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| John Brekke |
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Migration
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Completion Date:
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2003
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Medium:
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Glass Disks
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Dimensions:
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n/a
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Location:
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Open Door Senior Center
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Address:
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1 Centre Street, Manhattan
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Architect:
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Edward I. Mills Associates
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Sponsor Agency:
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Department for the Aging
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Design Agency:
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Department of Design and Construction
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Migration is a series of glass discs installed in the Open Door Senior Center, which is located on the ground floor of the Old New York Police Headquarters at 240 Centre Street. The discs comprise a series of pictorial vignettes that reflect upon the idea of migration.
The ten glass discs are hand blown and sandblasted with images of fish and birds. These images were chosen because across all cultures they best reflect the idea of migration. The pictures are laid out to flow from one disc to the next, and images end at the edge of one and continue at the edge of the next, allowing the space in-between to resonate. One pair of discs, Rabbits, shows a rabbit sling-shotting forward from one disc to the next. This is emblematic of "going forward," which is one of the most important characteristics of migration. The discs are hung on the curved wall that runs the length of the public space at the Open Door Senior Center. The works engage viewers so that each time they are seen, a different aspect of the imagery is revealed. They are also placed and lit in order to be visible to passers-by at street level.
About the Artist...
John Brekke was born in Chicago in 1955. He first studied art at the Chicago Art Institute and received his Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In 1999-2000, he traveled to Australia as a Fulbright scholar where he produced a body of work entitled Narrative Overlay. His work is in the collections of the Australian National University, Corning Museum of Glass, Carnegie Museum of Art, Daichi Museum in Nagoya, and the Museum of Art and Design in New York. Brekke has received numerous awards including a New York Foundation for the Arts award and a Pollock-Krasner award. He lives and works in New York City with his wife and two children.
Artist Quote...
"Migration is what I see as a main component of the city, made up of people who are from many other places both abroad and from within, who are here to stay or are in transit to some other place. Migration is also about the restless energy of "going" as opposed to "getting there" and I want to reflect that energy in these works." - Brekke 2003
