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Documented artwork / temporary monumental animatronic installation

Wake

Mel Chin

Credit as documented: Mel Chin Studio with UNC Asheville STEAM Studio students, faculty, staff and community collaborators

Wake occupied Times Square from July 11 to September 5, 2018. Mel Chin combined a ship-hull structure with forms recalling a marine mammal's skeleton, drawing on the nineteenth-century USS Nightingale. A carved Jenny Lind figurehead makes slow animatronic movements. Times Square Arts, No Longer Empty and Queens Museum co-presented the installation, fabricated with UNC Asheville's STEAM Studio. The sculpture formed a physical counterpart to Chin's separate mixed-reality project Unmoored, whose digital imagery is not included in this artwork record.

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Documented work. Current availability, ownership and installation requirements must be confirmed with the artist.

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Verified artwork image for Wake
Verified artwork imageImage: melchin.org ↗

At a glance

Year / version
2018
Materials
wood, steel, fiberglass, electronic and mechanical components, paint
Documented setting
outdoor
Dimensions
Overall: 24 feet high × 34 feet wide × 60 feet long; Jenny Lind figurehead: 21 feet tall.
Dimensions apply to
Overall installation and figurehead dimensions are separately attributed to the artist; neither establishes a new-site specification.
Availability
Unconfirmed

Places & versions

Installation history

Historical presentations. A past installation does not establish the current location or suitability for a new site.

  1. July 11–September 5, 2018 (ended)

    Times Square, New York

    Site
    Times Square
    Start date
    2018-07-11
    End date
    2018-09-05
    Date meaning
    documented

    Installation details checked 2026-10-17.

    Installation source

Materials and construction

UNC Asheville credits Sandra Sell and Jeb Hedgecock on the carved skirt, Nina Nichols on painting and figure fabrication, Justin Turcotte and Jordan Krutsch on steelwork, and Charles Tucker's crew on ribs and handrails. The artist's dimensions cover the overall installation; the twenty-one-foot figurehead is a component.

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