Celebrated architect and artist Maya Lin spoke about the issue of environmentalism and sustainable architecture Thursday afternoon during her keynote address for the 43rd annual conference of the National Council of Arts Administrators.
About 300 members of the Boston University community gathered in the Metcalf Ballroom in the George Sherman Union to hear Lin at the BU Arts Initiative and College of Fine Arts-hosted lecture.
Lin, who attained fame by designing the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, spoke about how she is aiming to raise awareness for environmental issues through her art.
“I’m looking at these things not just because I think they’re beautiful but as an environmentalist, someone who cares about the environment,” she said.
Lin recounted one instance on a site where her team was met with parking lots, restroom facilities and untamed lawns. They were able to start a conversation about the environmental issues in the area.
“The very first thing I did as an artist was to ask them to do a transit study. After doing the study, they found out they didn’t need another parking lot, they could actually get rid of a parking lot,” she said. “We were able to restore the dune grasses, relocate the parking lot, eliminate another, relocate the restroom facility, and rework that.”
Lin went on to speak in-depth on how she likes to work on her new venture.
“As an artist, in my outdoor works, I like to work in series and then move on,” she said. “There will be five memorials as a series … all have dealt with time, memory, and language. I decided to set in motion what will be the last memorial. I wanted it to focus on one thing I care deeply about, which is the environment.”
In her presentation, Lin showed two short videos from her recent project. The videos displayed a variety of animals that could be facing extinction soon if environmental issues continue to plague our world.
“There have been five mass extinctions in the history of the planet,” reads the video. “We are witnessing the sixth … by the actions of one species: mankind.”
The video concluded by asking, “Can we share our planet?”
Sarah Collins, administrative coordinator for BU Arts Initiative, said she’s glad the event had such a great turn out, and she’s excited for students to get more involved.
“[Lin] incorporates a lot of [architecture] with sustainability, being able to incorporate it in everyday life,” she said. “I think there are a lot of outlets on campus that can really use that, especially where we have such a large sustainability office, and we have such a large arts presence on campus. I think it’s a great incorporation of both of the two.”
Several students who attended the keynote were excited to hear the artist speak on certain issues and how humans can work on resolving them.
Aaron Henry, a junior in CFA, said the speech had a large impact on his views about the environment.
“I think the fact that [Lin’s] so integrated in the concept of collaboration is something that we push heavily here at BU,” he said. “Her showing that she can do that on a national or even a global scale is something important to show our students.”
Trevor Kowalski, a sophomore in CFA, said Lin’s presentation had a very pessimistic air, but he can see where she’s hopeful.
“I think that artistically, it’s important to bring up some of the issues that she brought up in her own work,” he said. “As a CFA student, I try to present something with environmentalism whenever passionate to me. Hopefully it affects the world stage.”
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