Open Invitation

2022
WOOD
20 x 18 x 8½ feet

 

Open Invitation is an interactive public installation that offers New Yorkers a shared space to relax and gather. Intended to embody the interconnected experience of city living, this hexagonal artwork is part seating structure, and part monument that celebrates community and feeling like you belong.

Growing up, it was tough to figure out exactly where I belong. My family emigrated from the Philippines to Kentucky and I sometimes felt like an outsider because our customs and traditions were different from those of my friends. However, whenever we would go to Manila to visit family, I felt like a tourist because I don’t speak or understand Tagalog.

I eventually I found my community in New York City. I love the energy of the city and how it welcomes people from all different backgrounds, cultures, and interests. One of the most remarkable things about living here is the mutual consideration that we must have for one another in order to coexist because we share our personal space with friends as well as strangers.

When considering what I could offer my fellow New Yorkers, I thought about how it can be hard to find time and space to relax in a crowded, busy city. And when I think of sites for spontaneous social gatherings, I think of NYC’s iconic brownstone stoops. Throughout the years, people have used stoops as informal places to sit, hang out, and be together. They are spaces that are connected to the public, but still maintain a sense of intimacy. Even for those of us who have never lived in a brownstone, stoops are what you encounter on your way into someone’s home. They symbolize a sense of belonging and hospitality.

So, for this commission, I decided to create a public stoop for anyone and everyone. The installation is open and welcoming from all sides, offering seating in the round. Inspired by community-building and the collective experience of living in NYC, Open Invitation is a “call to inaction”—an invitation to take a break from busy city life.

This project was commissioned by Maker’s Mark for their “A Toast to Remarkable NYC” program and fabricated by ReadySet, Inc. Through the month of October, Open Invitation will be installed in 3 different public plazas in New York City.

More Information: