Luyi Wang
Phenomenon
Prompt: For this project (Bridge 4), students are tasked with selecting a topic inspired by the neighborhood theyvisited for research and developing one of the three points of view they chose (Person, living thing, non-living thing) as the focus of their work.
This installation uses yellow wet floor signs and red wires as a symbolization of the ongoing gentrification of Long Island City and its impact on working-class communities. The wet floor signs symbolize both literal and metaphorical warnings. These signs tell us to be cautious and avoid specific areas in daily life. Now, they represent how the spaces once settled by the working class are marked off due to gentrification.
The red threads connect all the signs, symbolizing the invisible forces that drive this change: investments, developments, and corporate interests. These threads also reflect the tension and division created within the community; by pulling just one of them, all the connected wet floor signs would fall. The arrangement of the signs evolved as time passed. Initially, they were placed in a rigid grid, then later mirrored the major routes of Long Island City’s map; grounding the work in the neighborhood’s reality. The final compacted form was influenced by limited space, which mirrors how working-class residents are being forced into tighter and more precarious circumstances as “developments” keep going in their homes.
In general, this work invites the audience to reflect on what is lost in the name of progress and to consider the unseen connections that shape the places we inhabit.