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IN THE SHADOW OF LIBERTY JOHN ARNOLD | WALLENBERG STUDIO
CRITIC: FARZIN LOTFI-JAM
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The Statue of Liberty was born into motion. It spent its formative years in constant assembly and disassembly and traveled halfway across the world before reaching its home on Liberty Island. The Statue’s journey across the Atlantic was mirrored by tens of thousands of immigrants traveling to the United States during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. For these immigrants, the Statue represented freedom from plight, tyranny, want, and the promise of a better
life. Immigration, as it existed during this crucial point in American history, has ceased.
THE ICEBERG The Statue of Liberty was inscribed to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1983 under Criteria I—to represent a masterpiece of human creative genius, and VI—to be directly or tangibly associated with events of outstanding universal significance. In this
case, it was the populating of the United States during the turn of the century. If the Statue of Liberty was the symbolic gateway to the United States, as posited by UNESCO, Ellis Island was the literal threshold. One was the disseminated, idealized image; one was the operational reality. Liberty Island and Ellis Island have always been inextricably linked. They are just as closely connected physically, and bathymetrically, the islands are nearly one.
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LIBERTY ISLAND New technologies have haulted immigration through New York Harbor, and the Statue’s role as a welcoming beacon and symbol of opportunity has effectively ceased. In its current state, the Statue of Liberty and Liberty Island are at risk of losing their “value” as determined by UNESCO. Rather than representing an era of immigration and the promise of opportunity, is left for tourism to consume. Hoards of tourists snap photographs of the Statue from privileged views, spawning additional reproductions of an already exhausted cultural image.
ELLIS ISLAND Juxtaposed with Liberty Island, Ellis Island has suffered an even further exhaustion of cultural value. Originally designed to process immigrants at an unmatched scale, Ellis Island was a complex and beautiful machine. The historic features that remain on the island recount this story. Immigration via transatlantic liner has all but ceased. In its current state, Ellis Island is now a place of real estate speculation. Plans for development on the Island range from residential communities to office spaces. Regardless of the intent, most development plans ensure the destruction of the Island’s many historic features.
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LIBERTY IN THE PUBLIC EYE As a cultural object and a disseminated image, the State of Liberty is completely exhausted. The Statue exists more vividly in our minds as a reproduced image than as a physical object. Images of the Statue can be sorted into a number of categories that convey contemporary values contained within the Statue as image.
STRUCTURAL AND SCULPTURAL ANALYSIS Although perceived as a sculptural form, the Statue of Liberty is comprised of a complex steel structure and a thin (3/32 in.) panelized copper shell. Based on the images cataloged, it is possible to identify areas of the Statue that most frequently appear in each category. By mapping these areas onto the Statue from most to least frequently appearing, we can determine the panels that most significantly contribute to a particular image or symbol.
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Existing Panel Logic Modified Panel
350 PANELS Understanding the Statue as a complex assembly of components, it is possible to break down the massive structure into such parts. Each component consists of one copper panel, a localized portion of the central steel structure, and the steel members connecting the two. Reducing the Statue to a collection of similarly functioning pieces provides a system through which the Statue can be assembled, disassembled, and reassembled. Replacing the static steel connecting member with a hydraulic piston system mounted on a mechanized ball joint lends the panels full radial motion, as well as the ability to extend and retract.
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HER: THE IMAGE EXPLODED Using the modified panel component, the Statue of Liberty continually re-forms. The constantly reassembling system allows one to perceive the Statue at varying degrees of disassembly. The Statue in motion is meant to posit several questions—how much can the system reassemble before the Statue of Liberty is no longer legible? Do certain transformations privilege particular symbols or images?
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How much can the system reassemble before the Statue of Liberty is no longer legible?
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Acknowledgments: Taylor VanEtten, Madelyn Willey, Phil Gavrilovski, and Sarah Zamler for helping prepare the final Wallenberg presentation; Farzin Lotfi-Jam for his extensive assistance.
THEM: TWO ISLANDS IN ORBIT To reconcile the increasingly divergent trajectories of the two islands, they are unified under an elastic membrane and placed in orbit around one another. Both islands are severed from the seabed and set within barges equipped with engines on all sides, allowing for a full range of translational motion. Next, a tensile membrane covers the newly formed Statue and the existing structures on Ellis Island. As these islands move toward future destinations, this membrane ensures that the islands remain physically connected.
Moreover, the sporadic motion, caused by the elastic force of the membrane when the two islands drift apart, creates a malleable interstitial space between the sites.
US: SEEKING NEW SITES Given that immigration via New York’s waterways has all but ceased entirely, the Statue’s current context serves only tourists aboard ferries. Floating of the two islands allows the Statue to seek new sites in need of new opportunity. Removing the Statue from New York Harbor immediately terminates the process of touristic
consumption, as its current context is an integral part of the contemporary tourist’s experience. Finally, severing the Statue and Ellis Island from their historic context ensures a re-imagining of their symbolic value. n
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