About the project
The Brooklyn Army Terminal was originally constructed
for the war effort in 1919. It was most heavily used for WWII,
and was eventually decommissioned and sold to the city of New
York in the 1970's. It now houses a variety of businesses, from
a chocolate factory to a balloon manufacturer to artists' studios.
The building has an amazing architecture: at the time it was built,
it was the world's largest concrete building. The sad truth, however,
is that most innovations come from the war effort. Post War
Blues addressed what happens to the fruit of war innovations
after a conflict is over and how we can work together to start
healing a space. My goal was not only to have the current tenants
of the Brooklyn Army Terminal work together for a peaceful end,
but to also involve the surrounding neighborhoods of Sunset Park
and Bay Ridge.
Post War Blues was a site-specific collaborative
installation: flowers crocheted and knitted from recycled plastic
yarn, burst out of the train car that sits in the Brooklyn Army
Terminal atrium. The flowers rise and slowly fall in undulating
waves, blanketing the tracks. My goal was for Post War Blues
to function as a meaningful public art engagement: to serve as
the glue that can bind a community together, and to show that
despite our differences and our violent past, we can make something
beautiful and meaningful together.
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