. They will be placed randomly, yet I will try to fit the architectural pattern of the building facade. By placing the bronze relief sculpture on wall, it also prevents the issue of ventilation.

Part III. Relief project

The relief project will be well documented. Selected images will be printed in the scale of 12”x18” and placed in a frame. About at least 50 images will be displaced on the walls throughout the facility.