Dec, 2018
THE FUTURE OF SCULPTURE
Mourn-muration
Public Art Proposal | Interactive Installation | 2023
​Next, I built a physical architectural model using laser-cut cardboard to explore the pavilion's fragmented geometry and how its four walls connect around a central ring. The ring was 3D printed and finished with gold acrylic paint.
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These studies examined how an abstract social idea could be expressed in architectural form.​
SketchUp 3D model of a pavilion
An Agora for Mourning, Memory, and Connection
Mourn-muration is a proposed interactive sculpture pavilion that explores the social, emotional, and economic realities of widowhood. The project creates a space for gathering, reflection, storytelling, and dialogue—bringing visibility to a community whose experiences are often overlooked within our social and cultural structures.
The title combines mourning with murmuration, referring to the collective movement of birds in flight and the subtle, continuous sound created when many individual movements come together. This became a metaphor for the ways personal stories, voices, and experiences can gather into something larger: a collective presence of mourning, listening, resilience, and connection.
At the center of the proposal is an architectural structure composed of four fragmented walls held together by a large golden ring. The fragmented walls represent the disruption and disorientation that can accompany widowhood, while the ring becomes a portal, a point of connection, and a passage between past, present, and future.
​The Concept
The project grew from both research and personal experience.
Widowhood is often discussed as an individual experience of grief, yet the reality extends far beyond mourning. Social isolation, economic insecurity, caregiving responsibilities, discrimination, and the loss of social identity can profoundly reshape a woman's life. Mourn-muration asks how public art can make these less visible experiences part of a larger social conversation.
The idea of an agora—a place of gathering and exchange—became central to the project. Rather than creating a monument to grief, I envisioned a space where mourning could coexist with conversation, memory, resilience, and collective healing.
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My connection to this subject is deeply personal. Both of my grandmothers became widows at a young age, and I grew up witnessing the complexities of their lives within a patriarchal society. Their experiences and the stories passed down through generations in my family became a catalyst for examining widowhood not only as a private experience but also as a broader social and cultural condition.
Spatial Experience
The pavilion is organized around four diagonal, fragmented walls that establish a central gathering space. Their broken geometry intentionally creates moments of separation and connection, allowing visitors to move through and around the structure rather than experiencing it as a conventional enclosed room
Scale model of pavilion with central ring
At the intersection of these walls lies a large golden ring. This element serves both architectural and symbolic purposes, providing a visual center for the installation and representing continuity amidst disruption.
A gathering space for dialogue and healing
The proposed installation would extend beyond the physical structure into the surrounding landscape, allowing the pavilion to function as a public gathering point rather than an isolated object. A site such as a public park or open civic space would make the work accessible to diverse audiences and encourage spontaneous encounters between participants and passersby.
Stories, Voices & Murmuration
Projection mapping is proposed as one of the interactive layers of the installation. Faces and stories of widowed women—representing different ages, backgrounds, and life experiences—will appear across the fragmented walls, creating a shifting portrait of contemporary widowhood.
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Sound will be another essential layer of the work. The murmuration serves both as a metaphor and a sonic experience: individual voices gather to create a soft, continuous presence within the pavilion.
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Poetry, personal stories, whispers, and fragments of conversation will form an evolving soundscape. My own poetry can be woven together with contributions from other participants, allowing individual experiences to coexist without being reduced to a single narrative.
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The sound will be subtle, emerging gradually as visitors gather, listen, and interact. The voices will overlap to create a collective composition that echoes the movement and sound of a murmuration.
An Architecture That Listens
The fragmented walls inside the pavilion serve as interactive points. When a visitor touches a crack, it activates a voice, poem, or sound, turning each crack into a doorway for stories. ​
​As visitors explore, they uncover unique experiences that allow them to weave a collective narrative through their interactions. The installation incorporates touch-sensitive elements and proximity sensor systems, creating the impression that the architecture responds to human presence.
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This design transforms grief from observation into active listening, fostering connections as voices emerge and join together, creating a genuine space for people to hear one another.
From Concept to Prototype
The project began as a public art proposal and evolved through both digital and physical studies.​
Pavillon Floor Plan
I started by developing a digital 3D model in SketchUp to create the pavilion plans and evaluate the proportions, circulation, and spatial relationships.
Medium / Techniques:
Spatial installation design · Public art · Concept modeling · Laser-cut fabrication · 3D printing · SketchUp 3D modeling · Projection mapping · Interactive sound · Interactive technology · Participatory storytelling · Poetry
Reflection
Mourn-muration brings together several dimensions of my practice: spatial design, storytelling, technology, material exploration, and personal narrative. The project explores how physical structures can hold stories, encourage participation, and shift perceptions.
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The fragmented architecture, projected images, responsive sound, and participatory storytelling create an interconnected environment —one that changes according to the people who enter, listen, speak, and interact with it.
While developed as a public art proposal, it serves as a crucial exploration of how design can give physical form to experiences that are difficult to see, and how an installation can transform individual stories into a collective space for recognition, dialogue, and connection.