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2021, 2022
CONSTELLATION
Designed by Ye Qin Zhu
CONSTELLATION is a suite of interactive sound sculptures designed by Ye Qin Zhu and built by NYC youth at Beam Camp City. Inspired by the concept of asteroseismology - which shows that stars sound like ringing bells - the piece’s six sculptures are placed at scenic locations around Governors Island, creating a constellation of ringing bells.
Photographs courtesy of Artist, Ye Qin Zhu
During the creation of CONSTELLATION, Beam Camp City campers and youth staff came to Governors Island to:
Cast, paint, and assemble bells
Cut, weld, and assemble sculpture sections
Install each sculpture during celebratory parade
Hang bells to mark each sculpture “on view” for the public
Learn about the original CONSTELLATION
Design and build solar-powered lanterns
Install CONSTELLATION Lights at Andrew Freedman Home
Hang bells and lanterns to mark sculptures open to the public
Each sculpture in CONSTELLATION and CONSTELLATION Lights has a unique base shaped like a human body part. Shapes include: an eye, ear, nose, foot, hand, and tongue. According to the artist, Ye Qin Zhu, each sculpture brings the viewer back to their senses — sight, sound, smell, touch, and taste.
“CONSTELLATION invites youth from Beam Camp City to share their creativity in ways big and small. Each effort contributes to the making of shared experiences—bridging the mysteries of the cosmos with the wonders of human connection.”
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About the Artist, Ye Qin Zhu
Ye Qin Zhu was born in Taishan, China (1986), to farmers who met in the factories of Shenzhen city. His family immigrated to NYC in 1990. He grew up in a house with a vegetable garden in the cosmopolitan neighborhood of Sunset Park, Brooklyn. These histories propel him. Their currents—manufacture and gardening, belonging and displacement, anarchy and citizenry, spirit and material—are split modes that fold over, burrowing and resurfacing. Through art-making, Zhu is in conversation with their movements. Zhu earned his BFA from Cooper Union in 2010 and his MFA from Yale University in 2020.
CONSTELLATION Lights is a new iteration of the original sculptures, currently on view at the Andrew Freedman Home in the Bronx. Revisited in collaboration with Bronx International High School, CONSTELLATION Lights features solar-powered lanterns designed and wired by local high school students.
CONSTELLATION was made by a collaborative team that included the artist, Ye Qin Zhu, Beam Center staff and Fellows, Beam Camp City youth staff, and Beam Camp City campers from across New York City. CONSTELLATION Lights was revisited by high school students at Bronx International High School students in collaboration with Beam Center staff and Fellows.
This project would not have been possible without the work of Beam’s Fellows: Keymani Russell, Kamaari Blake, Grizzy Guzman, Polo Morales, Ben Brown, and Greg Pastor. Fellows assisted the CONSTELLATION and CONSTELLATION Lights Project Team’s of Jeff Wood, Lizzie Hurst, and Phillip Castillo with fabricating all parts of each sculpture and played a crucial role in teaching the fabrication process to Beam Camp City Campers and Bronx International High School students.